January 11, 1998 — Reprinted From: San Francisco Examiner

Job climate is hot, with patchy clouds.

By: Dave Murphy

Examiner Career Search Editor

1998 looks like it will be a great year for getting jobs - and losing them.

"The Bay Area overall is definitely one of the hottest markets in the country," says Michael Reid of Michael James Reid and Company management consulting firm in San Francisco. He points to statistics from Statewide Information Systems, which show that the region added 181,000 jobs for the year that ended last June.

"In response to the huge number of corporate mergers in 1997, (1998) will see another significant wave of corporate downsizing," says George Bailey, global director of the Human Capital Group at the Watson Wyatt management consulting firm in San Francisco.

It isn't that Reid and Bailey really disagree; the job market - particularly in the Bay Area - is about as good as it can get, but that doesn't mean it can't be ruthless if you're in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong skills.

Take financial services, for example, one of the Bay Area's biggest sectors. Reid says there will no doubt be more layoffs because banks and other savings institutions keep consolidating, while advanced technology wipes out other positions. On the other hand, he says, hiring is increasing in areas such as investment banking, technical and management jobs, and a variety of mutual fund and other programs aimed at serving an aging population that has more money to invest and protect.

"The venture capital firms are hiring more associates and interns," adds Jeff Hyman, president and CEO of MBA Central in Palo Alto, which registers MBA students and graduates, helping businesses find the right people. " They need them to spend the money and find the right companies."

Reid says the Bay area's venture capital investment was $2.3 billion last year, led of course by information technology. He says there were 82 initial public offerings in the bay area for IT companies alone.

Hyman says MBAs nationwide over the last five years had tended to work as investment bankers or management consultants, but many found the work unappealing. "If you're not going to stay, why go into it?"

More MBAs now are going into high-tech, finance and marketing, he says, and most prefer small companies or startups because of the variety of work, the ability to make an impact and the willingness to tailor jobs to their lifestyle.

" High-tech is our biggest demand area," Hyman adds. " They're finding that they need to bring in people from outside the area to fill the positions."

There is a particularly large demand fro MBAs who studied engineering as undergraduates. There are signing bonuses of $5000 to $15,000 for several jobs, he says, and many MBAs in high-tech and finance are getting $50,000 to $150,000 salaries in their early years.

Anyone bringing good skills into high-tech area is likely to be rewarded, Bailey says. "Pay increases will reach an all-time high for most categories of knowledge workers as the work force shortage meets the expanding economy."

Reid says that besides those with computer skills, IT companies need people with skills in management and human resource. More companies are using temporary and contractual employees, so an effective human resources department can help to make those workers happier and more productive, he explains.

The high-tech demand has led MacTemps to create a division called Web-Staff, says Cyndi McCollister, assignment manager in its San Francisco office. She says companies got on the Internet a couple of years ago, but now are realizing they need more help from system administrators, designers and programmers.

"They realize that they need to make the pages more dynamic," she says.

The Bay Area's job boom in 1997 and predicted growth for 1998 carries some risks, Reid warns. "We've got some pretty strong vulnerability if we have downturn in the technology market."

If that happens, he says that everybody who has joined the mad scramble to IT jobs could face some serious problems. Well, almost everybody.

"Anybody who can program a computer will not have a problem," Reid says.