Throughout the economic downtown of the last few years, which is only now slowly beginning to turn around, there have been few industries that continued to create jobs and support the economy. We’ve mentioned before (as many others have) how the government should be doing its best to foster more entrepreneurship, one of the few areas continuing to create jobs, and Wednesday the National Venture Capital Association and StartUpHire.com job board released data supporting these suggestions.
According to a combined press release from the two organizations, StartupHire.com saw a 16% increase in job postings in the first quarter of 2010 from the end of 2009. The service says over 13,000 new jobs were posted in Q1 at an average of 4,400 per month, but is quick to note that its numbers represent only a fraction of the actual job creating in the industry.
“As positive as our job numbers are trending, the aggregate venture-backed job growth is even
greater – perhaps double what StartUpHire.com currently captures,” says Steve Fredrick, founder of StartUpHire.com. “It is critical that our government recognizes the power of these companies and support venture investment so that we can continue to build more companies and hire more Americans.”
According to other studies referenced in the press release, public companies that were once venture-backed currently employ 12.1 million people, and current venture-backed companies employ roughly another half million people. NVCA president Mark Heesen believes startups and entrepreneurship are going to play a large role in the nation’s path toward financial prosperity.
“The start-up company engine continues to churn, serving as a critical source of new jobs and opportunities for thousands of Americans,” says Heesen. “Our country’s entrepreneurial spirit combined with access to risk capital will continue to drive this economic recovery.”
Unfortunately, legislation from Washington has been a little schizophrenic in terms of helping startups and entrepreneurship. While a Startup Visa bill that could increase the amount of foreign entrepreneurs creating jobs in America was introduced earlier this year, proposed financial regulations could hamper Angel investing and make it harder for companies to get funding. Hopefully further evidence, like that seen Wednesday from StartUpHire.com, will help to influence legislation to help promote entrepreneurship, and entrepreneurial education.
Photo by Flickr user YtseJam Photography.
