Esports jobs are multiplying, and an esports job site, HitmarkerJobs.com, has made a big attempt to quantify that growth. The company found that global esports jobs grew 185.7% from 2,497 to 4,638 in the first six months of 2019, compared to the first six months of 2018.
The United Kingdom company’s infographic (see above) uses data from more than 7,000 esports jobs. It showed that the number of paid jobs in esports increased 210.7% from 1,912 to 4,028 in the same timeframe. Paid opportunities also saw a proportional increase of
10.21%, climbing from 76.64% to 86.85% of the overall total.
The work is interesting because it captures real data on a job market that didn’t exist a decade ago. And it helps give would-be esports stars and workers a more realistic picture of how to establish a career in esports.
The U.S. now hosts more than half of all esports jobs
The number of esports careers in the U.S. rose from 1,147 (45.95%) in the first half of 2018 to 2,586 (55.76%) in the first half of 2019. California Still dominates the US job market, with a 61.10% share of all US-based jobs, down slightly from 63.81% last year (2.71%).
Washington is in second with just 7.66% of the share (down 0.99% on 2018), with New York in third with 5.92% (down 1.43% on 2018). The 25-year-old to 34-year-old age group now make up just over half of all esports job seekers.
The industry seems to be maturing in respect to hiring, as the percentage of 25-year-old to 34-year-old job seekers rose from 44.52% to 52.45% to overtake the 18-24 age bracket (36.77%) as the most heavily represented one.
“It’s incredibly exciting to see so many jobs opening up in esports globally, giving more and more people the opportunity to turn their passion into a career,” said HitmarkerJobs.com managing director Rich Huggan, in a statement. “We’re grateful to be able to play our part in this by providing job seekers with a definitive list of esports jobs, and employers with talented staff. The numbers in our infographic show incredible growth in 12 short months, though there is still work to be done in addressing the gender-split of job seekers and in seeing the number of unpaid roles continue to decrease. HitmarkerJobs.com will strive to be at the helm of this change as we aim to professionalize the hiring space in both esports and gaming.”
HitmarkerJobs.com was founded in May 2017, and it has six people in Newcastle upon Tyne in the far north of England.