Interest in job fair climbs as companies look to hire
By Sean Hao
Advertiser Staff Writer
Like the technology industry itself, Hawai'i's annual tech-job fair is gaining momentum.
Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser
About 18 high-tech companies will be recruiting at the fifth annual Holiday Science & Tech Fair today at the Japanese Cultural Center.
Programmer David Tribble works for Referentia Systems, a company that's looking to fill a variety of positions, ranging from an executive assistant to animators. Referentia Systems, a software developer and systems integrator, has been in Hawai'i since 1996.
That's up from about a dozen companies last year at the event, which serves as both a recruitment opportunity and showcase for Hawai'i's technology companies.
In the past three years, high-tech jobs have grown in Hawai'i at a faster pace than in the nation overall, driven in part by some of the nation's most generous tax credits and the state's limited participation in the tech bubble of the late 1990s.
As the nation's high-tech workforce shrank by 10.5 percent during the past three years, the number of people employed in technology jobs in Hawai'i rose nearly 7.5 percent to about 15,000 people, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
That increased activity makes it harder for companies to find the skilled workers they need and is fueling increased interest in the job fair, said Philip Bossert, chief executive officer and executive director of High Tech Development Corp., which is coordinating the event.
About 400 people are expected to attend the job fair, which would be up from 200 last year, he said.
The fifth annual Holiday Science & Tech Fair will be today from 4:30 to 7 p.m. at the Japanese Cultural Center at 2454 South Beretania St. For more information, call 539-3794. The fair is free and open to the public.
"This year has been a pretty good up year for the economy and a lot of companies are hiring," Bossert said. At the same time, "there's a shortage of high-level professionals and technician-level people."
Where to go
Companies in attendance are expected to include such established businesses as Oceanit, BAE Systems and Hoku Scientific along with relative newcomers such as Quantum Leap Interactive.
Quantum, which opened in the Manoa Innovation Center in March, is looking for software developers and interns to help develop new software products.
"We're very optimistic as far as growing our company in Hawai'i," said Rita Vick, Quantum's software applications manager. "We think there's a lot of talent available and we have some interesting products we're working on."
Referentia Systems Inc., which is near Honolulu International Airport, will be at the job fair looking to fill a variety of positions ranging from an executive assistant to animators. The software developer and systems integrator has been in Hawai'i since 1996.
"I think we have a good collection of talent in the islands," said Larry Lieberman, Referentia's director of communications. "We would like to have a larger pool, but the important thing is the quality of the candidates, not the number of candidates."
Reach Sean Hao at 525-8093 or shao@honoluluadvertiser.com.
