Chapter 3

Costs

Global Tech Talent Guidebook 2025

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Labor is the biggest expense for most companies, followed by real estate.

Highly skilled and educated tech talent workers often command much higher salaries than the average non-tech office worker. Average annual software engineer salaries were used to determine the cost of tech talent globally.

Global software engineer salaries have two components: base or take-home pay and additional benefits that are mandated by law (Figure 15). Salaries for software engineers are highest in the San Francisco Bay Area and New York at US$177,273 and US$158,387, respectively. Zurich was the highest non-U.S. market at US$139,272. Additional benefits were highest in Paris and Brussels. The lowest salaries were in India and Latin America.

Figure 15: Software Engineer Compensation by Market in US$ (2024)

* Additional benefits vary by market and may include mandatory employer costs like disability insurance, social security and healthcare.
Note: Exchange rates may have a significant impact on U.S. dollar equivalent wages.
Source: ERI, CBRE Research, January 2025.

Even as remote and hybrid work arrangements become more established, office rent is the second-highest cost for most non-manufacturing companies. Paris had the highest annual average gross direct asking rent of US$124 per sq. ft., while London, Zurich and Singapore all had rents of US$100 per sq. ft. or more (Figure 16). Hybrid work policies and slower job growth continue to impact office markets globally, with office vacancy rates still near peak levels in many markets. The established markets of Delhi-Gurugram, Atlanta, Chicago and Dallas had the highest office vacancy rates at more than 26%, while the San Francisco Bay Area and Beijing had the highest vacancy rates among powerhouse markets at more than 20%.

Figure 16: Office Market Fundamentals, Q3 2024

*Millions of sq. ft. **US$
Note: Measurement standards for total inventory and rent per square foot vary globally. Total office inventory for Paris includes Centre West, La Defense and Western Crescent only. Average rent for Sao Paulo includes only Class A properties and data for San Jose, Costa Rica includes all of Costa Rica. Delhi-Gurugram data includes only Gurugram.
Source: CBRE Research, Q3 2024.

For many tech talent workers, housing affordability is a key consideration. Comparing the average annual apartment rent with the average annual software engineer salary shows that tech talent salaries across global markets meet the affordability standard of 30% or less of income for housing (Figure 17).

Monthly apartment rents were highest in New York, San Francisco Bay Area, Boston, London and San Diego, each at US$2,800 or more. Budapest had the highest rent-to-base wage ratio of 34%, followed by New York, London, Warsaw Bucharest and Singapore, each with 25% or more.

Figure 17: Apartment Rent & Wage Ratio by Market (US$)

*Q3 2024 **Annualized Q3 2024 apartment rent compared to median software engineer compensation by market in 2024.
Note: Markets excluded above do not have apartment rents tracked by CBRE.
Source: ERI, CBRE Research, January 2025.

The relationship between software engineering wages and office space costs shows the most- and least-expensive markets in which to operate (Figure 18). Budget-conscious companies that require tech talent may choose markets like Bogota and Hyderabad, while companies with more financial wherewithal may consider larger more expensive markets like the San Francisco Bay Area, New York, Zurich, Singapore, London and Paris.

Figure 18: Software Engineer Salary vs. Office Space Cost by Market in US$ (2024)

Figure 18 chart

Note: Office rent data for Sao Paulo includes only Class A properties and data for San Jose, Costa Rica is average for all of Costa Rica. Delhi-Gurugram office rent only includes data for Gurugram.
Source: Economic Research Institute, CBRE Research, October 2024.

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Chapter 4 Emerging Markets
Chapter 2 Labor Supply