Irrespective of any economic confusion and resulting tech industry layoffs, tech talent remains in high demand, according to CBRE’s 2023 Scoring Tech Talent study.
In fact, between 2020 and 2022, the overall employment of tech talent experienced a growth of 11% and among different industry sectors, tech companies stood out by adding nearly 2.5 times more tech workers compared to the next highest sector, professional services. The majority of this new tech talent employment, accounting for 60%, was attributed to software developers and programmers across various industries.
The top five markets identified in the analysis are the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, New York Metro, Washington, D.C., and Toronto. New York moved up to the third position, while Toronto moved down to the fifth position. Some of the markets that showed significant improvement were Calgary, Canada’s Waterloo Region, St. Louis, Madison, and Quebec City. Conversely, Columbus, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Pittsburgh, Edmonton, and Cleveland moved down in the rankings.
Tech talent concentration is an essential factor in determining the “tech” nature of a market and its growth potential. Ottawa and the San Francisco Bay Area have the highest concentrations of tech talent as a percentage of total employment.
Moving up this list is important for local economies with tech companies paying higher wages compared to non-tech employers, with an average premium of 30%. The study identified that the average tech talent wages are highest in the San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle, while they are lowest in Indianapolis, South Florida, and Cincinnati.
Don’t see your favorite city on the list? Check out North America’s next 25 emerging markets for technology professionals here.
