Look who's hiring?
I had conversations last week with the leaders of two Baltimore tech-companies -- one a small biz, the other a mid-sized biz -- and both exuded some pretty impressive optimism for their prospects.
They've been in hiring mode recently, snapping up talent to help them complete their projects and build capacity to snag new business. (I don't want to give their names away just yet. Stay tuned.)
My point: These tech companies feel like they're on the move, while others perhaps are still in retrenching and cost-saving mode.
These conversations got me wondering what the current landscape is looking like for I.T. and other Web-related companies in and around Baltimore.
Who's hiring right now? Any recruiters want to weigh in? What's the current climate like out there for tech companies in Maryland? What sectors are seeing growth and a resumption of hiring? Who's still in bunker mode? If there are any noticeable trends that are cooking, I'd dig in a little further with a follow up story. :-)
It's worth noting that the Boston Globe's tech/innovation columnist, Scott Kirsner, covered this topic today for the Boston scene and who inspired me to probe what's shakin' here in Maryland. Here's his column and here's his latest blog post, where he lets some of his interviewees speak about the trends in their own words. Hot off the blog press today!
Comments
We have had to accelerate our hiring schedule to keep up with the demand for our services. (We help companies achieve business goals by using technology - in a downturn those goals are just as important, if not more, then when in growth mode).
Our biggest problem has been in finding the time to review candidates and to reach those experts who got displaced by economic conditions.
Hmmm, It seems there's a crush right now for companies just to make the time to sift through many promising candidates who've been displaced from previous jobs. - gs
Posted by: Michael Tanenhaus | June 16, 2009 1:45 PM
Gus, we have seen a major increase in the hiring activity out there. Since getting into the recruiting business 4 years ago, EntreQuest (www.entrequest.com) helps with all areas of sales force development. Our recruiting division obviously took the biggest hit in 2008, but has been making a strong comeback here recently.
The biggest trend we are hearing is that companies are building for 2010. They believe that this is an opportune time to gain market share, pick up great talent in the market place and find a way to edge out their competition.
There is a great line we heard, "You are either sliding or climbing." Meaning you are either making the attempt to grow or allowing the environment to stop you in your tracks. Despite continuing news reports of economic malaise, we find that more and more companies are making the attempt to grow.
Thanks for the update, Joe! -gs
Posted by: Joe Mechlinski | June 16, 2009 3:00 PM
Gus, great to meet you at the GBTC wine tasting event last week. I think we might be the smaller company you eluded to in your post - we have indeed been hiring. We had a really growth year out of the gate last year, creating 8 different social media sites and getting our viaPlace iPhone framework completed (http://www.viaplace.com). Summers are typically a busy time for us as we also create web based training and work with a lot of school systems, but we had to hire 4 new developers in the past 2 weeks to keep up with current demand for our iPhone framework and social media implementations. We have also found a lot of recent business creating custom media and music related experiences.
Best,
-t.
Indeed, Todd, you and MindGrub are the other company I was alluding to! I'll write more about you guys very soon. Cheers, -gs
Todd Marks
CEO
Mindgrub Technologies
http://www.mindgrub.com
Posted by: Todd Marks | June 16, 2009 5:57 PM