Tech jobs heat up

There's a shortage of java in the Tampa area, and according to several executives, it's about to hit crisis levels.

The java in this case — a relief to caffeine addicts — is the one that's behind the popular software program, not Indonesian coffee beans. Executives, in the Tampa Bay IT Workforce Analysis Survey released last month, say the java developer position is the top in-demand skill, but the most challenging job to fill.

The survey, spearheaded by CareerSource Tampa Bay, also essentially confirms a reality that many human resource executives have grappled with for months, that IT unemployment in the region is basically zero. The unemployment rate for all IT jobs in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater region in August last year, for example, was estimated at less than 1%, the report states.