IT Jobs Outlook: High Demand, Higher Salaries

InfoWorld | Paul Krill | Jan. 27

http://www.infoworld.com/article/2875516/it-careers/it-jobs-high-demand-higher-salaries.html

“With the hot job market for technology professionals, it is not surprising that salaries are up, too – though only a bit…Despite the news on salary increases, satisfaction with wages declined. Fifty-two percent of professionals were satisfied with their compensation last year, down from 54 percent the prior year… Dice also said tech professionals are more confident that they can find a new position; 37 percent anticipate changing employers this year for improvements in pay or conditions… Big data and cloud computing professionals earn the highest paychecks, Dice.com said. “Cloud is not new to the tech world but as more companies — large and small — adopt the technology, tech professionals with this experience will enjoy opportunities,” said Goli…Regionally, the Pacific region has the highest salaries, with professionals in Silicon Valley earning an average of $112,610, a 4 percent climb year-to-year. The second-highest-paid region is Seattle, with average salaries of $99,423, an increase of 5 percent in 2014. Sacramento technology salaries rose 14 percent to $96,788, while salaries in Portland were $91,556 – an uptick of 9 percent. In San Diego, tech salaries ascended 4 percent to $94,121…’For the first time in over six years salaries for IT pros have moved up almost across the board,’ Janco CEO Victor Janulaitis said.”

 

Cool Spaces: Adaptive Biotechnologies Had so Much DNA, It Took over the Game Room

Puget Sound Business Journal | Rachel Lerman | Jan. 26

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/techflash/2015/01/cool-spaces-adaptive-biotechnologies-had-so-much.html

“Adaptive Biotechnologies used to have a game room in its Eastlake office, but it has been overtaken with freezers full of DNA. That’s just one of the not-so-typical pain points immunosequencing company is facing as it continues to grow. The company just expanded its space — nearly tripling the square footage of its lab and office space to 35,000 square feet. Adaptive has an option for 25,000 more square feet if the expansion and growth continues… It’s no wonder the company needs more space. Adaptive raised $105 million last year and just acquired San Francisco-based immunosequencing company Sequenta Inc. Adaptive employs 90 people in Seattle and 65 in San Francisco. Robins said the company plans to grow, though he didn’t have a specific workforce growth goal…The company is focused on keeping its work environment fun and comfortable for employees, as well as for visitors. “The whole space was designed to promote innovation and collaboration,” said CEO Chad Robins. “You get the smartest people by providing an awesome environment.”

Latest local job postings for Adaptive Biotechnologies

 

Best Cities for Millennial Job Seekers in Washington

NerdWallet | Spencer Tierney | Jan. 26

http://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/cities/economics/best-cities-millennial-job-seekers-in-washington/

“Plentiful jobs. High salaries. Affordable rents. For millennials looking to launch their careers, Washington’s King County is the place to be. Six of the 10 best cities for younger, or millennial, job seekers in Washington are in the county that is home to Seattle, based on a new NerdWallet analysis. From October to November last year — in just one month — some 6,800 new jobs were added in the Seattle-Bellevue area. The jobs, ranging from finance to software development, helped cut the unemployment rate for that area to about 2% lower than the statewide jobless rate in November…Home to the headquarters of Microsoft and Nintendo, Redmond boasts the highest average annual working wages in the state — $123,152, more than double the state’s average of $42,229. The low unemployment rate of 4.4% makes this technology hub a promising place for young job seekers…Richland — along with Pasco and Kennewick — is part of the Tri-Cities in the state’s southeast. Richland is home to the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, one of the nation’s 10 U.S. Department of Energy labs. The unemployment rate here is 4.1%, much lower than the state average of 6.0%, and the median rent of $881 is third lowest in our top 10. The wages of a worker living in Bellevue are a robust $77,376 per resident, second behind its neighbor Redmond. The city boasts an unemployment rate of 4.9%, lower than the state average of 6.0%.”

