Juicebox and Newmark Show Software and Tech Dominate Talent Searches in San Francisco, With Office Leasing Tracking Toward 30-Year High
Juicebox issues report with Newmark's participation, finding software developers remain San Francisco's most-searched talent, as office leasing jumps 37% and companies sign larger leases.
SAN FRANCISCO, October 05, 2026--Juicebox, the AI recruiting platform, today announced the release of SF Is So Back, a new report examining the talent companies searched for and, in collaboration with Newmark Research, the office space they committed to during the first half of 2026.
San Francisco could be reclaiming its place at the center of tech. In 2026, the data tells a compelling story, with hiring demand extending across business functions and companies making larger, longer-term commitments to office space. Key findings from the report include:
Tech backgrounds dominate talent searches: Software appeared in 27% of all San Francisco talent searches between January and June 2026. That's more than 4x the share of Financial Services, the second-most searched non-technology adjacent industry background.
Software developers are still the most searched talent: Despite talks about AI replacing engineers, demand for technical talent remains high. The three most-searched roles in San Francisco were all in software development or engineering.
Office leasing jumped 37% and is on pace for a 30-year high: Companies leased 7.9 million square feet of San Francisco office space between January and June 2026, up 37% from the same period in 2025. At its current pace, leasing is projected to reach 15.9 million square feet for the year.
Companies are signing bigger leases as vacancy falls: Average lease size reached 20,388 square feet in the first half of 2026, its highest level since 2019, while vacancy fell year over year in both Q1 and Q2. The report also finds that companies are expanding existing footprints, with Tech and AI expansion leasing reaching roughly 390,000 square feet in just six months, surpassing every full-year total in the dataset going back to 2019.
"There's been so much speculation about San Francisco's recovery, but when you're building a company here, the momentum is something you can feel," said David Paffenholz, Co-founder and CEO of Juicebox. "The data from Juicebox and contributions from Newmark validate a shift we've been seeing for some time. We expect hiring demand to continue growing, not only in software development but across go-to-market and operational roles, as well as industries beyond traditional tech."
"The office recovery is showing up in both the amount of space companies are leasing and how they solve for flexibility as they plan for growth," said Maurice "Mo" Spikes, Senior Managing Director at Newmark. "We're largely seeing companies seek space that they can move into quickly, with room to expand as their teams scale. As high-quality, built-out space becomes harder to find, planning ahead is becoming more important, particularly for companies thinking about scalability from day one."