Hiring continuing to pick up in IT sector

Lord knows the last thing out-of-work people want to hear right now is anything about "trickle-down" economics, that much-derided Reagan-era theory that financial incentives for the wealthy will eventually funnel down to the rest of society. This idea, however, is starting to bear fruit in the local IT community in the form of new job openings.

While browsing through LinkedIn the other day, I came across a relatively new user group called Puget Sound IT Jobs, created by Nate Frickel, senior technical recruiter at the Rylem staffing agency in Seattle. I noticed that at least a dozen IT developer jobs were posted there and 14 new members had been added this week. So I called up Frickel to find out more about the hubbub.

"Business has certainly picked up a lot in the last few months," Frickel said. "We're seeing a lot more movement in the development space. Right now, the wireless segment appears to be the strongest." Local telecoms, he told me, such as T-Mobile and Clearwire, are looking for certified usability analysts and those with C++ developing experience. "Basically, anybody who is systems- or network-oriented is in demand," he added.

As Vertical Move's Matthew Allen mentioned to me in a blog post back around Labor Day, the IT sector is reviving itself this fall with new openings as many companies are building teams for new projects. But, like most of the apparent miracle cures for this recession, this IT hiring trend comes with a big catch: It mostly involves senior, director-level jobs, and very few mid- or entry-level positions.

"There is less fear in general about the economy," Frickel said. "Last spring, there were a lot of layoffs, which created a huge talent pool that was out of work, but now the companies are ramping back up." Most telecoms, he says, are anticipating a return to growth in the first quarter of 2010 and are trying to lock up upper-management positions before all the best talent is taken by their competitors.

For example, one of Frickel's largest customers, Expedia, had cut staff by 30 to 40 percent last year. "Now, they're almost back to almost normal levels," he says. Another Rylem customer, automotive marketing company Cobalt, currently has about 75 positions open.

Will this lead to the creation of a wider range of jobs in the near future? "My guess is that there will be a trickle down," he added. (There's that term again.) "A larger number of jobs following the director-level hires is what usually happens. We expect to see that in the second quarter of next year."

Whatever happens, the overflowing available talent pool will take a while to find its comfortable level. When Frickel created his IT Jobs group at the beginning of October, about 20 people signed up to view the listings. Today, that number is 117. And growing.

As a recruiter, it's in Frickel's nature to be an optimist, but he says there is too much unnecessary negativity in today's IT market. "People focus too much on the unemployment percentage," he said. "Instead they should focus on where we were in the spring and how far we've come. It's just so much better now than it was."

Writer and editor Randy Woods has filled out more job applications than he can count -- so you don't have to. Email him at hireground@nwjobs.com.