Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Job Fairs Back, As SoCal Technology Firms Ramp Hiring
In a sign that demand for employees from Southern California technology firms is on the rise, two, separate announcements Wednesday from local companies indicates that hiring demand at local companies is up, and companies are again scrambling to fill positions. In an announcement Wednesday, Westlake Village-based online advertising firm ValueClick said that it is planning to hire over 100 new employees, as it plans to increase its workforce by over 10 percent. Separately, Santa Monica-based Factual, along with local high tech firms MyLife, Google's local office, AT&T Interactive/YP.com, Amplio, Hipswap. and MerchEngines, said they are running a job fair later this month to attract new employees. In its announcement, ValueClick said it needs "additional intelligent, motivated go-getters" to keep up with demand for its products, with hiring not only in the Los Angeles area but elsewhere. Factual said its LA Tech Job Fair--coming up on July 13th--is focused on finding "smart people" for a variety of technical/engineering roles at the various firms. The return of a job fair--which were notably absent in the depth of the "Great Recession", and which were a hallmark of the last boom--might be a first indication that robust hiring by technology firms is starting to impact availability of talent in Southern California.