San Francisco Tech Companies Battling For Top Talent
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5) - Judging by some of the methods being used to lure potential employees, the high-tech boom is back in San Francisco.
At Flurry Analytics, a small startup in the city's SoMa district, you'll find workers engaging in Nerf gun shootouts when they're not sitting elbow to elbow in their cramped offices.
The company develops software to track mobile app usage. It's Just one of many tech companies armed with millions of dollars in funding to expand and to hire. The small company has more jobs than it has workers. Its ratio of employees to open positions is fifty-fifty.
"The last thing we thought is 'we're going to have problems recruiting,'" said Simon Khalaf, Flurry's CEO.
Khalaf said the company actually ran out of money in the 2008 crash. Now it's back stronger than ever and looking to hire employees in one of the most competitive markets in the country.
One of the industries driving the boom is mobile computing revolution, which combines both computing and internet into the palm of the consumers' hands: smart phones and apps.
San Francisco is also home to technology giants like Sales Force, which just cut a lease deal for 400,000 square feet of commercial space. It plans on filling the new offices with 2,000 workers. Twitter has also cemented plans to keep its home in the city.
A new weapon in Flurry's arsenal to draw top talent is the gourmet food truck. Every Wednesday, it buys out a truck to feed its 30 workers and it invites 250 potential engineers who may be foodies but also potential talent.
Another South of Market company, Marin Software, develops tools for online advertisers. It ended last year with 300 employees. This year it plans to hire another 120. It's got 5 recruiters looking for skilled employees.
Matt Lawson, Marin's Marketing Director, said the future's bright. "Investors are looking to invest and grow and they need the technology to help them do that," he said.
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