Which Cities Are Most Ready to Fill Tech Jobs?
Next City | Marielle Mondon | Feb. 10
http://nextcity.org/daily/entry/us-cities-tech-jobs-trained-employees
“Saying that America’s 50-industries-strong tech sector is ‘the country’s best shot at supporting innovative, inclusive, and sustainable growth,’ a new Brookings report, ‘America’s Advanced Industries,’ aims to underscore the urgency of focusing on economic renewal by supporting what it refers to as the ‘advanced industries sector;’ — car manufacturing, computer software, energy and more. Such industries tend to concentrate in U.S. metropolitan regions, and the study found that the sector has led the post-recession employment recovery, making up 9 percent of total employment as of 2013…In terms of the sector’s local clustering, San Jose is the nation’s leading advanced industry hub with 30.0 percent of its workforce employed in the sector. Seattle follows with 16.0 percent of its local jobs in advanced industries. Wichita (15.5 percent); Detroit (14.8 percent), and San Francisco (14.0 percent) follow. Overall, advanced industries account for more than one in 10 jobs in nearly one-quarter of the country’s major metro areas.”
Tinder for Tech Jobs: 5 Apps Better Than LinkedIn
InformationWeek | David Wagner | Feb. 10
http://www.informationweek.com/it-life/tinder-for-tech-jobs-5-apps-better-than-linkedin/d/d-id/1319003
“There are five new job-hunting services out there that are designed to help make your job search a little easier, especially if you’re trying to do it on the sly. In fact, some job apps are actually calling themselves ‘Tinder for Jobs.’ Each one tries to eliminate one or more of those hassles of a traditional LinkedIn job search. They also have one more thing in common: They’re trying to take the worst part out of the job search—the rejection.”
Jobr, Switch, Blonk, Scout, Poachable
Cool Spaces: Take a Rare, Inside Look at Google’s Swanky Kirkland Offices
Puget Sound Business Journal | Jacob Demmitt | Feb. 9
http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/techflash/2015/02/cool-spaces-take-a-rare-inside-look-at-googles.html?ana=e_tf&s=newsletter&ed=2015-02-09&u=ls5d+7OJRUaWfkIJW6OjBA0fe38366&t=1423523215
“Google’s Kirkland campus is a long way from the company’s Mountain View, Calif., headquarters, but that doesn’t mean it skimps on any of the hallmarks we’ve come to expect from Google workplaces. Every floor is packed with engineers coding away, but sprinkled between are more than a few outlets to let off steam. A gym complete with personal trainers, an onsite doctor and massage chairs galore serve a just a few reminders that you’re wandering through the halls of one of the companies that sets the bar for work environments…It’s already the company’s third largest engineering center, but it’s about to get a whole lot bigger. The company has 900 employees spread across three buildings. Construction is underway on a fourth building that is going to roughly double the company’s 195,000 square feet of office space when it opens sometime later this year. Google isn’t saying yet exactly what product teams will call the new building home, but a spokesperson says it will be more of the engineering work already happening there today.”
Latest local job postings for Google
Juno Therapeutics Plans Bothell Manufacturing Plant
Seattle Times | Staff | Feb. 9
http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2025659541_junomanufacturingxml.html
“Juno Therapeutics of Seattle said it is leasing a 68,000-square-foot building in Bothell for a biotech manufacturing facility to supply its clinical trials and potentially its first commercial products…The plant, at 1522 217th Place in Bothell, will begin operations in early 2016, the company said in a press release…The company did not say how many people may be employed. Juno will pay $1.05 million the first year and $15.2 million over the full 10-year lease, according to a regulatory filing. In a filing for its $264 million initial public offering in December, the company said it would use contract manufacturers for flexibility and to limit upfront costs, while also setting up its own manufacturing ‘to allow for better long-term margins and for the rapid implementation of innovations.’ “
Latest local job postings for Juno Therapeutics
State Effort Could Lure $7.2 Billion in Outside Investment
Puget Sound Business Journal | Steve Wilhelm | Feb. 9
http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2015/02/09/state-effort-could-lure-7-2-billion-in-outside.html
“Washington state is stepping up efforts to lure investment dollars in local companies by offering a portfolio of opportunities to potential investors both overseas and in the U.S. If all the direct foreign investment opportunities the state is cultivating were to come through, it would bring 21 companies from Canada, China, France, India and Spain, according to data from the Washington state Department of Commerce. Coupled with another 20 domestic companies Washington state is wooing, the 41 companies being recruited could bring up to 8,600 jobs and $7.2 billion in capital investment into the state…To attract more such investment, the state has been putting together a portfolio culled from actual interest among Washington companies in finding outside investors”
Sears Plans New Seattle Engineering Office, Hires ex-Amazon Execs for Big Home-Services Tech Push
GeekWire | Todd Bishop | Feb. 9
http://www.geekwire.com/2015/sears-plans-new-seattle-engineering-office-hires-ex-amazon-execs-big-home-services-tech-push/
“Sears is recruiting engineers for a new software development office in downtown Seattle, and the venerable retailer has hired a group of former Amazon executives to lead the charge — renting space in a skyscraper just across town from the e-commerce giant’s headquarters. The new Sears engineering office, in Seattle’s Columbia Center, will lead an effort to upgrade the technology and user experience for the Sears Home Services business…The new office puts Seattle on the front lines of Sears’ effort to bring a key part of its business into the modern era of technology…In addition to the data science job listings, Sears recruiters have started contacted software developers in the Seattle region, looking to hire mobile and user-experience engineers, core web services engineers, and technical PMs and product owners. According to a sign at the company’s future office at Columbia Center (which has yet to be built out) the space is roughly 8,500 square feet, or enough room for about 35 to 55 employees, depending on the configuration.”
