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High-tech boom is good news for job seekers
Competition fierce with help in short supply
August 11, 1997
Web posted at: 11:15 p.m. EDT (0315 GMT)From Correspondent Greg Lefevre
SANTA CLARA, California (CNN) -- The nation's high-tech boom is great news for people like Anita Hosoda, who has degrees in electronic engineering and information systems management.
The news is so good, in fact, that she's running out of resumes. She has her choice of jobs from hundreds of companies desperate to fill jobs in the exploding high-tech industry.
"I've had some good responses," Hosoda said Monday.
Hosoda was among an estimated 12,000 people who attended the first day of a two-day job fair in Santa Clara called Westech Expo.
Four hundred companies, ranging from small, niche firms to Apple and Motorola, had booths at the fair, and all of them were looking for help. Even Apple, despite its much publicized layoffs and financial difficulties, said it had "dozens" of openings.
"Between now and March," says Susan Naire of Doctor Design, a San Diego software firm, "we need to add 40 engineers to our staff."
Chris Schiller, a recruiter for the software firm CommQuest, says his company needs "about 50."
Sharon Ippolito of Cymer says her company is looking for more than just a few good employees. "Approximately 240," she says.
And Dee Thomas of Science Applications International Corp. says her company needs "about 2,002" new employees.
'We don't like to call it a raiding party'
Numbers like that mean that job seekers like Mike Figone are rubbing their hands gleefully, knowing they are in such demand.
"It feels really good," he says. "It makes you aware of a lot of opportunities out there."
San Diego's booming high-tech businesses alone had 25 representatives at the fair looking for new workers. In fact, all over the country, high-tech companies have hit the road seeking workers, often at the expense of other companies.
"We don't like to call it a raiding party," says Bill Otterson, the director of a technology and entrepreneurial program at the University of California at San Diego. "We're simply letting the candidates know what other opportunities exist."
Some of those on hand didn't care to be identified, including a man in a Hawaiian shirt who was handing out business cards as if they were candy.
Asked if he was in California on a raid, he said, "You bet. The companies that we're working for are desperate for people. They're recruiting people right out of college. No experience."
A representative for Read-Rite, a booming company that manufactures hard-drive heads that read and write, said the company is looking for "well over 200" new employees.
Job fairs every 2 months
Alicia Ordonez attends a technical school, and although she hasn't yet graduated, she discovered that her job prospects are better than promising.
"It looks really good," she says. "There are a lot of jobs out here."
Fred Faltersack puts on the job fairs for Westech Expo. "The talent for high-tech labor in each market has really dried up. You can continue trying to recruit from your company across the street, but that doesn't satisfy the problem."
Job fairs, which used to be annual events, now occur every two months. In 60 days, many of the same companies will be in Santa Clara again, looking for even more employees.
Related stories:
- Web sites help match job seekers, employers - April 7, 1997
- Job hunting: let your modem be your guide - September 12, 1996
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