Seattle Moves One Spot to Second Place for Tech Talent

Numerous indicators underscore the resilience of tech talent during COVID-19. Seattle moved ahead one spot to second overall on CBRE’s 2021 Scoring Tech Talent report as North American tech-talent employment weathered the pandemic better than most other professions.

These occupations registered job growth of 0.8 percent in 2020 in the U.S. while non-tech occupations declined by 5.5 percent. Software developers and programmers were the most in demand tech-job category last year, adding 85,000 U.S. jobs for a 4.8 percent growth rate from a year earlier. Beyond the tech industry itself, those that added tech workers last year include financial activities, professional and business services, and government.

Seattle has the seventh largest tech talent labor pool in North America with 184,660 tech workers, a 35.4 percent increase from 2015. Tech jobs account for 9.4 percent of total jobs in Seattle’s workforce, which marks the fifth highest concentration of tech talent among the top 50 markets.

“Office demand has picked up over the past 30 to 60 days, with tech being a major driver of that demand. With strong tech talent migration to Seattle over the past several years, combined with Seattle’s deep bench of skilled local talent, both established blue chip firms and emerging startups are confident their labor needs will be met. Seattle’s unique tech ecosystem, quality of life and relative affordability compared with coastal markets are several advantages that will continue to attract high-quality tech talent to the region,” said Michael Dash, vice chairman with CBRE in Seattle.