San Diego’s IT market is hot and doesn’t plan on cooling down anytime soon! According to a study by Cushman & Wakefield, SD ranks in the top 10 of cities in the United States with the highest concentration of tech jobs. Remote work due to the COVID-19 pandemic has allowed job seekers the flexibility of choosing where they would like to live and work.
Who wouldn’t want to live in this beautiful, sunny city? The cost of living compared to Silicon Valley is another draw for tech professionals looking to relocate to the west coast. Many Silicon Valley companies themselves are also seeing the benefits of relocating their headquarters to SD, driving more work to the area. Not sold yet? Let’s dive into the booming tech environment that is San Diego.
San Diego Industries Need Your Top-Notch Tech Skills
SD is bustling with various industries on the hunt for the best in tech talent. These are the top industries in the area aligning their needs with tech:
Government & Military
San Diego is home to one of the largest concentrations of military assets in the world, serving as a main source for jobs in the area. More specifically, tech jobs. Many tech startups and other “non-traditional partners” are aligned with providing support to the Navy through the NavalX Tech Bridges. For example, this local defense industry applies AI technology to power drone technology used by the military.
The Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWAR), also headquartered in SD, is the Navy’s IT hub. They are constantly accepting large federal contracts, creating many jobs year-over-year for local startups, defense contractors, and cyber security firms, to partner with for tech work.
Chip Manufacturers
Chip manufacturing is constantly expanding in this city, thanks to Qualcomm, the multinational corporation headquartered in San Diego creating semiconductors, software, and services related to wireless tech. It is the largest public company in SD, providing countless jobs to the area. Qualcomm is a natural draw to the city for professionals in the chip space from all over the world.
Peregrine Semiconductor (pSemi), also headquartered in San Diego, designs and manufactures innovative semiconductor solutions. Business development engineers, analysts, web developers, and more flock to this company to put their tech skills to work.
biotech and life sciences
The Life Sciences and Biotech industries are a major driver of the city's economy. With more than 80 independent and university-affiliated research institutes and over 1,225 life sciences companies, this industry only continues to grow. These research institutes and major pharmaceutical companies are working with life- changing technologies that are growing businesses and providing healthcare solutions to people all over the world. In order to fuel these new and innovative technologies, tech experts are always needed in the San Diego area. From Data Analysts, Biostatisticians, Computer Systems Validation Engineers, and beyond, there is always a need for top tech talent in this industry.
Standing Out in the San Diego Tech Market
How will you make waves as a candidate in the SD tech market? Look into these skills and concentrations that are most prevalent in the area:
Skill 1: artificial intelligence (AI) & machine learning (ml)
AI and ML are disrupting every industry in San Diego and beyond. Since the city is positioned as a leading adopter of the latest in technology, it’s no wonder this city positions itself as one of the leaders in these technologies. Companies in San Diego from Qualcomm, Intuit, and Oracle are all developing AI and ML algorithms.
The San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) has been an early proponent of AI-based smart cities technologies. There are ongoing projects applying AI and ML tech to create and support smart buildings, smart parking, smart transportation. SD continues to pave the way for technological advancements for all metropolitan areas and needs top talent to continue this work.
Skill 2: data scientist
Data science is a discipline that involves statistics and mathematical knowledge to make predictions and data analysis. A data scientist scrapes raw data, cleans it, analyses patterns and trends, and works with data visualization. Data science is currently used to help businesses make better decisions. Many industries such as healthcare, finance, and marketing use data science for prediction purposes. Ultimately, a Data Scientist’s goal is to tell a story with the data and provide actionable plans for companies.
The Data Science Hub at the San Diego Supcercomputer Center is a training facility supporting initiatives to establish a modern and capable data science workforce to power the SD area and beyond. Collaborators range in backgrounds from university faculty, researchers, industry, and government.
Skill 3: cloud
Businesses across all industries are migrating over to the Cloud. Cloud-based computing systems allow businesses to store sensitive data on one unified and secure platform. With more and more companies recognizing the benefits of Cloud solutions, the roles within Cloud continue to skyrocket. From Cloud Engineers, Cloud Project Manager, and Cloud Architects. San Diego is bustling with startups partnering with these companies looking to migrate over to the Cloud, providing opportunities for unique hands-on experience. Azure, AWS, and GCP expertise are great to have as you transition into these Cloud roles.
Skill 4: certifications & education
SD is a hub for techies of all ages and levels of experience to upscale their skills to qualify for top IT roles. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, many people turned around their situations of being laid off and/or spending more time at home to earn some online tech certifications or take online classes to enhance their skills. Python has been trending as a top coding language of the future. Holding a certification in Python will play a large part in being a standout tech candidate in this city.
Local universities, such as UCSD, UCLA, and Caltech, are attracting top-tech talent internationally due to their highly accredited programs. The graduates of these programs are producing high-caliber grads that are using their talents to continuously power the city's tech market. Researchers at UCSD are attributed to paving the way for ML technology banks utilize to uncover credit card transaction fraud.
conclusion
The demand for tech talent in San Diego is not slowing down anytime soon. Remote work for tech roles continues to ramp up and has created lasting impacts on the landscape of work in the city. As more tech continues to pop-up and advance, big companies will continue to flock to SD’s tech hub seeking the best in tech talent. San Diego will always be classy, and is waiting for you to join our tech force!
