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Who’s Hiring Wednesday: February 4, 2015
Seattle a Top City for ‘Advanced Industries’
Seattle PI | Aubrey Cohen | Feb. 3
“Seattle is the second-best metro area in the U.S. for “advanced industries,” according to a new report. The category takes in 50 industries, including aircraft production, power generation, architecture, computer systems design, medical laboratories and telecommunications. These industries employ about 12.3 million workers, or about 9 percent of the nation’s workforce, yet account for 60 percent of the nation’s exports and generate about 17 percent of U.S. gross domestic product, the Brookings Institution reported. The nation’s 100 largest metro areas contain 70 percent of its advanced industries jobs, Brookings said, adding that advanced industries account for more than one in 10 jobs in nearly one-quarter of the country’s major metro areas. But the authors say the U.S.’s competitive edge is eroding, and that the public and private sectors must work together to encourage technological innovation, expand the pipeline of skilled workers and foster growth in regional communities around such industries.”
New Tech Companies Say Freelancing is the Future of Work. But There’s a Downside for Workers
The Washington Post | Lydia DePillis | Feb. 3
“More and more, companies are shifting portions of their work to independent contractors, managing large pools of people available as needed for anything from tech support to landscaping. This relieves them of having to pay employees a fixed amount every month — not to mention health insurance, Social Security taxes or workers’ compensation. It’s difficult to know how many companies are going in this direction, or how quickly. The number of self-employed people as a percentage of the workforce has remained fairly constant for decades, at about 10 percent; much of the contracting out that has occurred is to firms that have employees, rather than sole proprietors. Regardless, a lot of money is going into start-ups that are competing to ease the transition — and profit from it. Take Work Market, a platform where Wooldridge finds most of his jobs. It just raised $20 million more from leading investors, including Union Square Ventures principal Fred Wilson, who thinks it has the potential to ‘transform the way enterprises leverage the on-demand labor economy.’ Translation: Businesses can save money by using freelancers, and Work Market takes a cut of that savings.”
Cool Spaces: PitchBook Perches on Seattle’s Waterfront, Expands to Second Seattle Office
Puget Sound Business Journal | Rachel Lerman | Feb. 2
“Sweeping views of Seattle’s waterfront greet employees of PitchBook Data every morning as they enter the company’s Pier 56 office. Wood beams crisscross the ceiling and high windows beam in light for the employees of the private equity and venture capital research firm. The 15,000-square-foot space is only one of PitchBook’s offices. The company expanded last month to a second location with about 2,000 square feet that is a few blocks east of its waterfront perch. It also has offices in New York and London. The company needed the extra square footage for its booming workforce — PitchBook hired more than 100 employees in 2014, and plans to add another 100 this year. ‘We think there’s a good size market need for our products,’ said PitchBook founder and CEO John Gabbert. ‘As we grow, we’re just trying to better execute on our opportunity and service more clients. We have a lot of runway.’ PitchBook now has 300 employees, at its wide open office space, which is designed for collaboration.”
Latest local job postings for PitchBook
In Tech Hiring, There’s ‘Demand for Everything’
Boston Globe | Sarah Shemkus | Feb. 1
“The past two years have been busy ones for Sean McLoughlin, head of the technology practice at Cambridge recruitment firm HireMinds. The economy is on the upswing, the tech sector is thriving, and clients are clamoring to find talent for their companies…Programming, as always, remains a skill in high demand, recruiters said. Fluency in Java, Ruby on Rails, and mobile app programming languages is highly desirable. In addition, demand is growing for people who can write code for the so-called Internet of Things… About 35 percent of the jobs McLoughlin is called on to fill today are design-oriented, up from less than 10 percent three years ago…While technical skills are valued, more employers are looking for candidates who can blend business savvy with knowledge of coding and circuits, said Dave MacKeen, chief executive of the Wakefield staffing firm Eliassen Group…Jobs in the sphere of DevOps — positions that bridge software development and business operations functions — are also very hot, he said… The explosion of the tech labor market is good news for younger and less experienced candidates. Eliassen has worked with some companies willing to take on interns they can train to take on the full-time positions. At HireMinds, the most common requests are for employees early in their careers, those with between two and seven years of experience, McLoughlin said. ‘They’re people who have a little bit of experience, who know best practices, who have professional experience, but they are still up-and-comers,’ he said.”
Concur’s New President Says Company Could Double as Part of SAP
Puget Sound Business Journal | Jacob Demmitt | Jan. 30
“Concur is already experiencing a big-brand bump since the Bellevue software company was acquired by German software giant SAP for $8.3 billion in December. Newly appointed Concur President Elena Donio looks at the sales resources and international reach it gained through its new parent company. That, paired with the momentum Concur had going into the acquisition, and she thinks, when it comes to customer count, ‘double is doable’…SAP is a German company, and formerly one of Concur’s biggest competitors. So joining forces will come with its fair share of advantages…She said there’s always going to be some angst after an acquisition and change in leadership like the one Concur just went through, but all the signs she’s seeing from SAP point to good things to come…SAP’s CEO Bill McDermott even visited Concur’s Bellevue headquarters in person to tell employees how they’re going to be incorporated into the company…‘The warmth with which we feel we’ve been embraced has been beyond my expectations,’ Donio said. ‘When you look at some of those early, sort of symbolic things — and it’s not just symbolic — I think it definitely sends a great message to employees.’”
