Part of the WTIA’s mission is to grow a strong and sustainable workforce, which means we’re passionate about keeping local talent plugged into our state’s technology industry. In addition to our job board, every Wednesday we’ll be keeping you connected to Washington’s job market with the latest in local hiring news.

 

Obama Announces $100 Million Initiative to Bolster Tech Hiring

The Verge | Josh Lowensohn & Rich McCormick | Mar. 10

http://www.theverge.com/2015/3/10/8179239/obama-techhire-initiative-100-million-fund-for-tech-hires

“After going after the minimum wage, President Obama is turning attention to the tech sector, with a plan that calls for the hiring of more tech workers. Announced yesterday, the TechHire Initiative is a mix of agreements between the government and private companies in more than 20 different areas, as well as $100 million in federal investments. The end goal is to get Americans training to work in higher-paying technology jobs. The program aims to train people in skills such as coding, both through the universities and colleges that have traditionally produced tech workers, but also through nontraditional online training courses and bootcamps. The government is working with business advisory groups to construct both an aptitude test employers can use to gauge candidates who have completed nontraditional courses, and a guide for recruiting tech workers who aren’t necessarily computer science graduates from four-year universities. Two-thirds of the country’s tech jobs are in unrelated sectors such as healthcare — the new guidelines are expected to help employers choose candidates they might not have found before.”

 

Local Hiring Should Outpace U.S. Job Growth This Year

Seattle Times | Janet Tu | Mar. 9

http://www.seattletimes.com/business/economy/local-hiring-should-outpace-us-job-growth-this-year/

“Washington’s economy had a strong 2014, finally replacing all the jobs lost in the recession — though not necessarily with equally well-paid work. This year is shaping up to be equally solid for statewide job growth, at 2.9 percent…any slowdown would be gradual and ‘even if we do converge to the national growth rate, say, in 2017 or so, that’s still not bad, [local economist Dick] Conway said. ‘The national economy is continuing to recover and is expected to have a pretty good sustained growth rate.’ Local economist Matthew Gardner concurs with Conway’s forecast of 2.6 percent for the Seattle area this year. (He’s more optimistic than Conway about 2016, projecting a 2.4 percent jobs-growth rate for that year)…Construction boomed in the Puget Sound region last year and, in King County, construction jobs are expected to increase an average of 5.3 percent annually from 2012 to 2017, according to the state Employment Security Department. Also expected to expand in King County are the professional and business services sector (3.7 percent), education and health services (2.4 percent), and leisure and hospitality (2.4 percent).”

 

Allen Institutes for Cell and Brain Science to Hire 250 as They Prep for Move

Puget Sound Business Journal | Annie Zak | Mar. 6

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/techflash/2015/03/allen-institutes-for-cell-and-brain-science-to.html

“Scientists are in hot demand in Seattle as the region’s biology and biotechnology organizations expand. The Allen Institute for Cell Science, set to open in the fall, will hire about 20 people by the end of this year and grow to full capacity with about 70 employees in three to four years. Its sister organization, the Allen Institute for Brain Science, will also expand. The cell institute is focusing on hiring its director-level staff and scientists now, and will hire more researchers and software engineers in the near future. About 300 people work at the brain science center, and that is set to grow to about 480 in the next few years. The institutes – both founded by Microsoft co-founder and billionaire Paul Allen – will start moving into a new 270,000-square-foot building at the corner of Mercer Street and Westlake Avenue North in the second week of September. One floor of the building will focus on cell science, and another five floors will focus on brain science.  Nikki Bialy, associate director for the Allen Institute for Cell Science…said the staff is considering candidates as far away as Europe to ensure they bring on the right people, but said there has been a lot of local interest in the positions, too.”

Latest local job postings for the Allen Institute

 

Women’s Pay 78 Percent of Men’s in Washington State

The Spokesman-Review | Kip Hill | Mar. 6

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2015/mar/06/womens-pay-78-percent-of-mens-in-washington-state/

“Spokane City Councilwoman Candace Mumm is all too familiar with the conditions that have led women workers in Washington state to make 78 cents on the dollar compared to their male counterparts…[On Tuesday] groups funding research on the earning potential and political participation of women released a comprehensive report for Washington. Among the major findings were the 78 percent figure illustrating a larger wage gap for Washington women than the national average (79.2 percent), a decline in female representation in the Washington Legislature and a larger number of Washington Hispanic women living at or below the poverty line than elsewhere in America…Without action, the report suggests, it could take until 2071 for Washington women workers to be paid the same amount as men. Alisha Benson, vice president of education and workforce at Greater Spokane Incorporated, said employers and the private sector can do more in addition to policy changes to promote high-paying jobs in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math among young women. ‘STEM education is both an economic development and a social justice opportunity,’ she said.”

