New York Overtakes San Francisco as Leading Tech Talent Market Driven by AI Boom

New York unseats San Francisco as the top market for tech talent, CBRE reports

* A new CBRE report found New York's office market is home more tech workers than San Francisco's for the first time in 13 years of the analysis, thanks in large part to AI. * AI-related roles now account for nearly one-third of all tech-talent job listings in the U.S., per the findings. * Office leasing is rising in those markets where AI workers are most in demand. In this article * CBRE Follow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT The Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building and One Vanderbilt are seen among other buildings in midtown Manhattan in New York, Jan. 11, 2024. Angela Weiss | Afp | Getty Images A version of this article first appeared in the CNBC Property Play newsletter with Diana Olick. Property Play covers new and evolving opportunities for the real estate investor, from individuals to venture capitalists, private equity funds, family offices, institutional investors and large public companies. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox. It should come as no surprise that the number of artificial intelligence-specific tech workers is growing rapidly, and the effect of this growth on regional office markets is substantial. For the first time, New York's office market is home to the most tech workers, thanks in large part to AI, according to a new report from CBRE. New York's 394,300 tech talent jobs edged out the San Francisco Bay Area's 375,730 jobs, CBRE found. The report analyzes tech-specific workers in 75 metropolitan markets in the U.S. and Canada. It's the first time New York has taken the lead in the 13 years of this analysis. "The story there is that there's been cuts in the Bay Area, so the tech industry has contracted the size of the tech talent workforce, and the finance sector [in New York] has hired a lot of tech talent and a lot of AI workers," said Colin Yasukochi, executive director of CBRE's Tech Insights Center in San Francisco. For both the U.S. and Canada, AI tech roles grew by 45% in the past year, with San Francisco and New York each adding more than 20,000 AI-specific jobs since mid-2025, according to CBRE. As of June, there were 751,000 AI-related workers across the two countries, the report found. Those include both new jobs and conversions from existing jobs. AI-related roles now account for nearly one-third of all tech-talent job listings in the U.S., per the findings. By market, 37% of AI jobs in the U.S. are in the San Francisco Bay Area, New York, Seattle and Washington. While New York leads in overall tech talent, San Francisco still leads in AI, specifically. In Canada, there is greater concentration of AI employment, with 60% of those jobs based in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Office leasing is rising accordingly in those markets where AI workers are most in demand. Get Property Play directly to your inbox CNBC's Property Play with Diana Olick covers new and evolving opportunities for the real estate investor, delivered weekly to your inbox. Subscribe here to get access today. In San Francisco, AI companies made up 58% of all leasing in the first half of this year and have accounted for 30% of leasing activity, totaling about 10 million square feet, since 2023, according to CBRE. While overall tech drove the Bay Area's office market over the past few decades, the pandemic pushed many of those workers to remote jobs. AI, however, has a more office-centric culture and is now fueling the market's recovery. "It's more of the sort of startup innovation culture that we've seen, where people are in the office [a] minimum of four, but usually like five or six days a week," said Yasukochi. "Through this whole innovation process, being together and working in person is just much more efficient and innovative." In addition to San Francisco, AI leasing activity is concentrated most in Manhattan, Boston and Seattle, according to CBRE. There was concern that AI would reduce head counts, and consequently the need for office space, but in the short term, at least, that has not been the case. "It basically changes jobs and creates new jobs, more so than it eliminates," said Yasukochi, pointing specifically to the finance sector. Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

New York surpasses San Francisco as top tech talent market, CBRE reports

New York has overtaken San Francisco as the leading market for tech talent, with a report from CBRE indicating that New York's office market now hosts 394,300 tech jobs, compared to 375,730 in the San Francisco Bay Area. This marks the first time in 13 years of analysis that New York has taken the lead in tech employment. The growth in New York's tech workforce is largely attributed to the rise of artificial intelligence roles. Colin Yasukochi, executive director of CBRE's Tech Insights Center, noted that layoffs in the Bay Area have led to a contraction in its tech sector, while New York's finance industry has significantly increased its hiring of tech talent, particularly in AI. According to the report, AI-specific roles in the U.S. and Canada have surged by 45% over the past year, with both San Francisco and New York adding over 20,000 AI jobs since mid-2025. Currently, there are approximately 751,000 AI-related workers in both countries, representing nearly one-third of all tech job listings. While San Francisco continues to lead in AI-specific jobs, New York's overall tech job growth signifies a shift in the market landscape. The concentration of AI jobs in Canada is notable, with 60% located in Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. As demand for AI talent increases, office leasing in these markets has also risen significantly. In San Francisco, AI companies accounted for 58% of all office leasing in the first half of this year, totaling about 10 million square feet since 2023. The pandemic prompted many tech workers to shift to remote work, but the nature of AI jobs has led to a resurgence in office-centric work culture. Yasukochi emphasized the importance of in-person collaboration in fostering innovation, stating that AI roles typically require workers to be in the office at least four to six days a week. Concerns that AI might lead to reduced workforce sizes and a decreased need for office space have not materialized in the short term. Yasukochi commented that AI tends to transform jobs rather than eliminate them, particularly within the finance sector, where new roles are emerging alongside existing ones.

NYC surpasses San Francisco as biggest tech talent hub, study shows

New York City has surpassed San Francisco as the largest hub of tech talent in the country - and the rise of artificial intelligence is a key factor in the boom, according to new research. The number of tech workers based in the New York metro area was 394,300 in 2025, CBRE's research showed this week. Meanwhile, the San Francisco Bay area had 375,730 workers last year. "The story there is that there's been cuts in the Bay Area, so the tech industry has contracted the size of the tech talent workforce, and the finance sector [in New York] has hired a lot of tech talent and a lot of AI workers," Colin Yasukochi, executive director of CBRE's Tech Insights Center, told CNBC. The shift marked the first time in the 13-year history of CBRE's "Scoring Tech Talent" report that New York's tech scene - known affectionately as "Silicon Alley" - has exceeded San Francisco's by headcount. Most of the tech sector's biggest AI players, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and Meta, maintain significant office space in New York. As The Post reported, Anthropic has released an entire office building in Manhattan's Hudson Square and plans to double its local workforce to more than 1,000 employees by the end of this year. Both New York and San Francisco have shown signs of significant growth, with each adding more than 20,000 AI-related jobs since the middle of 2025, according to CBRE's data. Smaller cities like Philadelphia, Washington, DC, Atlanta, Chicago and Dallas-Fort Worth also posted large gains in their AI workforces. "There's no denying that AI is reshaping the tech industry and job growth in general," Yasukochi added in a statement. "Growth of AI jobs in the U.S. far outpaced the broader tech-talent category, which expanded by 1.8% last year even as the tech industry cut some non-AI jobs." San Francisco still outpaced New York in terms of CBRE's overall tech talent rankings, which are weighted based on various factors, including talent concentration and research and development investment, the firm said. San Francisco ranked first in the overall rankings, followed by Seattle and Toronto. New York ranked fourth.