For the past five years, CBRE has released an annual Tech Talent report to rank 50 U.S. and Canadian markets’ ability to attract and grow tech talent.
There are 13 elements used in determining the rankings, including tech talent supply, growth, concentration, cost, completed tech degrees, industry outlook for job growth, and market outlook for both office and apartment rent cost growth, the news release detailed.
This year, the Dallas-Fort Worth area was ranked No. 10 and found to have the second-largest tech “brain gain” in all of North America due to its creation of more tech jobs than degrees (+22,560). D-FW was second only to the San Francisco Bay Area.
The report found an increased demand for talent with specific tech skills such as software development. This and the narrow supply of talent that hits the mark is encouraging companies to move to markets that already have access to valuable, available talent.
“It’s great to see Dallas solidify itself as a top tech talent market. This is the second year in a row that we’ve been one of the top 10 markets, which is a result of the growth we’ve had in tech degree completions from local universities as well consistency in the amount of tech jobs in the area,” said Jeff Eiting, Vice President at CBRE in Dallas, in the release. “Since the number of tech jobs outweighs the number of tech degrees each year, D-FW is able to retain the tech talent that is educated here and is also in a great position to attract additional tech talent to the area.”
Other top 10 markets included Seattle, New York, Washington D.C., Atlanta, Toronto, Raleigh-Durham, Austin and Boston.
According to the release, D-FW had a couple of stand-out points in the report, such as:
The largest labor pool market in the country with a total tech labor force of 161,150 and a 33 percent growth rate over the past five years.
The No. 10 market for completed tech degrees (2015) with a total of 4,614 and a 61 percent growth rate for 2011-2015 – the highest of any of the large (50,000+) markets.
Click here to view the full report.