 

Fast-growing Tableau Seeks a Director of Web Clients to Support Growth

GeekWire | Monica Nickelsburg | Mar. 6

http://www.geekwire.com/2015/geekwork-picks-fast-growing-tableau-seeks-a-director-of-web-clients-to-support-growth/

“Tableau is on a roll. After its successful IPO in 2013, the data visualization platform continued to expand its footprint in Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood and add employees. Last month Tableau announced a big fourth quarter with stock rising more than 12 percent as the company received attention from Fast Company and USA Today for its ambitious plans to get everyday consumers using its software. Now Tableau is seeking a Director of Web Clients to lead a team of high-performing engineers. The position involves cultivating a collaborative culture, organizing work across a broad range of products, and establishing long-term goals. Tableau is looking for a proven leader with a passion for technology, engineering experience, and the ability to execute on challenging roadmaps.”

Latest local job postings for Tableau

 

Medical Records Company to Hire 50 for ‘Grout between the Tiles’ Software Play

Puget Sound Business Journal | Annie Zak | Mar. 6

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/techflash/2015/03/medical-records-company-to-hire-50-for-grout.html

“Lack of communication between different types of doctors is what Kirkland-based company SCI Solutions is trying to fix, and thanks to the rise of electronic medical records and hospital consolidations, its business is set to expand. The 100-employee cloud-based company will be growing by 50 percent this year as it seeks to hire 50 new people. Those hires in the Seattle area will be for developers and sales workers, among others. SCI Solutions was founded in 1999 as Scheduling.com and acts as the go-between to transfer medical records and referrals between patients and providers. It provides services to about 600 hospitals and hospital systems, about 4,000 physician practices across the country and has data on about 100 million patients — about a third of the U.S. population. CEO Joel French likens the company to being the ‘grout between the tiles’ — they tie the pieces of the health care system together…As fewer hospitals are independent, French said, the need for services like the ones provided by SCI will only grow. That’s because as hospitals merge, affiliate and partner, they need ways to make all those different records systems work cohesively.”

Job postings are currently pending for SCI Solutions

 

Fast-Growing Startup Porch Plans to Move From its Home in Seattle’s South Lake Union Neighborhood

GeekWire | Todd Bishop | Mar. 5

http://www.geekwire.com/2015/fast-growing-startup-porch-looking-for-a-new-home-in-seattle-to-accommodate-growth/

“The company — which employs more than 350 people and raised $65 million in venture financing in January— is looking for 50,000 square feet to 70,000 square feet of space in Seattle, according to one real estate source. That would give Porch room for upwards of 450 people…In an interview with GeekWire at the time of the company’s latest financing financing, Porch CEO Matt Ehrlichman indicated that the company would continue to hire aggressively. ‘I wouldn’t be surprised if we were twice the size a year from now,’ Ehrlichman said at the time. Porch is ranked #5 on the GeekWire 200 list of privately-held Pacific Northwest technology companies.”

Latest local job postings for Porch

 

Tiny Bellevue Game-maker ‘Positively Glowing’ After Microsoft Taps it for Xbox/Windows 10 Launch

Puget Sound Business Journal | Jacob Demmitt | Mar. 5

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/techflash/2015/03/tiny-bellevue-game-maker-positively-glowing-after.html

“Bellevue video game maker Motiga has been on a whirlwind tour ever since Microsoft made it the poster child of what Windows 10 can do for gamers. The company’s game, Gigantic, is being rolled out as one of the first cross-platform video games that users will be able to play on both Xbox and PC. Microsoft is working hard to promote this new feature, and it’s using Motiga to show how it can be done…The company had just 10 employees when it started working on Gigantic, but it has roughly doubled every year since. Motiga hired about 25 workers in the past two months leading up to the Microsoft announcement, bringing its total staff to about 100. The company says it wants to grow to 150 by the end of 2015.”

Latest local job postings for Motiga