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.

 

Informate locates HQ in Seattle, names Hodgman CEO

Puget Sound Business Journal | Ben Miller | Nov. 25

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/techflash/2014/11/informate-locates-hq-in-seattle-names-hodgman.html?ana=e_sea_rdup&s=newsletter&ed=2014-11-25&u=ilbLUrKrU2/jjJJmX4zKbA08463807&t=1416931184

Informate Mobile Intelligence said it will locate its global headquarters in Seattle and has named Will Hodgman as its CEO. Hodgman was formerly the co-founder and CEO of Seattle-based M:Metrics, and served as a vice president at ComScore Inc. in Seattle. According to Informate, it is “a mobile measurement firm that tracks consumer use and consumption of content, advertising and in-app activity on smart phones and tablets.” The company said it currently has 45 employees, but said it “plans to expand its global footprint from seven to fifteen countries in 2015 and 25 by the end of 2016.” “There is no city in the world that has a deeper and more talented mobile workforce than Seattle and that’s going to be a key to our success moving forward,” Hodgman said in a statement.

 

Job portal for Informate

 

Amazon Will Have Enough Space for 71,500 Employees in Seattle by 2019

Puget Sound Business Journal | Marc Stiles | Nov. 24

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/techflash/2014/11/amazon-will-have-enough-space-for-71-500-employees.html

Here’s the key factor behind downtown Seattle’s commercial real estate boom: Amazon.com plans to have 10 million square feet of office space in and around the city core within five years…Ten million square feet would be enough space for around 71,500 employees based on the ever-shrinking amount of space that tech companies set aside per worker. It’s currently around 140 square feet per employee. That would make Amazon the largest employer in Seattle and one of the largest private employers in the state. Boeing, by comparison, has 81,919 Puget Sound-area employees.

 

Latest Seattle Job listings for Amazon

 

Year Up Program Opens up a New World in Tech for Students

The Seattle Times | Sarah Stuteville | Nov. 20

http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2025067332_sarahcolumn21xml.html

The Year Up program aims to help fill tech jobs through an intensive yearlong program of job training, mentoring and internships for young adults from underserved backgrounds. Here is the story of one of their students…“Microsoft has 4,000 STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) jobs available right now,” says Lisa Chin, executive director for Year Up, the job-training program that helped place Zecharias in her internship. “In Seattle we’re just unable to find the STEM talent we need.” Year Up hopes to help fill positions like those through an intensive yearlong program of job training, mentoring and internships for young adults from underserved backgrounds.

 

Latest Washington job listings for Microsoft

 

Seattle is First Site for Verizon Wireless High-tech Store

Puget Sound Business Journal | Ben Miller | Nov. 14

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/techflash/2014/11/seattle-isfirst-site-for-verizon-high-tech-store.html?ana=e_tf&s=newsletter&ed=2014-11-14&u=ilbLUrKrU2/jjJJmX4zKbA08463807&t=1416597279

Citing Seattle’s “vibrant technology market,” Verizon Wireless said it will open its first high-tech Smart Store Plus concept in the city’s University Village shopping center on Nov. 17. According to Verizon, “the 4,818 square foot retail location is a wireless playground where learning is visual and interactive through touchscreen displays and Lifestyle Zones.” “The Smart Store Plus retail experience … demonstrates cutting edge technology within an interactive setting,” Verizon said in a statement.

 

Latest Seattle job listings for Verizon

 

Tech Companies are Hiring ‘Perks Managers’ in a Fight to Woo Talent

Fortune | Tom Huddleston | Nov. 21

http://fortune.com/2014/11/21/tech-industry-perks-managers/

The fierce competition for top talent in Silicon Valley is giving rise to a new job category — the perks manager — as tech companies scramble to be the best at keeping their employees happy. The Wall Street Journal, in chronicling companies’ growing reliance on these perks providers, reported on Friday on workplaces such as the Pinterest headquarters, where a team of employees provide their colleagues with perks ranging from martial-arts classes to an event where employees make Jell-O shots. Whether they are startups looking to gain a foothold in the tech industry or members of the old guard, tech companies keep raising the stakes when it comes to talent-attracting perks, the Journal says. An employee at Adobe Systems ADBE 1.43% is planning a whiskey tasting and software company Asana gives employees several thousand dollars each in an allowance to go toward personalizing their computers and workspace.