Big tech shifts hiring to new markets following layoffs
US and Canada offer activity languishes behind the rest of the world
You can look at offer volumes to understand how companies are shifting their workforce footprints.
Sampling a few of the major global tech talent markets, San Francisco and Bengaluru dominate in size:
But what makes offers useful is they measure market change. Since offers are exclusively market float, not in-seat employees, they reveal the subtle re-balancing taking place in the talent markets.
Let’s look at this same data over the past couple years, indexing offer volumes to 100 in Q1 2022:
Notably, all markets are down from early 2022 highs.
But SF Bay Area, New York, and Toronto recoveries have languished compared to major tech markets in the rest of the world.
In contrast, Bengaluru and Dublin in particular have fared consistently well over the past four quarters compared to other markets.
Why is this happening?
Cost, most likely.
A P3 SWE base salary in Bengaluru and Dublin goes for $41k and $91k, respectively, while the same in the SF Bay Area goes for $194k. Your CFO has been saying for years that we should look to lower cost markets; after the 2023 layoffs, perhaps her counsel meets a warmer reception.
Also, it’s harder to close candidates in traditional tech markets — 77% in New York versus 84% in London for software engineering.
There’s also the matter of technical talent versus G&A, sales, etc, or ICs vs management vs support — I think we can agree that not every role needs to be in the same building or time zone, regardless where you stand in the RTO debate.
Have any talent markets fully recovered in offer activity?
Yes, as of end of Q1 2024, only one — guess which:
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