New data reveals who is hiring in the creator economy
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- The hiring trends among creator-economy startups can tell you a lot about the state of the industry.
- Creator Economy Jobs analyzed hiring posts from over 600 companies in 2024.
- Silicon Valley still has a grip on creator-related tech, while London could be the "next big" hub.
Being a creator isn't the only career path in the creator economy.
Creator Economy Jobs, a job listings platform founded by James Creech, analyzed hiring posts from over 600 creator-economy companies in 2024.
Across the board, creator-economy startups were generally hiring for roles in engineering, marketing, product, and sales.
"This year, the creator economy has definitely felt more energy and activity," Creech, who is also an investor and advisor to several creator startups, told Business Insider.
Since launching in late 2023, the platform has pooled over 1,000 job listings from creator-economy companies each quarter.
Creech's job site pulls listings from various third-party platforms and applicant tracking systems, like LinkedIn, Greenhouse, and Lever, among others. Some companies also list jobs directly through the site, Creech said.
While the creator economy — from Big Tech companies to startups — was hit hard by layoffs over the last few years, the post-hype-cycle industry appears to be landing on two feet.
Creech predicts that heading into 2025, more companies will emerge as strong players in the space and expand teams with hiring. That could prove true as a handful of creator startups have raised millions in 2024 — some, like newsletter platform Beehiiv, with the intent to hire.
Another trend Creech expects in the creator economy next year is corporate brands continuing to hire creators to fill in-house roles.
Here are a few takeaways on the state of jobs in the creator economy:
- Creator-economy startups are in the market for engineers
"The most in-demand jobs are engineering," Creech said. "As we think about what types of companies in this space are growing and needing help, it's a lot of software businesses."
The majority of the engineering roles on CEJ are either backend or full-stack, Creech added.
Since the second quarter, the platform has had over 500 engineering jobs listed quarter-over-quarter.
The second and third most in-demand categories of jobs were in sales and marketing, respectively, Creech said.
- Silicon Valley still has a hold on the creator economy
"We all think, 'Oh, the creator economy is Los Angeles,'" said Creech, who is based in LA himself. "When we started publishing these reports, the San Francisco Bay Area ranks the highest."
That's, in part, due to the sheer number of startups still building in the broader Silicon Valley area.
LA and New York City were the next largest US job markets throughout the year, Creech said. Meanwhile, international cities such as London, Bangkok, and Berlin have also been hubs for jobs on the platform.
"The international markets are growing really rapidly," Creech said. "We believe that the creator economy is a global phenomenon, and you're seeing people can live anywhere and build great businesses all over, and that's reflected in the fact that there are cool companies and cool jobs everywhere now."
Creech also identified London as "the next big creator economy destination."
- These 6 companies were some of the most active job listers for 2024
When analyzing the top hiring creator-economy companies, CEJ excludes big platforms like Meta, TikTok, and Pinterest. The six companies below consistently listed new jobs within the creator economy throughout 2024, according to CEJ's data.
- Coda Payments, a monetization platform for digital products
- ElevenLabs, a generative AI and video-dubbing startup
- Impact.com, an affiliate-marketing company
- Lightricks, a content-creation and editing company
- Podimo, a podcast and audiobook platform
- Whatnot, a live-shopping company
Whatnot told BI that it would continue to prioritize hiring across all of its teams in 2025.
And Lightricks, which currently has 40 open roles, told BI that it plans to expand its teams in 2025 as it continues to build generative AI products.
ElevenLabs, meanwhile, said it plans to double its "core team" in 2025 with a focus on engineering and sales roles, while also expanding the company with hubs in Poland and India.