VMware Helps Lead Surge in Tech Jobs

Palo Alto-based is on a short list of companies fueling a major surge in job growth in Silicon Valley.

Of the 16,500 jobs available for tech workers last month, VMware accounted for 571 of them, according to data obtained by the California Employment Development Department Labor Market Information division.

Positions profiled in the survey included software and field application engineers, industrial engineers, Web developers, software quality assurance engineers and testers, computer systems analysts and similar positions.

Among cities, Palo Alto businesses (in all fields) advertised about 5,609 online jobs, edging out Mountain View's 5,400 and Sunnyvale's 5,572. Within the county, Santa Clara and San Jose advertised the most jobs online, at 7,300 and 15,980 respectively.

Even with impending layoffs at Cisco—the second-largest employer in San Jose at 11,700—the growth in tech jobs in Silicon Valley is expected to increase.

Forecasts suggest tech job growth of about 15 percent in two years, and that's a conservative estimate, according to a study by NOVA, which surveyed about 250 employers in the information and communication technology industry.

Mid-size companies, with 11-99 employees, are most likely to expand employment in the next year or so, according to the survey results.

And retiring baby boomers are expected to exacerbate the shortage in the talent pool.

But there's already a shortage, as many of these tech jobs require high-level skills and even masters degrees. Already, there is some difficulty reported by the companies surveyed in filling these positions. While a third of businesses surveyed said they had "no difficulty" finding qualified field application engineers, a fifth reported "great difficulty." 

The survey also revealed information among the tech companies in hiring.

• Big companies that use recruiters are more likely to be tapped into LinkedIn, while smaller companies with no recruiters are likely to use Craigslist.

• Employees who have worked for big name, easily identifiable companies, were more likely to be considered for job openings. The study advises applicants to write brief descriptions for each lesser-known company and draw connections to key technologies or elite firms.

• If you want to transition from another industry into tech, some employers in the survey made it seem next to impossible, even with an entry-level position. Internships and a resume showing how your current experience relates to the tech field will make a difference.