The Region of Madrid, a pole of attraction for talent and technological entrepreneurship

The Region of Madrid is known for being an ideal place to establish business, generate opportunities for growth and internationalisation and for its cosmopolitan nature. In addition, Madrid has a highly competitive education system with a high concentration of universities and some of the world's most prestigious business schools, which ensures a continuous supply of qualified professionals and makes it easier for companies to anticipate the talent needs of the coming years.

Thanks to its privileged position of access to international talent, the local workforce has developed strong technological and digital skills to accompany the rapid growth of the technology sector. Two aspects are particularly relevant: the leading number and diversity of STEM students and the concentration of tech-savvy professionals.

Leadership in number and diversity of STEM students

According to data from Deep Ecosystems, the Community of Madrid leads the European ranking in terms of the number of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) students, which are fundamental for integrating science in contexts associated with engineering and technology.

It also ranks fifth in terms of the number of foreign students, behind only London, Vienna, Paris and Berlin. The cosmopolitan nature of the region and its strength as a generator of opportunities attracts talent from different backgrounds and cultural contexts, creating a diverse workforce that is highly valued by multinational companies operating in the region. There are currently around 1.5 million people of 190 nationalities born outside Spain living in the Madrid region, 21% of its population.

The Madrid region has 7 public and 12 private universities. It is also home to 6 foreign centres authorised by the Community of Madrid, and hosts campuses of 4 of the most prestigious international Business Schools in the world, according to the main international rankings: IE, IESE, ESADE and ESCP.

Concentration of professionals with technological skills

Eurostat data highlight the good state of Madrid's economy, which is among the leading regions in terms of competitiveness, with more than 2.4 million people with higher education and/or employed in science and technology, the second largest pool of such profiles among European regions, after Paris. Madrid is in fact the second European region with the most professionals in technological and knowledge-intensive sectors.

In terms of the availability of talent, the Region of Madrid is the fifth in Europe in terms of the number of technology developers on the StackOverflow platform, according to data from Startupheatmap 2023. In terms of technology areas, it is ranked between third and fourth in Europe in technology areas such as application development, databases, cybersecurity, mobile technologies, data science, servers/cloud and front-end development/DevOps.

Nationally, Madrid leads the talent statistics with the creation of 40% of high-tech jobs in Spain in the last decade. It also has the highest percentage of highly qualified workers, with 46.5% of the total employed population, and is home to 25% of the country's leading high- and medium-tech companies. The talent ranking prepared by the COTEC Foundation and the IVIE also highlights the leadership of the Community of Madrid among Spanish regions.

All of the above explains why Madrid is an active community of technology professionals willing to collaborate and undertake innovative projects and why it is, for example, one of the European hubs with the most offices opened by unicorns, according to Deep Ecosystems, or the fifth hub in number of technology startups, according to Dealroom.

The Invest in Madrid report "Madrid region, a value-driven investment" analyses other aspects that make the region an ideal place for international talent, such as the socio-economic environment and the diversification of employment opportunities, its status as a financial centre, the high dynamism of its economy, the quality of life and its attractive taxation for large companies and start-ups.