| April 2007 |
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| The New Year brought an employment surge, but more recovery is needed |
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| California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger sure has a way with words. Listen to him wax poetic about the Golden State's technology bona fides. "California has more Nobel Laureates, more scientists, more engineers, more researchers, more high-tech companies than any other state. We are responsible for one of every four U.S. patents. We account for one of every five U.S. technology jobs. We attract almost half of all U.S. venture capital, which funds the ideas and industries of the future. California leads the nation in biotechnology. We lead the nation in nanotechnology. We lead the nation in medical technology. We lead the nation in information technology. We will soon be the recognized leader in clean technology."
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Wow. If ever there was an IT paradise, surely this would be it, but does Southern California measure up to Northern California when it comes to IT job opportunities? Not at the moment. California may be a great place to be an IT expert, but in the immediate future, Los Angeles is looking a bit strained. IT staffing consultancy Robert Half Technology, whose second-quarter IT Hiring Index was just released, finds that just 12% of Los Angeles CIOs plan to make new hires this quarter, a relatively low number compared to other major cities both in California and across the nation.
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| 12% of Los Angeles CIOs plan to make new hires this quarter, a relatively low number compared to other major cities |
| - Robert Half Technology's second-quarter IT Hiring Index |
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And across all industries, Los Angeles employers expect to hire at a very sluggish pace during the second quarter of 2007, according to the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey. The Los Angeles area employment outlook is one of the weakest in the nation. From April to June, only 13% of the companies interviewed plan to hire more employees, while 25% expect to reduce their payrolls, according to Manpower spokesperson Lee Fossey. That's not good.
A more optimistic note is sounded by Diana Jordan, branch manager for IT recruiter
Sapphire Technologies. "The job market looks strong," she said. "We have more available positions listed than we have candidates to fill them." Jordan noted that there are always plenty of positions for Java and .NET experts, but that she is also seeing an increased need for project managers and business analysts lately. In the public sector, she finds a consistent need for legacy mainframe programmers, business analysts, project managers, and GIS consultants.
At Dice, L.A. rebounded from a terrible fourth quarter, adding close to 1,100 job listings for a 31% improvement. Also note, another encouraging sign: In 2006, IT salaries increased an average of 7.67% over 2005 to $79,583 according to the Dice Salary Survey. That number will bear watching as 2007 progresses.
IT Contractor Eric Rasbury says he thinks the best current opportunities can be found in the defense and healthcare industries. “Here in Los Angeles it feels like we've reached a sort of economic plateau, but talent has a way of reinventing itself,” said Rasbury. “Even though we all know that dot-com turned into dot-bomb, something new is always happening. I expect that California will always be the overall tech leader.”
Rasbury and other L.A. IT experts can hope that the state's overall tech strength will trickle down to all regions. The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation's 2007 State New Economy Index, finds that California comes in fifth among all states as an overall new economy leader (measured in terms of available knowledge jobs, globalization, and economic dynamism), and seventh in per capita tech jobs, not bad for such an enormous state.
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| Dice job postings in L.A. are up 31% since Dec. |
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