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.

 

8 Big Companies Add the Most Jobs in 2014

USA Today | Matt Krantz | Mar. 18

http://americasmarkets.usatoday.com/2015/03/18/8-companies-added-the-most-workers-in-2014/

“There are eight companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500, including chocolate maker Hershey (HSY), computer memory maker SanDisk (SNDK) and social networking giant Facebook (FB) that are expanding their number of employees by the largest percentage amounts, according to a USA TODAY analysis of data from S&P Capital IQ. Each of these giant companies boosted their number of employees by 40% or more in calendar year 2014…

Essex Property Trust: Expanding in hot areas of the U.S. This real estate investment trust owns and operates apartments in hot areas ranging from Southern California to Northern California and Seattle.” Click here for the full list of companies.

Latest local job postings for Essex

 

Two Years after Layoffs, Microsoft’s MSN Reorganizes, Starts Hiring Again

Puget Sound Business Journal | Jacob Demmitt | Mar. 16

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/techflash/2015/03/two-years-after-layoffs-microsofts-msn-reorganizes.html?ana=e_tf&s=newsletter&ed=2015-03-16&u=ilbLUrKrU2/jjJJmX4zKbA08463807&t=1426694472

“Microsoft is moving the MSN team from the Applications and Services Group to the Windows Operating Systems Group, according to an internal memo first reported on by Geekwire and later confirmed my Microsoft…According to a company blog post from July, ‘the new MSN’ was ‘reimagined for a mobile world.’ The company laid off MSN content creators in 2013, but current job postings show it’s looking for people to help expand the company’s partnership with established media brands. MSN focuses less on creating original content now — as the MSN team had been hiring journalists to do— and more as an aggregator for well-known media brands like The New York Times.”

Latest local job postings for Microsoft

 

Tech Job Market is Strong

Forbes | Stuart Anderson | Mar. 16

http://www.forbes.com/sites/stuartanderson/2015/03/16/tech-job-market-is-strong/

“The most recent report of The Conference Board belies claims by Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) and others that the tech job market is in terrible shape and immigrants are to blame. In fact, the data show demand for Americans in ‘computer and mathematical science’ occupations is greater than in any other field and there are currently almost 600,000 advertised vacancies…In January 2015, there were more than 5 vacancies advertised online for every 1 unemployed person in a “computer and mathematical science” occupation, according to The Conference Board: 599,800 total ads and 107,200 unemployed. Over the past year, the number of online ads for “computer and mathematical science” jobs increased by 12 percent from February 2014 to February 2015, from 536,100 to 599,800, indicating increased demand. ‘Computer and mathematical science’ has the best ‘supply/demand rate’ (0.18) of any occupational category in America.”

 

Starbucks is Hiring More Tech Workers Than Most Tech Companies

Puget Sound Business Journal | Rachel Lerman | Mar. 13

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/techflash/2015/03/starbucks-is-hiring-more-tech-workers-than-most.html

“Starbucks is hiring more tech workers than many Washington state technology companies.

That’s according to the Washington Technology Industry Association, which published a report this month about the state of the tech economy…The Seattle coffee giant is advertising for nearly 40 technical jobs. Five of those positions are open on the company’s digital ventures team and another 31 jobs are open in the information technology department…The company does not disclose how many tech workers it has at its 3,500-person Sodo headquarters, but Chief Digital Officer Adam Brotman suggested that many groups are working on tech projects. ‘I think every company these days needs to be a tech company,’ Brotman said…Starbucks’ mobile app has more than 13 million users and mobile payments make up 16 percent of all purchases in a single week. Starbucks is rolling out its newest tech service — mobile pre-ordering— in the Pacific Northwest next week.”

Latest local job postings for Starbucks

 

Alibaba Hiring in Amazon, Microsoft Backyard as U.S. Cloud Unit Expands

Reuters | Paul Carsten & John Ruwitch | Mar. 12

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/12/us-alibaba-group-hiring-usa-idUSKBN0M810920150312

“China’s Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, the world’s largest e-commerce firm, has begun hunting staff in Seattle, home turf of Amazon.com Inc and Microsoft Corp, focusing on savvy cloud computing hires as it ramps up U.S. operations. Three positions were open to people in Seattle, two of which also allow applications for Alibaba’s Silicon Valley offices, according to advertisements on LinkedIn Corp’sN> business networking site in the past week…With the job openings Alibaba joins the increasingly fierce fight for cloud computing talent in Silicon Valley and Seattle, where it opened a research and development center in what is Microsoft and Amazon’s backyard late last year…Alibaba has hired at least 10 software engineers or computing experts from either Microsoft or Amazon since July 2014, all but one based in the greater Seattle area.”

Latest local LinkedIn job postings for Alibaba

 

Vulcan Looks for Information Security Manager to Protect Sensitive Data

GeekWire | Monica Nickelsburg | Mar. 12

http://www.geekwire.com/2015/geekwork-picks-vulcan-looks-for-information-security-manager-to-protect-sensitive-data/

“Paul Allen’s company is seeking an Information Security Manager to establish policies and procedures to protect sensitive data. The security manager will work with internal technology personnel, risk management, and external vendors to drive Vulcan’s security program. ‘This important role will oversee the safeguarding of information against accidental or unauthorized access, modification, destruction, or disclosure as well as protect Vulcan networks from unauthorized access and compromise,’ writes Vulcan.”

Latest local job postings for Vulcan

 

Could Amgen Layoffs in California Bring More Biotech Workers to Washington State?

Puget Sound Business Journal | Annie Zak | Mar. 11

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/techflash/2015/03/could-amgen-layoffs-in-california-bring-more.html

“After acquiring Onyx Pharmaceuticals less than two years ago, Thousand Oaks, Calif.-based Amgen will close the South San Francisco Onyx facility and lay off 300 employees, the San Francisco Business Times reported yesterday…Now, as more workers find themselves unemployed in California, they could be the solution to the Puget Sound region’s difficulty in recruiting biotech talent. ‘There are fewer biotech companies here in the Northwest than in other hubs, and that makes recruiting more challenging,’ Washington Biotechnology and Biomedical Association President Chris Rivera told the Puget Sound Business Journal in February. But as big companies like Amgen buy up smaller companies and then downsize, all those scientists and researchers could help fill Seattle’s growing biotechnology ranks.”