Populations growth continues to have positive effect on employment in Tampa Bay
Florida has seen a steady population increase year over year for the past decade and with corporate migration and continuing rapid occupier growth it is not expected to lose momentum. With nearly 1,100 people moving to Florida every day, Tampa Bay’s current metro population is just shy of three million and counting. That is a 1.2% increase from 2021 already in Q1 of 2022 and it is a 1.3% increase since pre-pandemic levels. As the market evolves from the influx of transplants, it has made a significant impact on employment trends. In Florida, nearly 480,000 jobs have been created since the beginning of 2021 resulting in an annual increase of 5.6%. A large contributor to those escalating numbers is the tech industry presence that has been in the spotlight across many major markets in the U.S. over the past year. Tampa Bay saw an average of 11.8% growth over the past three quarters whereas prior to the pandemic, the tech industry was only averaging a 2.5% year over year increase. One of the larger deals done in Q1 2022 by information technology company Wipro, is a prime example, leasing 113,000 square feet (sf) and is forecasted to bring a significant number of jobs to the Tampa Bay area.