Help wanted: Seattle's tech firms struggle with people shortage

SEATTLE -- You can get a sense of the city's job market for tech geniuses by spending a few minutes at South Lake Union's popular food trucks during lunch.

Don't count how many people you see. Instead, count how many job offers they got.

"Three."

"Three."

"At least three."

Seattle's tech firms -- big, medium and small -- are fiercely competing for a small pool of software engineers and architects.

Glympse, the software company behind the GPS-based iPhone app by the same name, launched free public wifi at the food trucks near its headquarters to get the attention of tech talent.

The wifi network's name? "Glympse Is Hiring."

For every Glympse, there's a Socrata and a hundred other firms also looking for the same people.

Socrata, based in Pioneer Square, is a tech firm looking for dozens - maybe hundreds - of software engineers for its growing business of cloud-based computing solutions for government agencies.

"We're fighting with other start-ups and battling with big companies," said Jovana Teodorovic, Socrata's director of talent.

Teodorovic has also recruited for Amazon, where she says it would be common to email 1,000 people on LinkedIn only to land 30 or 40 interviews.

As in, if Teodorovic were lucky enough to land an interview with a job candidate.

The tech job market seems to work in reverse. It's the company doing the job-hunting.

Software engineers like Giacomo Ferrari at Socrata can expect six-figure jobs straight out of college along with attractive perks.

"I get a couple of requests a month," he says, even though he assures his bosses standing nearby he has no plans to leave Socrata.

Ferrari chose them, after all. He had five job offers.

"I really liked the different environment and the fast pace," he said.

Socrata's kitchen is fully stocked and even includes bottomless coffee and free beer.

Seattle recruiting firm Yoh says its clients also design ways to make the office seem "cool."

Catered lunch, sports tickets, comfy couches and "kegerators" (think: free beer).

Applicants don't usually ask recruiters like Teodorovic if the kitchen comes stocked with alcohol.

"They just assume you have a good culture," she said. "Here and there you grab a drink at the end of a Friday."

Kerry Meadows, senior technology recruiter at Yoh, said many of her clients offer beer, wine and liquor on tap, as well.

"There could be as many as 1,000 job openings in this field all over Seattle," said Lindsey Thorne, a recruiter for Greythorn.

Related links:

LinkedIn: Software Engineer job listings in Seattle