The San Francisco Bay Area has been surpassed by New York as the largest market for tech talent, according to a report by CBRE. The New York Metro Area's tech workforce grew by more than 8% from 2022 to 2025, reaching 394,300 workers, while the Bay Area's workforce dropped by 6%. This shift is attributed in part to mass layoffs among tech companies in Silicon Valley, which are focusing on artificial intelligence investments. New York's growth highlights its appeal as a transit-rich environment for companies and workers alike.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-07,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
San Francisco Bay Area dethroned as largest tech talent market
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Area → dethrone → market
The San Francisco Bay Area, epicenter of the artificial intelligence boom, is home to a massive number of tech workers employed by some of the world’s most valuable companies, from Apple to Nvidia.
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Area → employ → Nvidia
But for the first time, New York has eclipsed the Bay Area as the home of the largest “tech talent workforce,” a report by real estate and investment firm CBRE shows.
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report → eclipse → CBRE
The firm has published the annual report for 13 years.
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firm → publish → years
Last year, the New York Metro Area’s tech talent workforce reached 394,300, surpassing the Bay Area’s 375,730, according to the report.
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workforce → reach → report
Fueled by mass layoffs, the Bay Area’s tech talent workforce dropped by 6% from 2022 to 2025.
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workforce → fuel → 2025
New York’s tech talent workforce, on the other hand, grew by more than 8% during that period.
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workforce → grow → period
Tech talent workers include highly skilled workers in more than 20 technology-oriented jobs, employed in industries such as healthcare, financial services, government and more, according to CBRE.
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workers → include → CBRE
The growth of New York’s tech talent highlights how tech workers are spilling into other industries and cities as Silicon Valley companies lay off workers.
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companies → highlight → workers
Companies including Meta, Block and Amazon continue to cut workers as they focus more on AI investments.
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they → include → investments
Tech giants such as Meta and Coinbase continue to lay off employees, citing the way AI is reshaping how people work.
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people → continue → way
Tech workers are navigating a crossroads in their careers and a brutal job market.
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workers → navigate → careers
“The Bay Area is likely to remain ... the central location for the AI industry and for innovation.
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Area → remain → innovation
But as we’ve seen during past cycles, as it tends to grow, that spreads out to all the key markets,” Colin Yasukochi, executive director of CBRE’s Tech Insights Center, said during a news conference Tuesday.
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Yasukochi → see → conference
New York has gained tech workers in the financial services sector, which was an early adopter of artificial intelligence, said Lauren Crowley Corrinet, vice chairman of CBRE’s Consulting Group in New York.
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Corrinet → gain → York
Meanwhile, AI startups have popped up in the Midtown South neighborhood and other areas.
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startups → pop → neighborhood
New York has a transit-rich environment, making it an attractive place for companies to purchase new office space and workers to live in.
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companies → have → space
“The size of the market, just the sheer scale of it, really does support both the early stage growth, but also that ability to just scale fast,” she said.
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she → support → growth
In California, some cities grew their tech talent workforce.
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cities → grow → workforce
Sacramento’s tech talent workforce grew more than 8% from 2022 to 2025, reaching 42,970.
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workforce → grow → 42,970
Los Angeles and Orange County’s tech workforce totaled 227,350 last year, up by less than 1% compared to 2022.
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workforce → total → 2022
Toronto, Washington, D.C. and Dallas-Forth Worth all had more tech talent.
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Toronto → have → talent
CBRE looked at other factors beyond the size of a metro area’s tech talent workforce, such as average salary, rental prices and tech graduates, to rank the markets on a scorecard.
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CBRE → look → scorecard
Los Angeles is ranked No. 18.
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Angeles → rank → ?
The drop in tech talent in the Bay Area comes as workers grow more worried that AI could lead to fewer jobs.
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AI → come → jobs
Roughly 71% of adults think AI will lead to fewer jobs in the United States over the next two decades, up from 64% in 2024, according to a survey released by the Pew Research Center on Tuesday.
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AI → think → Tuesday
While tech executives such as Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg have an optimistic outlook on the future of AI, they’ve also acknowledged that company sizes could shrink.
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sizes → have → AI
But AI also could create new jobs.
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AI → create → jobs
The U.S. high-tech industry still is filling AI-related roles including data scientists and hardware engineers, according to CBRE.
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industry → fill → CBRE
It remains to be seen whether hiring will outpace cuts, though CBRE executives also appeared optimistic.
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executives → remain → cuts
“My expectation is that these jobs are going to continue to grow as companies, not only tech companies, start to figure out how they’re going to implement AI into their businesses,” Yasukochi said.
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Yasukochi → go → businesses
