Is Brickell, Miami the New Silicon Valley?

The US job market has gone through major changes in the last few years – and Miami has been at the center of it all.In 2023, the South Florida area is seeing a continued influx of job seekers and business leaders who are migrating from other major metropolitan areas like New York City, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. So it comes as no surprise that the Miami job market is stronger than ever with major players from the tech industry making the move from Silicon Valley to the Sunshine State, followed by financial firms, major retailers, and everything in between. While the market seems dominated by news of layoffs, in Miami we’re seeing a different story.

Tech in Miami

Industry giants like LexerX, Rothschild & Co., and Citadel have announced plans to move their corporate headquarters to Miami. A report from the trade group CompTIA shows that Florida added 2,715 tech businesses to their economy last year, which is greater than the number added in both Texas and California. In 2022, Miami startups shattered records, earning $5.5B in venture capital funding, according to the Q4 2022 PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor. The 2022 Bitcoin conference was even held in Miami, pointing to the city’s influence on crypto. Plus, the greatest indicator of all is the low unemployment rate, which currently sits as the lowest in the country at 1.7%."We've never seen anything like it before", states Susan Levine, CEO and Founder of Career Group Companies, a women-owned recruiting and advisory firm with offices across the country in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Miami, Greenwich, and Dallas.

The State of the Miami Job Market

According to Levine, “Miami is still benefiting from the decentralization generated by the pandemic", which led many professionals who started working remotely from different states to seek a warmer climate, a more laid-back lifestyle and lower taxes."In the last 3 years, we have seen a wave of strong talent moving to Miami for the most sought-after opportunities in the country”, states Christina Kadirov, Managing Director of Recruitment & Client Partnerships at Career Group Companies in Miami. “We noticed the trend, and that’s one of the major reasons we launched our Miami office in 2020.” Career Group Companies has since expanded its nationwide recruiting services to include jobs available in southern Florida and Dallas, Texas, including roles in executive support, retail, lifestyle, and digital. “We spent 3 years in Miami's Design District, and now, we’re relocating to Brickell – where many of our clients are based or moving, so we can better support their hiring needs”.According to a February 2023 study conducted by Bloomberg: “For the first time in at least 40 years, there are more jobs in the Sunshine State than there are in New York.” This new data suggests that professionals are still heading south in search of a higher quality of living. Luckily, they’re being met with big opportunity in the tech and financial sectors, as well as in retail, digital, hospitality, and corporate services.

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"These professionals who migrated from other major business centers, like New York, are the people our clients are most excited to work with. They’re used to working in a fast-paced environment and operating at the highest standards.”

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She added that many organizations are looking to promote from within by moving employees from other corporate branches to their newest Florida offices.

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Whispers of a recession and an unstable economy haven’t slowed down hiring. According to Kadirov, “There has been an increase in temp-to-hire and freelance openings for firms that do not feel secure in committing to long-term contracts right now, but they still need qualified people to perform the work.” Temporary positions have always been a valuable opportunity for candidates hoping to break into a new industry or get their foot in the door with an A-list company – with a chance of being converted to full time. For many, the layoffs affecting the tech sector nationwide are being viewed as a reset - a response to the unsustainable over-hiring that happened early in 2022. For the Miami job market, all indicators point to an optimistic future, and even more growth in tech and finance in the coming year.