After a brief break from the road, the City Beat is back. This week your faithful reporter has pulled in (virtually, that is) to that damp jewel of the pacific-northwest: Seattle! Also known as the Emerald City, Seatown , and the Jet City Seattle is home to a mixture of older industries as well as “new economy” Internet and technology firms. Three of the Fortune 500 firms are based within city limits (Amazon.com, Starbucks, and Nordstom) while nearby suburbs and towns are home to Costco, Providence Health & Services, Microsoft, Nintendo of America, and forest products giant Weyerhaeuser to name a few. The city also boasts a large Asian community (13.8% according to the 2010 Census) like many cities on the west coast. Because of its rich high-tech talent pool, Seattle is also home to many start-up businesses. Finally, it is the chosen site for HCI's 2012 Engagement and Retention Conference; some might call this Seatown's crowning acheivement.
While Seattle’s metro area has been hit hard by the recession, it boasts a much lower unemployment rate than the U.S. at 7.7% and a lower rate than the state of Washington as well. And now, here are the numbers:
Population within City Limits: 608,660
Population in Metro Area: 3,429,809 (15th largest in the U.S.)
Largest Private Employers (Puget Sound Area):
- Boeing – 70,000 approx.
- Microsoft – 40,000 approx.
- University of Washington – 25,000 approx.
- Amazon – 15,000 approx.
- Weyerhaueser – 10,000
- Group Health Cooperative – 9,000
- Fred Meyer – 8,700
- Bank of America – 7,300
- Qwest Communications – 7,000
- Nordstrom – 6,000
Sources: city-data.com, Wikipedia
What to take away from all this? For anyone in the market for top IT talent, Seattle is a prime hunting ground. However, competition is fierce so come loaded for bear. Seattle is also a young city, with a median age of 35.4 years. Given its diversity and cultural proximity to Asia, it can also act as a springboard for companies interested in expanding their reach globally.
That is all for this week, but keep an eye out for further additions to this cross-country chronicle. Also, if you have suggestions for a city you’d like to see profiled in the next edition send your requests to alan.mellish@hci.org.