HR and L&D professionals are in high demand, especially in the places on this list. The places on this list offer some of the best and most lucrative opportunities for talent development professionals in 2018.
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1. San Francisco, California
Many cities in California are ideal locations for talent professionals in 2018. However, San Francisco specifically offers many lucrative opportunities for talent development professionals because the city is currently experiencing record-high job market levels and needs to fill a lot of different positions quickly, especially in the ever-growing technology space, where there are as many as 1,500 current job openings right now.
This city ranked number one on Monster’s HR People’s Best Cities for HR Professionals and landed on ATD’s Top 5 Best Cities for Talent Management Professionals. And two organizations that ranked in the top 25 of the world’s top companies for HR, Salesforce and Genentech, are also headquartered in San Francisco. Not to mention, the mean salary for a training and development manager has increased and is now around $146,950 due to the higher cost of living in the area.
2. New York, New York
New York City ranked number two on Monster’s HR People’s Best Cities for HR Professionals and is a great place for talent professionals because of the sheer size of the population of individuals living in the city (over 8 million!) and people who are looking for jobs. The city also hosts four of the top 25 organizations for HR professionals, such as Deloitte and American Express. New York City is also close to a lot of different major states and regions currently looking for talent, such as New Jersey.
3. Washington, D.C.
D.C. landed on the number one spot of ATD’s Top 5 Best Cities for Talent Management Professionals and the number four spot on Monster’s HR People’s Best Cities for HR Professionals. The United States’ capital city has a lot of opportunities for new data centers and information hubs in 2018 and beyond, as well as occupations at the local, state, and federal levels for government entities, and a multitude of international opportunities. And while the mean salary for a talent professional in this region is quite high—at nearly $150,000 annually—the cost of living is much higher than the states mentioned above on this list.
4. Boston, Massachusetts
Boston is on this list because it holds more than 77 colleges and universities where recruiters and talent professionals can scout and develop top-notch talent. This city has a lower cost of living while having a higher mean salary range for L&D professionals, at $136,580. There are a lot of opportunities for HR and L&D professionals in this region. And, it’s also one of the oldest and most historical cities in the United States.
Other top cities for talent professionals to consider for work opportunities in 2018 include Seattle, Dallas, and Denver.