People flock less for notable technological poles. The “biggest losers” understand San Francisco, Seattle … (+)
Many large companies and technological startups are located in the San Francisco Bay region, in particular in Menlo Park and Palo Alto, which are considered the heart of Silicon Valley. However, the changing technological landscape, in particular the relocation of talents during the pandemic, presented both the challenges and opportunities for the founders and the startups, according to the Signalfire venture capital company, the Signalfire venture capital company Talent state report 2024.
Migration of technological talents
The technological industry is increasingly decentralized, with new poles emerging in the United States. The geographic evolution of the technological talent basin is motivated by factors such as remote work, the cost of living and government initiatives to stimulate technological growth outside traditional centers.
Austin has experienced the greatest growth in staff among major tech employers, up 44% since 2019. The city has attracted big names like Meta, Google, Oracle, Tesla, Snap, Apple and others, who have moved or extended in recent years.
For startups supported by venture capital, Texas holds two of the first three places with Austin (+ 23%) and Dallas (+ 19%). Seattle is between n ° 2 with a 20% increase in technological talents. Growth can be attributed to the movement of large technological companies to startups, with only 6% of the Growth Big Tech workforce in Seattle.
Number of best startups supported by VC and percentage of change in the workforce since 2019
Number of major technology employees and change percentage in the workforce since 2019
“While Austin has experienced the greatest growth in the technological workforce as a percentage of its old size, the city has reached second position with regard to raw volume, with a little less than half of the total of the offending movers moving In New York, “said the report.
Losers
People flock less for notable technological poles. The “biggest losers” include San Francisco, Seattle and Boston. Although the high cost of living is considered the main factor, the city of New York is an anomaly, because it has the prices of astronomical rents while attracting the largest share of relocators since 2019.
Net change of relocators
In addition, Arizona, which was once considered a center for technology sales, has contracted 7% in the past five years.
Silicon Valley leading in the talent
While technology workers have migrated from Silicon Valley, it still reigns in supreme with regard to the volume of talents specializing in artificial intelligence and automatic learning, the San Francisco Bay region at the top of list.
“San Francisco, by far, has the largest volume of technological talents in the country, as a percentage of its entire population. Thus, there is not only the largest volume of technical talents, but also the technical talents of AI, which is essential at that time, “said Heather Doshay, partner and head of people and talent at Signalfire. “His domination is really not threatened. It remains the largest population in terms of density of technological talents. »»
In October 2023, Openai, the mother of Chatgpt, led One of the largest office households in San Francisco Since 2018. The BAY office space has included nearly 500,000 square feet, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Without distrust, Pittsburgh and Portland, Oregon become booming poles for AI talents.
Implications for founders
To remain competitive, the founders should explore the establishment of roots in growing technological centers, such as Austin, New York and Dallas, to capitalize on the influx of talent. Given that Big Tech is no longer a safe decision, as evidenced by the wave of layoffs since 2022, technology workers can be more able to join startups supported by VC. The founders should also consider hiring talents remotely from the secondary poles or to create a hub model, with a central seat and satellite offices that accompany it.
While employers now hold cards on the current labor market, the high demand for AI talents made of this area of specialization except. To attract the best players, organizations will have to think in a creative way and offer flexible work styles, especially when they are in competition with the prestige of Big Tech.
Signalfire advises employers to turn to their existing workforce for the potential needs of talents. With reduced mobility possibilities and internal mobility, it gives employees the possibility of advancing their skills and improving the glasses of their work. Workers can acquire essential skills and the company does not have to look outside talents. They can also feed the growth of their employees.