Workforce Migration: Austin Leads Nation

In Austin, The city of Austin, boosted by new Tesla facilities, led all U.S. markets in net migration percentage (4.1 percent of total workforce) between February 2020 and February 2023, as stated by a new report from CBRE.

Austin also led the country in net migration percentage for three categories of tech employees, including young professionals, (8.6 percent), rising professionals (6 percent) and mid-late career employees (2 percent), CBRE reported.

In 2021, Tesla reported it was moving its headquarters from California to Austin where it built a 4 million SF electric vehicle manufacturing plant. A number of technology firms have expanded in Austin, including Samsung, which is building a $17 billion semiconductor manufacturing plant in Austin’s northern suburbs.

Google, Facebook, Apple and other technology firms have leased space in downtown Austin, where a number of office and residential towers have been constructed recently.

CBRE analyzed LinkedIn Talent data to chart aggregate movement of professionals from 2020 through February 2023.

Other key takeaways included:

• The talent drain from large cities during and since the pandemic was minimal when put in context. San Francisco lost 0.9 percent of its workforce, Los Angeles lost 0.2 percent and New York City lost 0.6 percent from 2020 to 2023.
• Many Sunbelt cities saw a net inflow of professionals during that time frame, including Austin (up 4.1 percent), Nashville (up 2.6 percent) and Tampa (up 2.6 percent).
• Momentum has shifted of late. For the year ended in February 2023, many large cities saw their talent outflows shrink. And New York City notched a 0.6 percent gain.
• Ultimately, all of the percentages are relative. Even at a pace of 4.1 percent growth, it would take Austin more than 80 years to match the size of San Francisco’s workforce.

CBRE also analyzed migration patterns for tech workers and finance workers. The biggest gains in tech workers came in Austin (up 15 percent) and Seattle (up 11.5 percent). The biggest gains in finance workers came in Charlotte (up 1.9 percent) and Tampa (up 1.7 percent).