Talent war heats up in Silicon Valley

But the war for talent is on, and as I wrote in this week's Business Journal, companies like Hewlett-Packard Hewlett-Packard Latest from The Business Journals S&P downgrades Hewlett-Packard two notchesLenovo overtakes Dell as No. 2 PC brandHewlett-Packard CEO Whitman: 'We need another operating system' Follow this company are even going to the lengths of filing lawsuits to keep their employees from going to the competition.

"There's a skills gap in a lot of instances between what employers are looking for and the skills that IT professionals have today," Slabinski said. "Technology anyway you look at it moves very quickly and the skills that people need are changing."

Network engineers with experience in hot technologies like cloud computing, database developers, and help desk personnel are among the research positions in top demand, according to a national Robert Half survey and projections for the fourth quarter of 2011.

As companies search for new employees, they as well have to make sure to hang onto their current ones as then. Slabinski said companies are offering more perks ranging from raises and bonuses, to a more flexible work schedule, to letting employees use their personal laptops or smartphones for work.