2017 IT jobs report: Pacific region

This IT jobs report covers Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, Hawaii and Guam. (Also see our reports for the Mountain, North Central, South Central, Northeast and Southeast regions.)

Job market snapshot

As the home of Silicon Valley and other technology hot spots, the Pacific region is in the biggest, most competitive tech job market in the U.S. As such, it has a unique mix of benefits and drawbacks. Everyone is looking for the best, most innovative talent. On the other hand, there’s a lot of talent to compete with, as techies flock to a region that’s home to the biggest names in computing, including Facebook, Google, Apple, Microsoft and Amazon.

Analyzing 10 years’ worth of employment data for Forbes magazine, Praxis Strategy Group ranked Pacific metro areas in three of the top 10 spots for tech job creation in 2017. The San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, Calif., area topped the list with more than 220,000 tech jobs in 2016 and 90% tech industry job growth from 2006-2016. The San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif., metro area (a.k.a. Silicon Valley), placed 4th with more than 176,000 tech jobs in 2016 and 79.6% tech industry growth from 2006-2016. And the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash., area came in 8th with nearly 146,000 tech jobs in 2016 and 47.7% industry job growth over 10 years.

Patrick Circelli, a San Francisco-based regional recruiting manager for staffing agency Mondo, says the unique dynamics of the Pacific Coast tech scene make hiring different than in other regions. He says many West Coast companies look for technologists who are passionate, innovative and visionary more so than those who are good cultural or even technical fits for specific job posts. He says innovative tech pros with top skills “get to choose where they go.”

As a result, Circelli says companies often have to go after passive candidates — employed workers who aren’t actively looking for new positions but are willing to consider them. Given the competition for talent, Circelli says many employers are willing to take less-than-ideal candidates because they’re available, although some companies can and do still wait months to find the right fit. Software engineers and web developers remain in high demand, as do data scientists and security experts.

Stephen Felisan, CIO of Edmunds, an automotive information and shopping platform based in Santa Monica, Calif., says he seeks out IT workers who have a wide array of both technical and business skills. He adds that competition for DevOps talent is particularly high.

Although Felisan says hiring isn’t easy, he does see applicants from other regions looking to relocate to the Pacific states — which helps expand the talent pool a bit. “They want to come here [for] the weather, it’s fun, and there’s a lot of energy,” he says.

IT salaries: National vs. Pacific region

Average 2017 total compensation (base salary + bonus)

See Computerworld's IT Salary Watch for lots more information about tech salaries this year.

Best Places to Work in IT 2017: Pacific region

Fourteen employers from the Pacific region were named to Computerworld's 100 Best Places to Work in IT list for 2017. Click on any company name to see its employer profile.

• Applied Materials - Santa Clara, Calif.
• Avanade - Seattle
• Cedars-Sinai Health System - Los Angeles
• Dignity Health - San Francisco
• Edmunds.com - Santa Monica, Calif.
• Genentech - South San Francsico, Calif.
• Illumina - San Diego
• Informatica - Redwood City, Calif.
• Jet Propulsion Laboratory - Pasadena, Calif.
• Kaiser Permanente - Oakland, Calif.
• Nutanix - San Jose, Calif.
• Portland State University - Portland, Ore.
• Sharp HealthCare - San Diego
• VMware - Palo Alto, Calif.

See the full Best Places to Work in IT 2017 report.