The Bay Area tech workforce fell behind New York in total size in 2025, according to CBRE’s 2026 technology talent analysis. Even so, the Bay Area kept the top overall market ranking. The report shows how AI hiring, talent concentration, labor costs, and changing workplace patterns are reshaping the region’s technology economy.
Key Takeaways
- New York Metro had 394,300 technology talent workers in 2025, compared with 375,730 in the San Francisco Bay Area.
- The Bay Area lost 23,900 technology talent workers between 2022 and 2025, while New York added 30,640.
- CBRE continued to rank the San Francisco Bay Area first overall among the technology talent markets in its analysis.
- AI-related roles represented 57% of Bay Area technology job postings by June 2026.
- Remote technology job postings in the Bay Area fell to 7% in April 2026, down from 24% in mid-2022.
New York Moves Ahead in Tech Workforce Size
New York Metro surpassed the San Francisco Bay Area in total technology talent workforce size in 2025, according to CBRE’s Scoring Tech Talent analysis.
New York recorded 394,300 technology talent workers, compared with 375,730 in the Bay Area. The figures mark the first time New York has had the larger technology talent workforce in CBRE’s comparison.
The change reflects sharply different workforce trends between the two markets. New York added 30,640 technology talent workers between 2022 and 2025, while the Bay Area lost 23,900 during the same period.
For the Bay Area, that represented a 6% decline from its 2022 workforce level. New York’s technology talent workforce increased by more than 8%.
CBRE’s definition of technology talent covers more than 20 occupations and is not limited to employees working directly for technology companies. Software developers, technology managers, engineers, and other specialists working in industries such as healthcare or financial services can also be counted.
That broader definition makes the workforce comparison different from simply counting employees at Silicon Valley technology firms.
Recent Bay Area technology layoffs also illustrate the changing employment picture. Cisco, for example, disclosed reductions affecting positions in San Jose, Milpitas, and San Francisco as the company shifted resources toward areas including AI, security, networking, and infrastructure.
Bay Area Tech Workforce Shifts Toward AI Roles
The decline in the Bay Area tech workforce has occurred alongside a significant change in the types of jobs employers are seeking.
CBRE reported that AI-related positions represented 57% of available technology talent job postings in the Bay Area by June 2026. At the mid-2022 peak for overall technology job postings, AI-related positions accounted for 20%.
Non-AI technology postings moved in the opposite direction. According to the report, those postings had fallen 73% from the mid-2022 peak, while AI-related postings were more than one-third higher than at that earlier point.
The national labor market shows a similar, although less concentrated, shift. AI-related roles accounted for 31% of available U.S. technology talent positions by June 2026, compared with 11% at the mid-2022 peak.
The figures indicate that workforce size and hiring demand are moving differently. The Bay Area had fewer total technology talent workers in 2025, but a much larger share of its available technology positions was connected to AI by 2026.
U.S. technology talent employment overall continued to grow. CBRE reported a 1.8% increase, equal to 108,760 jobs, in 2025. That was higher than the 1.1% growth recorded in 2024 but remained well below the 7.3% rate recorded in 2022.
CBRE Still Ranks the Bay Area First Overall
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Despite losing its lead in workforce size, the San Francisco Bay Area remained first in CBRE’s overall technology talent ranking.
The 2026 report kept the same six markets in its top six positions as the previous year. They were the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, Toronto, New York Metro, Austin, and Washington, D.C.
The ranking measures more than total employment. CBRE uses 13 metrics to evaluate the depth, vitality, and attractiveness of technology talent markets for employers and workers.
Technology talent concentration carries substantial weight in the assessment. Labor costs and other market characteristics are also considered.
The Bay Area continues to have one of the highest concentrations of technology talent relative to its overall workforce. According to CBRE, technology talent represents more than 10% of total employment in the region.
More than half of the Bay Area’s technology talent workforce also works directly within the technology industry, placing the region among markets with particularly high industry concentration.
That concentration comes at a cost. CBRE estimated that a typical 500-person technology company occupying 60,000 square feet of office space would face approximately $91 million in annual labor and real estate costs in the Bay Area, the highest figure among the markets in that comparison.
At the same time, local hiring and office activity varies significantly by company. One example is an AI recruiting firm expansion in San Francisco’s SoMa district, where Juicebox increased its office footprint after raising $80 million and outlined plans to grow several teams.
