Here’s an example of how sought-after software engineers are in Boise: Several years after German software industry giant SAP bought out Sybase, another large firm with a Boise office, it's now decided to consolidate elsewhere and shut down the Boise location that employs 30 software engineers. Those workers won’t be out of a job ‘til the end of July, but last night, 23 other Treasure Valley tech firms came to a session organized by the Idaho Technology Council to pitch their current job openings to the soon-to-be-former SAP Sybase engineers.

“We added it up and there were 104 jobs that are available from those companies,” said Jay Larsen, technology council president. Each firm was given three minutes to give its pitch, and then they all mingled at an open house. “There’s just such a big demand for computer science software professionals,” Larsen said. Sybase, based in Dublin, Calif., acquired Boise-based Extended Systems in 2005, a firm that was launched by former Hewlett-Packard employees in 1984.  SAP bought Sybase in 2010 for $5.8 billion.