Latest local job postings for Sears
IT Executives Expect a Tough Hiring Environment in 2015, says CompTIA
TechRepublic | Erin Carson | Feb. 6
http://www.techrepublic.com/article/it-executives-expect-a-tough-hiring-environment-in-2015-says-comptia/
“Job growth in IT is good news, but with a caveat, according to CompTIA’s January 2015 research report entitled ‘IT Industry Outlook.’ IT industry executives are anticipating a challenging year on the hiring front…demand for IT workers is up, and of the 650 IT executives CompTIA talked to, 43% said they’re understaffed (this could mean adding positions or trying to backfill) and roughly two-thirds are anticipating a difficult hiring environment in 2015. One potential hurdle for employers might be geography…Another challenge will be cutting through the noise and clearly communicating to the candidate how the job will benefit them. ‘This market isn’t about finding candidates their next job. It’s about serving as a conduit to the next opportunity in their career,’ said Matt Brosseau, director of information technology at recruiting firm Instant Alliance.”
January Job Gains Show US Recovery Gaining Greater Strength
Seattle Times | Christopher Rugaber | Feb. 6
http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2025634477_apxeconomy.html
“A resurgent job market in January signaled that the U.S. economy is finally regaining the kind of strength typical of a healthy recovery — with hiring accelerating, wages rising and people who had given up their job hunts starting to look again…In January, employers added 257,000 jobs, after 329,000 in December and a sizzling 423,000 jobs in November, the government reported Friday…The unemployment rate rose last month to 5.7 percent from 5.6 percent. But that occurred for a good reason: More than 700,000 Americans — the most in six years — began looking for jobs…The influx of job hunters suggested that Americans have grown more confident about their prospects…There are now 3.2 million more Americans earning paychecks than there were 12 months ago. That additional cash tends to boost consumer spending, which drives about 70 percent of economic growth…Michael Gapen, chief U.S. economist at Barclays, forecasts that monthly job growth will fall back to a still-healthy average of 225,000. That should lift wage gains to an annual rate of 3 percent by year’s end.”
Metro Areas with the Best STEM Job Opportunities May Surprise You
IT Business Edge | Don Tennant | Feb. 5
http://www.itbusinessedge.com/blogs/from-under-the-rug/metro-areas-with-the-best-stem-job-opportunities-may-surprise-you.html
“Some of the metrics WalletHub used to formulate its ranking of 100 metropolitan areas in the United States include job openings per capita for STEM graduates; projected number of STEM jobs needed in 2018; and annual median wage and wage growth for STEM workers, adjusted for cost of living…Richie Bernardo, a financial writer at WalletHub, explained that what prompted the study was WalletHub’s recognition that the Department of Commerce estimates that STEM professions will have expanded 1.7 times faster than non-STEM occupations between 2008 and 2018…Here are the Top 10 best metro areas for STEM professionals, according to the WalletHub study:
1.Houston 2.Austin 3.Raleigh 4.Denver 5.Omaha 6.Seattle 7.Oklahoma City 8.Salt Lake City 9.Columbus, Ohio 10.Cincinnati”
Galvanize to Open Massive, 71,000-Square-Foot ‘Tech Startup Campus’ and Coding School in Seattle
GeekWire | Taylor Soper | Feb. 5
http://www.geekwire.com/2015/galvanize-open-massive-71000-square-foot-tech-startup-campus-seattle/
“Good news for Seattle entrepreneurs: Galvanize is opening up a huge new space in Pioneer Square. The Denver-based company’s hybrid model combines tech office space with a programming school, access to investors and mentorship…Galvanize, which has four other campuses — two in Denver, one in Boulder, another in San Francisco — offers office space for entrepreneurs ranging from one seat to a private room for teams of up to 20 employees. It also runs a full software development education program called gSchool that includes everything from a 24-week web programming class to a 12-week course on data science. In addition, Galvanize runs a series of workshops throughout the year…’Galvanize isn’t a co-working space,’ Mark Saldana, marketing manager at Galvanize, told GeekWire. ‘We’re a network of technology campuses that provides access to opportunities for growth through industry-focused education. Our unique community is the result of entrepreneurs, students, industry partners, programming experts, data scientists and academics all working together and learning under one roof.’”
CC image courtesy of photologue_np on Flickr
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