Overview
- CBRE’s 2025 counts, published this week, put the New York metro at 394,300 tech workers and the San Francisco Bay Area at 375,730, marking the first time in the report’s 13‑year run that New York leads by headcount.
- The shift reflects roughly 30,640 tech jobs added in New York from 2022–2025 versus about 23,900 tech jobs lost in the Bay Area over the same period, a gap analysts link to announced layoffs in Silicon Valley.
- AI hiring is a major engine of growth with CBRE reporting about 45% year‑over‑year expansion in AI roles and noting that both New York and San Francisco added more than 20,000 AI‑specific jobs since mid‑2025.
- Despite losing ground on headcount, the Bay Area remains No. 1 on CBRE’s broader 13‑metric Tech Talent Scorecard because it still leads on measures such as talent quality, wages, and tech concentration.
- The rise of AI jobs is boosting office leasing in Manhattan and San Francisco and helping talent spread to secondary markets like Toronto, Huntsville and Stamford, which may change local housing, commuting and labor opportunities.