WASHINGTON — The D.C. area ranks respectably high in a report on information technology talent, but it ranks at the top of the list for the number of women in IT.
CBRE said Washington’s IT workforce is the most gender diverse tech talent pool among the 50 markets it studied. The D.C. area’s technology workforce is 32 percent female.
The D.C. metro area also ranks No. 4 on CBRE’s Tech Talent Scorecard, which ranks U.S. and Canadian markets according to their ability to attract and grow tech talent.
D.C. also has the third-largest tech talent workforce, at 243,360.
The report is not all good news for the area’s technology industry.
CBRE says the D.C. region also suffers from the second-largest “brain drain” of any market measured, or how many tech degree-holding graduates stay in the city they graduate from.
From 2011 to 2015, D.C. saw 56,623 new graduates with tech degrees, but only added 40,720 tech jobs.
CBRE says those local graduates are going to more affordable cities like Atlanta, Charlotte and Dallas instead of finding tech jobs in the D.C.-Baltimore corridor.
The top 10-ranked cities on the Tech Talent Scorecard are San Francisco, Seattle, New York, Washington, Atlanta, Toronto, Raleigh-Durham, Austin, Boston and Dallas/Ft. Worth.
More findings about the Washington technology talent pool:
- The D.C. metro area is No. 2 for educational attainment.
- From 2011 to 2016, the D.C. area saw the number of tech-focused occupations swell by 9.6 percent.
- The average wage for tech occupations in the area is $108,330, one of the highest of markets studied.
“The Washington region continues to produce one of the most desirable labor forces in the country. With six major universities, D.C. delivers one of the most educated and highly-compensated workforces and also ranks as the most gender diverse,” said Ezra Weinblatt, Senior Vice President of CBRE’s Advisory & Transaction Services team.
“As competition to recruit and retain top talent continues throughout the country, our client’s interest in the region is growing seeking innovative office spaces to help them attract and retain top talent,” Weinblatt said.
