See Who's Still Hiring In Silicon Valley
'Plenty of Room In Here' Says One Company
By SCOTT BUDMAN and JOHN BOITNOTT
Updated 7:19 AM PST, Thu, Oct 16, 2008
America's economy may be slowing to a crawl, but in some parts of Silicon Valley, the job market is robust.
There are companies looking to hire, even as much of America remains concerned about losing their job, or finding one.
At Ooyala, a company that spun off from google, the sales guys in white shirts are just settling into their new offices.
"(There is) plenty of room in here," said founder Sean Knapp. "Nobody's rubbing elbows yet."
You've got to be qualified though. Knapp said in these troubled times, he gets 300 resumes a week.
"We still find that there's a huge amount of interest for those who have stable legs to stand on," Knapp said.
In Foster City, a company called Solar City is hiring. The solar power industry is growing by leaps and bounds, so the company, which helps people finance and install solar panels on their homes, is doing well.
"This is absolutely the green economy at work," said employee Seth Weissman.
He said even though the company has doubled in size, it has 100 new jobs to fill.
"Jobs that are in a regular company, or non-green company, exist here, plus that ability to bring your values and passion to the workplace on a regular basis," he said
Then there is the electric car company Tesla, which has been the subject of national news profiles over the last several months.
The company, which recently announced plans to build a giant production facility in North San jose, will add 1,000 jobs there.
Gilead Sciences, already one of the Bay Area's strongest biotech companies, plans to double the size of its Foster City headquarters, creating 1,900 new jobs to fight disease.
You might not expect banking to be a growth industry, but San Francisco-based Wells Fargo was smarter than most of the others.
It didn't make bad mortgage loans and is now thriving because of it.
"We've got 250 jobs open right now in the bay area, ranging from bankers to technical engineers," said Executive Vice President Lisa Stevens. "So there's lots of opportunity right now with our company. We are a growth company."
More than 5,000 jobs are expected emerge from those five companies alone.
First Published: Oct 13, 2008 1:03 PM PST
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