The Toughest Cities for Recruiting Tech Talent

It may be a surprise to some that San Francisco, New York and Washington are on the same list as cities in the Midwest for being the most difficult places to recruit technology talent.

That’s according to the latest issue of the Dice Report, which identifies the top 12 U.S. cities where skilled tech talent is difficult to find and recruit. Dice listed New York City as the number one toughest city for tech recruiting, citing former Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s “Made in New York” map that showed nearly 1,500 New York City tech companies hiring, as well as the more than 8,000 job postings advertised on Dice in the city on any given day.

San Francisco came in as the second spot for tough tech recruiting, in large part because of the abundance of tech firms clamoring for similar talent and six-figure salaries. Seattle and Los Angeles rounded out the West Coast cities on the list.

Following New York for difficult East Coast cities to recruit tech talent were Tampa, Boston, and Washington, D.C., particularly as the federal government, defense contractors and financial service companies compete for tech talent.

Still, the Midwest had the highest concentration of cities where it is most difficult to find and recruit tech pros. Within a 700-mile radius were five cities – St. Louis, Milwaukee, Little Rock, Chicago and Detroit – where supply and demand of tech professionals are complicating recruiting efforts. 

(Image via Andrew Zarivny/Shutterstock.com)