Artificial intelligence skills are rapidly reshaping the tech labor pool in the U.S. and Canada, with CBRE reporting that the number of tech workers proficient in AI grew by 45% in the past year. According to the firm, AI-related roles now make up nearly one-third of U.S. tech-talent job postings, signaling a swift shift in how technology companies are hiring and deploying talent.
CBRE’s 13th annual Scoring Tech Talent report finds that AI jobs are clustering in a handful of major technology hubs. In the U.S., 37% of AI positions are concentrated in the San Francisco Bay Area, New York City, Seattle and Washington, DC. North of the border, Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver account for 60% of Canada’s AI jobs, underscoring how a few metros are capturing the bulk of this emerging segment of tech employment.
The report links this surge in AI hiring to improving office demand across leading tech markets. CBRE notes that AI-driven companies are playing an outsized role in leasing activity in those hubs, with the effect especially pronounced in San Francisco. There, AI companies have been responsible for 30% of office leasing since 2023, totaling roughly 10 million square feet over that period, according to the firm.
CBRE expects the momentum in the AI sector to continue to support office fundamentals in these key markets as employers compete for specialized talent. The firm points out that AI job growth has far exceeded the broader tech-talent category, which expanded by 1.8% over the past year even as some non-AI technology roles were cut.
Commenting on the findings, Colin Yasukochi, executive director of CBRE’s Tech Insights Center in San Francisco, said that AI is reshaping both the tech industry and overall job growth. He added that markets gaining AI roles are further strengthening their position as tech talent centers, as AI hiring and office leasing reinforce each other in the most competitive hubs.
