| October 2006 |
 |
| The biotech and pharmaceutical industries are among the hottest sectors |
|
| An influx of industry and innovation has New England's largest city hitting its stride. New investment is fueling Boston’s growing IT job market. “We are having difficulty finding people to match with clients looking for specific skills sets,” said Terry O’Leary, Boston’s regional manager for IT staffing firm Sapphire Technologies. O’Leary also noted growing biotech and pharmaceutical industries as prime reasons the city remains a solid tech sector.
|
|
In fact, the IT job market in Boston has been steady over the past year. Job listings on Dice have climbed consistently since last December, up an impressive 28% to 3,041 by the end of September.
“What we are seeing in Boston are the results of good economic news and entrepreneurial investment,” said Scot Melland, CEO of Dice. “And that is translating into more jobs for fewer candidates at higher wages.” Boston IT professionals reported earning an average yearly income of $71,400, according to a salary survey by Dice. The national average tech salary is $70,300.
|
|
| "The speed of hiring has increased, and now it's common to see candidates getting multiple offers" |
| - Terry O'Leary, Boston's regional manager for IT staffing firm Sapphire Technologies |
|
“Overall, the Boston IT job market has been rebounding since 2001,” said O’Leary, who noted that growth for job requisitions at Sapphire hit 31% from Q2 to Q3 this year. “The speed of hiring has increased, and now it's common to see candidates getting multiple offers,” he added. O’Leary said his staff often turns to Dice to help fill the growing number of positions he receives from clients. “Dice has been very good for us,” O’Leary said. “We find a lot of qualified candidates there, and it's often the first tool we reach for after using our own internal database.”
Syed M. Ali, vice president of services at the Massachusetts-based software firm Advanced Visual Systems, said he has noticed a particular shortage of qualified candidates over the past few years. “There just don’t seem to be enough to go around,” said Ali. “Either they are overqualified or way underqualified. It has been a challenge finding perfect fits.” Ali, whose company employs between 50-100 workers in the Boston metro area, says they are now going to tailor the prerequisites for certain positions. “We are looking for developers who need to know how to do a number of things,” he said. “But now we are going to focus on finding someone who can handle at least one of the requirements and then concentrate on providing training for the others.”
O’Leary said Ali’s situation is typical in Boston. “The market is robust enough now where people are no longer happy just to have a job,” said O’Leary. “The jobs are there. It’s the candidates who are now harder to please.”
“Many of the hiring companies and recruiting agencies who use Dice have observed this tightening labor market,” said Dice's Melland. “These companies are focused more than ever on landing quality tech workers.”
If you would like to be interviewed for the next Dice market report, or if you have comments about this article, please contact us at feedback@dice.com.
|
|
|
|
|
| Dice job postings in Boston are up 8% since Jan. |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
