Technology/Software Industry? (Jacksonville, Miami, Tampa: employment, contractors, income)

[manwithavan]

What's the employment situation like in the technology/software sector?

I'm a hardcore software engineer fully proficient in a whole raft of programming languages. Loads of experience in low-level hand-held device design (think sat nav, medical instruments, ...) I like to think that I have a good master's degree.

My wife & I are thinking of relocating somewhere warm, and Florida seems so much more convenient for her from a licensing point of view (she's a medical professional)

Does the Tampa area even have a technology industry to speak of? Maybe other areas in FL are better? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Yes I fully realise unemployment is pretty high at the moment...

[atroxanautin]

Well, you will get more responses in the Tampa forum. Tampa definitely has a tech industry and Sarasota does have a little one as well. I don't know that there are any areas that are particularly better (Miami is a larger metro and might have more jobs though). I really don't know the job situation now, but I imagine it sucks.

[angelfish]

Tampa and Jacksonville would be the areas to look into. Not knowing what area of the country you are coming from, you could be in for quite a shock. Being a software engineer, you could go into smaller market like Sarasota, but you will want to be very cautious. You wouldn't want to be stuck in a negative situation if it didn't work out. If you wanted to play it really safe you could go to the tech hub of Atlanta.

[SoFLGal]

Yes, I agree with both of the previous posts. I think Tampa and Jacksonville will be your best bet. There are a few in this area in Simply Hired.

[Skunk Workz]

Depending upon where you are from, you will probably find the pay situation to be quite different (possibly unacceptable). The term "paid in sunshine" is thrown around down here quite often.

While I haven't really looked into the job situation in the last 18 months, I looked this morning and I notice that no companies are posting pay info (even the ones that consistently were in the past).

2 years ago they were all posting pay ranges in the adds, but even then they were only in the 60-80k range for senior developers/engineers (50-60 per hour for contractors).

If you have some amount of specialization (especially with embedded tech) you may be able to get in with some of the defense, medical, or aerospace companies in the area, but as others have suggested they are more concentrated in the Tampa and St Pete areas.

After 8 years as a senior (developer/architect/engineer/jack of all trades), I finally decided that the only way to get the kind of income I needed was to either move to an area where my particular skills were in high demand, or do contract work and develop my own products. For the last year I have been contracting and have found that I can now charge on a more national level.