What is Tech Talent?

Highly skilled North American tech talent workers total 6.5 million and comprise more than 20 occupations, ranging from software developers who enable the devices we depend on to systems and data managers who ensure the functionality of our tech ecosystems.²

Although these positions are concentrated within the high-tech industry, they are spread across all industry sectors (Figure 1). Through this occupational lens, a software developer who works for a financial services or health-care company is considered tech talent.

The 5.5 million tech talent workers in the U.S. and 1.0 million in Canada account for a respective 3.9% and 6.4% of each country’s total workforce. This relatively small share of total employment has an outsized impact on real estate markets and the economy. The number of U.S. tech talent workers has increased by 631,000 or 12.8% over the past five years, substantially higher than the 1.2% national average for total employment. They are fueling innovation and adapting technology within nontraditional tech sectors to increase productivity and strengthen the national economy.

² Tech talent includes the following occupation categories: software developers and programmers; computer support, database and systems; technology- and engineering-related; and computer and information system managers.

Figure 1: Tech Talent Workforce by Industry (2021)

*Includes computer software and services and computer product manufacturing; **Finance, Insurance and Real Estate.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, April 2022.