Even in an economy struggling back to its feet, a good engineer is hard to find.

From startups to industry veterans, tri-county technology companies are still hiring and snapping up space in the commercial real estate markets. While it’s still a buyer’s market for employers looking to hire in other sectors, tech companies say finding the right engineer for the job takes time.

“In the sector that we’re in, and with the kind of roles we’re looking to fill, it’s still kind of an employee’s market,” said Harry Lin, chief executive of Ventura-based start-up Lottay.com, which provides an online system for people to start a wish list and let friends and family chip in toward a gift. “If you’re in Southern California and you need to hire a Ruby on Rails engineer, it’s still hard to find one.”

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