The D.C. region ranks No. 4 among the 75 North American markets covered in CBRE’s annual Scoring Tech Talent report.
According to the report, the D.C. region added 17,100 tech talent workers between 2017 and 2022, bringing the total number in the industry to 265,240 as of the end of last year. That’s a 7% five-year increase and higher than overall national employment growth. Technology-related jobs now account for 8.8% of all jobs in the D.C. region.
The report examined education, compensation, diversity and opportunity among other factors for those working in technology, and for companies with technology jobs to fill. Tech talent is defined by CBRE as those working in 20 key tech professions across all industries from software engineers to systems and data managers.
CBRE also notes the D.C. region’s tech talent pool is sought after.
“D.C. has the third-largest number of tech degree graduates — 63,000 of them — which creates an incredible opportunity for employers to capitalize on the tech graduates who are already located in this market,” said Caroline Bour, senior vice president at CBRE.
The IT profession remains dominated by white and Asian males, but the D.C. region ranks No. 1 on this year’s report for gender diversity in the IT field.
“Women make up roughly 29% of the region’s tech talent,” said Bour. “Fortunately, we are seeing a higher percentage of women graduating with tech degrees, so hopefully we will see an improvement in female representation in tech jobs over the next five years.”
The D.C. region’s IT profession is also less dependent on the technology industry and, as such, has proven to be more resilient in the face of big tech job cuts.
“It’s not all tech companies like you find in the Bay Area. In D.C., of the total tech workers, only 40% work for tech companies and nearly 22% work for the government,” Bour said.
The balance of IT jobs in the region are at a wide range of private employers, from law firms to banks, to nonprofits and associations, to the hospitality industry.
The Scoring Tech Talent report also covers tech wages. The D.C. region has the seventh-highest annual wage for tech talent in the industry, at an average $105,808. San Francisco has the highest at $185,425, followed by Seattle, at $172,009.
CBRE’s full Scoring Tech Talent 2023 report is online.