Latest local job postings for Concur
SpaceX Coming to Redmond
Redmond Reporter | Samantha Pak | Jan. 30
http://www.redmond-reporter.com/news/290339351.html
“Bart Phillips — CEO of OneRedmond, the city’s private-public partnership for economic and community development — attended the SpaceX event earlier this month and in an electronic memo, he called Musk’s plan to develop, manufacture and deploy satellite-based broadband on a global scale as ‘audacious and (he believes) fully achievable.’ Phillips wrote in his memo ‘We are also convinced that recruiting new companies to the region to draw on this talent is good for both incumbents and new firms alike. New entrants such as SpaceX will no doubt compete for existing employees.’…Musk told the crowd in Seattle that he chose Redmond to ‘access the deep pool of engineering talent in the region,’ adding that his recruits were less willing to move to Los Angeles — a statement that prompted cheers from the audience of potential recruits….Robert Winglee, professor and chair of the Department of Earth and Space Sciences at the University of Washington (UW), added that the Seattle area has been a hub for innovation in space science and technology for many years with established companies such as Aerojet in Redmond as well as relative newcomers Planetary Resources, also in Redmond, and Blue Origin in Kent.”
Latest local job postings for SpaceX
Want a New Tech Job in 2015? Here’s What to Look For
Venture Beat | Jim Yu | Jan. 30
http://venturebeat.com/2015/01/30/want-a-new-tech-job-in-2015-heres-what-to-look-for/
“For many professionals, the beginning of the year brings a new impetus to take stock of career goals, compensation, and satisfaction. Companies, too, are preparing for a major influx of new employees, with 19 percent of employers anticipating an increase in staffing levels in Q1 of next year… When deciding on a new job — especially in the tech industry — it’s hard to resist the shiny, enticing perks that companies offer today… Unfortunately, these perks can often be too good to be true — and they don’t last forever. What does last? A strong ecosystem, a well-founded company, and great people. When evaluating a new opportunity, it’s important to consider everything a company has to offer — and as you start applying for jobs in 2015, it’s time to get serious about managing your career and yourself. Evaluate the Ecosystem…Recognize the Leadership Funnel…Don’t Fall for the Fluff.”
Amazon’s Headcount Tops 150,000 after Adding Nearly 40,000 Employees in 2014
Puget Sound Business Journal | Rachel Lerman | Jan. 29
“Amazon now has 154,100 employees worldwide, 36,800 more employees than it had a year ago. It added 5,000 employees in the last quarter alone. Amazon’s headcount doesn’t even include its contractors who work in the company’s huge warehouses or its tens of thousands of seasonal holiday workers. Amazon released the total employee count in its fourth quarter earning report Thursday. Amazon doesn’t break out how many employees work in each location, but the company’s facilities director said last year that Amazon will have 10 million square feet of office space in Seattle in the next five years. That’s enough for more than 71,000 employees. In 2014, Amazon built or leased nearly 4 million square feet of office space in the city. Combined with space Amazon held before or is currently building, the company occupies more than 9 million square feet in Seattle.”
Latest local job postings for Amazon
Secretive Big Data Company Palantir Opening Seattle Engineering Office
GeekWire | Todd Bishop | Jan. 29
http://www.geekwire.com/2015/secretive-big-data-company-palantir-opening-seattle-engineering-office/
“Palantir Technologies, the big data analytics company funded in part by the CIA’s venture capital arm, is expanding to Seattle, with plans to open an engineering office in the Pioneer Square area as early as next month. The company, based in Palo Alto, Calif. is already advertising an open software engineering position based in Seattle, and real estate sources say Palantir has signed a lease for space just north of CenturyLink Field in the historic Seattle neighborhood… Palantir, led by CEO Alex Karp, develops technologies used by a wide variety of governmental agencies and large companies to glean insights from large sets of data. Palantir made its mark developing big data solutions for the U.S. intelligence community and has since expanded into corporate work… Accoding to the New York Times, the privately held company was expected to bring in close to $1 billion in revenue last year. Palantir has raised $900 million in funding, with the latest round valuing the company at $9 billion.”
Latest local job postings for Palantir Technologies
Seattle Mobile Advertising Firm Tune Raises $27M
Puget Sound Business Journal | Ben Miller | Jan. 29
“Seattle mobile advertising company Tune said it’s raised $27 million in Series B funding. Tune, which used to be known as HasOffers, tracks the effectiveness of online and mobile advertising in boosting the sales of mobile apps. Tune CEO Peter Hamilton said the latest funding round was led by Icon Ventures, with participation from Accel and PEM. Icon Ventures’ board member Jeb Miller will join Tune’s board. Hamilton said Tune, located at 2220 Western Ave. in Seattle, now employs 250 people and said in a blog post that the company will use the money to: ‘focus on growing our engineering teams, going to market with game changing products, and investing in the service we provide to marketers around the world.’”
Latest local job postings for Tune
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