06/17/96 WE HUMBLY BEG YOU TO TAKE THIS JOB. PLEASE

WE HUMBLY BEG YOU TO TAKE THIS JOB. PLEASE
In software, new hires can pretty much write their own tickets
In some industries, filling 900 jobs would be a snap. But Sybase Inc., an Emeryville (Calif.) maker of database software looking for that many new hires, is spending $32,000 on local TV ads; investing $4,000 on posters explaining why Sybase is a great place to work, and is in the midst of ``Sy-Baseball,'' a companywide program that rewards employees who refer job candidates. Those whose candidates make it to a job interview are entered in a raffle for the ``home run'' prize--a TV, barbeque, hammock, 44 pounds of charcoal, 5 cases of beer, and 36 Baby Ruth bars. Sybase even rented a biplane some months back that circled Silicon Valley, in particular buzzing competitors Oracle Corp. and Informix Corp., with the banner: ``Sybase wants you.''
These days, who doesn't--if you're a software expert. For job seekers, the computer-software business has never been better. Employment at U.S. software companies grew by 9.6% annually from 1987 to 1994, cranked up to 11.5% in 1995, and is expected to continue strong growth this year, says the Business Software Alliance. That's well above the 1.6% job growth from 1987 to 1994 for the overall economy.
And 1996 is no blip on the software hiring scene. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that jobs for systems analysts will grow for nearly a decade at 6.4% a year. Says John Thompson, vice-chairman of recruiters Heidrick & Struggles Inc.: ``There is a significant demand out there for executives and not nearly enough to go around.''
Why the torrid job climate? Cyberspace. Big software companies from Microsoft Corp. to Oracle are beefing up to tackle Net projects. Meanwhile, startups are everywhere. VentureOne Corp., a San Francisco-based market researcher, says that during 1995 two new Internet startups were being backed by venture capitalists each week. Says Jeffrey E. Christian, president of recruiters Christian & Timbers: ``The Internet is the culprit. There were already labor shortages before. But now the rules of the game are being thrown out the window.''
NET CASH. Perhaps the biggest change in the recruitment scene is the lure of so-called Internet currency--stock in startups. Stories about Internet currency abound. Christian says he recently placed an executive who was offered a $150,000 salary at an Internet startup. He nixed the salary offer--but instead negotiated a big chunk of stock. At the vice-president level, Christian says, execs used to expect an equity stake of about $500,000 that would vest over five years. Now they expect $5 million over two years.
Take the recent hiring of Gary Eichorn, a Hewlett-Packard Co. exec who in December, 1995, joined Internet startup Open Market Inc., which went public on May 23 at $18 a share. Eichorn's hiring package: a $200,000 base salary, stock options for 5% of the company stock, and a $1 million signing bonus.
All the competition is prompting software companies to try new tricks. At Steven P. Jobs's NeXT Software Inc., employees get up to $10,000 for referring someone hired as an executive, $2,000 for engineers. At Symantec Corp., a utilities software maker, a four-wheel-drive Geo Tracker sits in the lobby, reminding workers that if they ante up candidate names they could win the car in a July 1 drawing.
Autodesk Inc. is casting its recruitment net well beyond Silicon Valley. And if a top candidate doesn't want to relocate to the San Rafael (Calif.) headquarters, the company tries to accommodate, with employees now in San Diego, Colorado Springs, and Medford, Ore. working out of their home offices. Says Carol A. Bartz, CEO of Autodesk: ``Before, you had to be the Pope before we'd let you do that.''
Even Microsoft is going all out, aiming to hire about 2,000 people worldwide in the next year. The company will promise a lot to get good talent. A recent case: After a two-year courtship, a developer for a rival agreed to join after Microsoft promised to relocate his 27 dogs, each in a separate crate. Asks David A. Pritchard, Microsoft's recruiting director: ``Have you ever heard of an airline that takes 27 dogs, in one shipment, when one is the size of a small pony?''
No. But then you never saw anything like today's software job market either.
By Kathy Rebello in San Francisco