Tech job boom in Tampa Bay continues as companies relocate to Sunshine State

TAMPA, Fla. - Hundreds of jobs are up for grabs in the Tampa Bay area, but one of the hottest markets right now is the technology industry. New companies keep moving to Tampa and that adds to the idea of Tampa as a major tech hub. 

CareerSource Tampa Bay’s CEO John Flanagan said tech jobs are in high demand in Tampa.

"In today's economy, you have much more entry and mid-level jobs that are open than your senior-level job. That's just a function of the labor market that we live in," Flanagan said.

Potential candidates include students from the University of South Florida.

USF business professors say the need is so high, some tech firms are paying for programs that offer practical experience so they can hire them.

"They're co-invested. Their engineers are sitting right alongside of me and we're training USF students specifically to place them in the Tampa Bay workforce in cybersecurity," said Clinton Daniel, professor at USF Muma College of Business.

Daniel says there’s aggressive hiring right now for cybersecurity. There’s also growth in data science and analytics.

The jobs are in the Bay Area because tech companies want to be in Tampa.

"Tampa is one of the fastest-growing cities in America. It was voted consistently, gets voted as some of the top 10 cities to live in the country," said Ankur Bansal, president of HomeLight Closing Services 

Speaking with FOX 13 remotely from San Francisco, Bansal said they just opened their regional hub in the Westshore Concourse Center and at least 100 jobs need to be filled.

"Typically, when a Silicon Valley company moves to Florida or Texas, the common assumption is that these are tier-two jobs or these are back-office jobs. That's actually quite the opposite in my case. These jobs are our premium jobs. We are offering people six figures," Bansal said.

Tampa offers employers access to a massive talent pool, so recruiters say tech-related jobs are here to stay.