High-tech tug of war

SAN FRANCISCO - There are currently 45,000 vacant high-tech jobs in California.

Lawyer and former Employment Development Department Director Michael Bernick said the more layoffs, means the more competition.

"Well it's always difficult to get a job even when the economy is doing very well. The Bay Area is a very competitive place to look for a job," said Bernick.

But skills count as the market tightens.

Bernick said, "The tech workers, being young workers and having these transferable skills, are in better shape than all other sectors of the labor market here in the Bay Area."

On the other hand, employers are also being far more particular, according to Sylvia Luneau, founder of Psynapse, a high-tech hiring and placement firm.

"I think it's an important thing to find employees that are good employees and who are very good cultural fit because the wrong individual in their environment really could be bad for the whole team," she said.

Twitter headquarters is seen in San Francisco, California, United States on October 28, 2022. Tayfun Coskun / Anadolu Agency

But, many highly qualified tech job seekers have their demands about where they want to work.

"I do, on a daily basis, speak to individuals that say, "absolutely, positively, I'm only interested in remote work positions, regardless of how much they're getting paid," said Luneau.

That's because many employers are thrilled to hire qualified remote workers.

"The tech workers today benefit from the fact that there are multiple employers, multiple jobs, and more places to work," said Bernick.

But working that out requires patience for even the very best recruits.

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"Longer times with which clients are actually taking to actually make that interview; maybe even six interviews. It really depends on the company, it can take about 6 weeks to find a position," said the recruiter.

Employers have to be extremely open-minded about time off.

"Whether that means shorter work weeks for themselves or literally taking a month or two off for whatever reason, I see more of that than I ever have. Absolutely I think, it's a quantum change in the workplace. This is not your parents' workplace anymore