VMware's virtual lock on the job market
VMware, that boring little virtualization-software company, has gotten a lot more interesting since its moonshot IPO. The partial spinoff from corporate parent EMC was the flashiest debut since Google, and the comparisons to the search behemoth keep coming. Bloomberg is reporting that VMware is now competing with Google for the very lifeblood of Silicon Valley — developers. And it's willing to use its newfound IPO wealth to steal programmers from the rest of the Valley. Of the 1,168 jobs — 1,168! — listed on VMware's career webpage, 596 are listed under IT or R&D. With a rumored starting salary of $130K-$160K, and stock options with a current strike price around $66, look for frustrated Googlers to start trickling towards Palo Alto.