Colorado Springs ranked fourth on CBRE’s list of up-and-coming North American tech-talent markets, according to CBRE’s Scoring Tech Talent Report, which ranks 75 U.S. and Canadian markets according to their ability to attract and grow tech talent. This is the second year Colorado Springs was included in up-and-coming markets. Colorado Spring’s tech-talent labor force grew by 15% in the past five years and its tech wages increased by 10%.
These up-and-coming markets are separate from the 50 larger tech markets that CBRE’s report ranks in its Tech Talent Scorecard. In contrast, the ‘Next 25’ up-and-coming markets are ranked by a narrower set of criteria than the top 50, including tech talent supply, wages, tech-talent concentration, recent tech talent growth rates and their outlook.
“Colorado Springs has a notable history of producing remarkable tech talent, particularly for R&D and software engineering. We’ll continue to see tech strengthen and grow in this market because of our three universities and the employment opportunities provided in tech, aerospace, and cybersecurity,” stated Brad T. Bird, First Vice President, CBRE.
The report outlines how tech-talent jobs are positioned to weather COVID-19 and related shutdowns and the ensuing recession because, more than ever, companies across all industries need the technical skills that this talent base offers. Many tech products and services such as streaming, remote communications and social media now are in higher demand to support remote work and social distancing.
Tech employment has shown it can withstand economic shocks: In the 2008-2010 recession, tech-talent employment declined by 0.5% while overall U.S. employment registered a 5.5% drop.
“We expect that most tech-talent markets and professions will thrive after the pandemic subsides, and many that facilitate remote work, e-commerce, social media and streaming services may have even greater growth opportunities accelerated by the COVID-19 disruption,” said Colin Yasukochi, Executive Director of CBRE’s Tech Insights Center. “Markets that have strong innovation infrastructure – leading universities and high concentrations of tech jobs – will lead the next growth cycle.”
The leaderboard of the ‘Next 25’ markets is filled with markets that have posted double-digit growth in tech jobs since 2013.
|
Market |
Tech employment |
5-Year Tech Job Growth |
Market |
Tech Employment |
5-Year Tech Job Growth |
|
Waterloo Region, ON |
22,400 |
51% |
Quebec City, QC |
35,800 |
27% |
|
Huntsville, AL |
22,800 |
14% |
Providence, RI |
19,010 |
11% |
|
Omaha, NE |
22,500 |
21% |
Albany, NY |
19,340 |
13% |
|
Colorado Springs, CO |
18,020 |
15% |
Edmonton, AB |
25,200 |
17% |
|
Dayton, OH |
18,790 |
29% |
Louisville, KY |
20,420 |
33% |
Colorado Springs also stood out in the report in other key areas:
- Tech wages averaged $96,423 in Colorado Springs last year, an increase of 10% since 2013.
- The narrower and highly coveted category of software-developer wages averaged $108,332 in Colorado Springs last year, up 10.1% over the past five years.
- Tech degree completions in Colorado Springs totaled 1,218 in 2018, seventh most among the Next 25 markets.
View the full report here. To view individual market statistics and rankings, including rankings on the Scorecard, access CBRE’s Tech Talent Analyzer.
