| October 2006 |
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| The desert Southwest continues to benefit from sweeping demographic shifts |
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| Living in Phoenix requires a tolerance for two things: hot weather and sprawl. In other words, make sure your car has an excellent air conditioner. All around the city and its environs, the arrival of both new employers and waves of new residents who will work for them continues to make headlines.
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Exhibit A is Google, which always makes news when it shows up somewhere new. The company announced it will open an office at Arizona State University in suburban Tempe, in part because Tempe has recently turned on a citywide Wi-Fi system covering 40 square miles. Google, always tantalizingly vague in its public announcements, said it "continues to look for a range of new employees to support a variety of business and technology operations."
Also in the news is Countrywide Financial Corp., which is completing a campus for 3,000 employees and will begin construction on another building soon. It's no wonder that IT staffing consultancy Robert Half Technology finds in its most recent IT Hiring Index that Arizona, along with other desert and mountain states, have the hottest IT employment growth.
"The desert Southwest continues to be the strongest region in the nation when it comes to IT hiring," said Scot Melland, CEO of Dice. "Dice users report lots of hiring activity."
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| 20% of Phoenix CIOs plan to make new hires this quarter. |
| - Robert Half Technology's fourth-quarter IT Hiring Index |
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Independent consultant Tracy Blackmore sees that activity first hand and has plenty of advice on where to look for the best jobs. "Since Phoenix is a destination for retirees, it has a big health care industry. One of the larger IT employers in the Valley is Catholic Healthcare. Finance is also strong. We have Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Charles Schwab as well as several regional institutions. And as far as defense contractors go, we have Honeywell and General Dynamics."
As Blackmore explained, "The Phoenix area is not the place for large corporate headquarters, but is a great place for data centers for those companies. So don't discount companies just because they aren't headquartered here. They may still have a presence."
UNIX administrator Mark Thomas agreed and pointed out that those data centers often offer jobs at odd hours, which may or may not be an advantage depending on your lifestyle needs. Thomas's other advice: "As a UNIX expert, I notice steady growth in the demand for my skills. I'm getting many calls and e-mails each week."
That's no surprise. The quarterly Manpower Employment Outlook Survey has found that in the fourth quarter, a strong 36% of the companies interviewed in the area plan to hire more employees. “Phoenix area employers have identical hiring intentions to the third quarter," said Manpower spokesman Jeff Schander. “Employers have slightly more positive hiring intentions than they did a year ago, when 36% of companies surveyed thought employment increases were likely but 11% intended to cut back.”
IT staffing consultancy Robert Half Technology confirms the trend, reporting that its fourth-quarter IT Hiring Index finds an impressive 20% of Phoenix CIOs plan to make new hires this quarter.
And after an outstanding first quarter, Phoenix's Dice listings have settled into a steadier rhythm, holding at approximately the same level as February's peak. Phoenix job seekers have more than 1,200 current listings to peruse at Dice.com.
It looks like Phoenix and the desert Southwest remains hot in every sense of the word.
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.
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| Dice job postings in Phoenix are up 10% since Jan. |
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