Tech Sector Critical to San Diego’s Economy

Jolanta Campion

The technology sector is critical to San Diego’s economy. The Tech Cities 2.0 report from Cushman & Wakefield analyzes the importance of technology to local economies, ranking on a scale of critical to the economy, a key driver of the economy or important to the economy. San Diego achieved the highest ranking, based on both workforce and capital, according to Jolanta Campion of Cushman & Wakefield. San Diego has a robust tech economy that has been integral to the market for years.

“In comparing to the prior year, the share of employment in tech jobs in San Diego remained virtually unchanged at 8.4% of total employment in 2018, ranking 9th in the U.S in this category, compared to 8.6% in 2017,” Campion, director of research for San Diego at Cushman & Wakefield, tells GlobeSt.com. “San Diego-Carlsbad is just a few thousand positions shy of having 100,000 tech jobs according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. However, share of tech employment is likely much higher if you consider the many industries utilizing or relying heavily on technology today. Notably, the U.S. market average of tech as a proportion of total employment is 4.8%.” San Diego’s tech workforce is largely linked to the market’s university system, which churns out talent. Accessibility to that workforce gives San Diego its “tech haven status,” according to Campion. San Diego also has a large millennial workforce, making up 24.3% of the region’s population and 56% of the population are younger than 39 years old.