The contrast helps explain why the workforce-size ranking and CBRE’s overall scorecard produce different leaders. New York has more technology talent workers, while the Bay Area scores higher when a wider set of market characteristics is considered.
Tech Talent Extends Beyond Traditional Technology Companies
Technology employment is increasingly spread across industries rather than concentrated solely within technology companies.
CBRE reported that more than 38% of technology talent across the United States and Canada works within the technology industry. That means the majority works elsewhere.
Financial services, insurance, real estate, professional services, transportation, warehousing, and wholesale are among the industries employing technology specialists.
Since 2022, the finance, insurance, and real estate sector added the largest number of U.S. technology jobs among the industries cited in the report, with 90,530 positions. Professional services and transportation, warehousing, and wholesale each added roughly 66,000 technology jobs during the same period.
Growth also varied considerably by occupation.
U.S. employment of data scientists increased 12.4%, or 29,000 jobs, in 2025. Computer and information systems managers increased 3.8%, or 24,600 jobs. Technology and engineering occupations added another 15,030 positions.
These figures reinforce the distinction between the technology industry and the broader technology talent workforce. A region can gain or lose technology workers even when employment trends at traditional technology companies tell a different story.
AI Talent Remains Concentrated in the Bay Area
Artificial intelligence is one of the clearest areas in which the Bay Area continues to stand apart in CBRE’s analysis.
The number of AI-skilled technology workers across the United States and Canada increased 45% year over year to 751,000 by mid-2026, according to the report.
The San Francisco Bay Area, New York Metro, Seattle, and Washington, D.C., together accounted for 37% of U.S. AI-specialty talent.
CBRE also reported that the Bay Area has attracted 80% of U.S. AI venture funding since 2020 and contains one-sixth of the country’s AI-specialty talent, based on data from PitchBook and LinkedIn Talent Insights.
AI-related companies have also influenced San Francisco’s commercial real estate market. According to the report, they accounted for 30% of office-market activity in the city since 2023.
Those figures help explain why the region can retain a high overall technology talent ranking despite a decline in total workforce size. The composition and concentration of technology employment remain important parts of CBRE’s assessment.
Workplace Patterns Continue to Change
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The shift toward AI has coincided with another change in the Bay Area labor market: fewer technology positions are being advertised as remote.
Remote postings represented 7% of Bay Area technology talent job openings in April 2026, down from 24% in mid-2022, according to CBRE.
The Bay Area figure was also below the 18% remote share for U.S. technology talent postings overall.
CBRE connected the decline with the increased use of hybrid arrangements and hiring by AI companies, which the report said largely favor full-time, in-person work.
The change adds another layer to the region’s workforce transition. The Bay Area is not only seeing different types of technology jobs. Employers are also changing where and how those roles are performed.
The Ranking and Headcount Tell Different Stories
New York’s move ahead of the Bay Area in total technology talent workforce size represents a notable change in the geography of U.S. technology employment.
The broader data, however, shows that workforce size is only one measure of a technology market.
The Bay Area tech workforce is smaller than it was in 2022, while AI-focused job postings have become a much larger share of current demand. The region also retains a high concentration of technology workers, significant AI-specialty talent, and CBRE’s highest overall market ranking.
New York now leads in total technology talent workers. The San Francisco Bay Area continues to lead CBRE’s broader scorecard. Together, those findings point to a technology labor market in which headcount, specialization, hiring demand, and market concentration are increasingly telling different parts of the story.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did New York surpass the Bay Area in tech workers?
Yes. CBRE reported that New York Metro had 394,300 technology talent workers in 2025, compared with 375,730 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The comparison placed New York ahead in total workforce size.
How large is the Bay Area tech workforce?
CBRE’s 2025 employment data puts the Bay Area tech workforce at 375,730 technology talent workers. The report also provides separate 2026 figures on job postings, AI-related roles, and workplace trends.
Does the Bay Area still rank first for technology talent?
Yes. The San Francisco Bay Area remained first overall in CBRE’s technology talent scorecard. The ranking considers 13 metrics rather than relying only on total workforce size.
How much did the Bay Area tech workforce decline?
The Bay Area lost 23,900 technology talent workers between 2022 and 2025. CBRE described the change as a 6% decline from the region’s 2022 level.
How important is AI to Bay Area technology hiring?
AI-related positions accounted for 57% of available Bay Area technology talent job postings by June 2026, according to CBRE. That compares with 20% when overall technology job postings last peaked in mid-2022.
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