 

Closing the Gender Gap: Ada Developer’s Academy Helps Women Learn Programming Skills for Free

GeekWire | Taylor Soper | Jan. 22

http://www.geekwire.com/2015/closing-gender-gap-ada-developers-academy-helps-women-learn-programming-skills-free/

“Ada Developer’s Academy is a non-profit, tuition-free training school for women that graduated its first cohort of 15 students this past October — all of whom were offered full-time developer jobs with an average salary of $75,000 before the class ended. The year-long program, which includes six months of intense classroom instruction followed by six months at an internship, is nearly halfway through with its second group of soon-to-be programmers. This time around, there are 24 students enrolled that were selected from an applicant pool of more than 200… Hiring managers from companies say they’ve partnered with Ada for two primary reasons: To land talented employees, and to diversify their workforce. ‘We are looking to increase our involvement and support for the gender imbalance within the tech space specifically,’ said Aisha Matthews, a Senior Programs Recruiter with Expedia… ‘Women at Ada are looking for a challenge,’ Wondra-Lindley said. ‘You don’t get people here that want to coast.’”

 

3 Leadership Tips for Women in Tech

Time | Abby Ross | Jan. 22

http://time.com/3677246/leadership-tips-women-tech/

“The tech sector is a notoriously difficult place to be a woman. A congressional report shows that only 7% of women-founded businesses receive venture capital funding. Every time we turn around, it seems there’s another gaffe that causes a rise within the community — this ranges from major companies’ lack of women in board positions to distasteful overheard conversations… So how can you navigate the complex male-dominated tech world and succeed…Combine Skill Sets. You have to be strategic about whom you partner with and bring onto your team. Our biggest success had nothing to do with gender. It had to do with our team’s unique combination of skills…Never Shy Away From the Hard Stuff. So much of our success can be attributed to our dedication to our customers. Sometimes that means going against what others are telling you to do.…Build a Team of Mentors and Advocates… Our mentors aren’t the people who always tell us what we want to hear. They’re always looking out for us and telling us what we need to hear.”

 

Meet the Latest Seattle Startup to Get Backed by Silicon Valley’s Hottest VC Firm

Puget Sound Business Journal | Rachel Lerman | Jan. 20

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/techflash/2015/01/meet-the-latest-seattle-startup-to-get-backed-by.html

“Seattle startup Distelli has a strong backer behind its three-month-old infrastructure automation company — Andreessen Horowitz. The Silicon Valley firm led a $2.8 million round in the startup, which was founded by former Amazon Web Services engineer Rahul Singh… After writing code for Amazon on thousands of servers over nine years, Singh left to start a company he hoped would fill a big hole he saw in the market. Managing servers is difficult for smaller technology companies; developers often lose track of who is using what server… Distelli manages servers for those kinds of companies so developers don’t have to think about and manage their own systems. Companies can use the system to see what is on each server and a history of what code has been deployed… Distelli officially launched in November and has grown to a team of five. Distelli will use the round to hire more engineers and develop its product. The startup has about 15 large customers, Singh said.”

Latest local job postings from Distelli

 

Porch.com Raises $65M, Headcount Increases 1,300 Percent in 16 Months

Puget Sound Business Journal | Rachel Lerman | Jan. 20

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/techflash/2015/01/porch-com-raises-65m-headcount-increases-1-300.html

“Porch.com is growing so fast, it’s hard to get a handle on exactly how big the company is at any given moment. The Seattle home improvement software company announced a $65 million series B financing round Tuesday, just months after its series A. That brings Porch’s total funding to more than $100 million just 16 months after launching a product. At launch, it had 25 employees, and its headcount is now more than 350 in its Eastlake digs. That’s 1,300 percent headcount growth in 16 months. CEO Matt Ehrlichman said he wouldn’t be surprised if the company was twice that size in a year…‘There was a great deal of competition (to lead the round,)’ Ehrlichman said. ‘The company is doing well, there is a tremendous amount of demand and we feel really good about the big partners.’ Porch has been skyrocketing to the top of the market since its launch, and shows no signs of slowing. Revenues have increased more than 1,000 percent in the past year, and home professionals on the network increased from 1.5 million to 3.2 million.”

Latest local job postings from Porch