Seattle employment Web site Jobster, which counts Starbucks, Microsoft, Expedia, Google and eBay among its clients, is about to announce news about steady growth this week, mirroring a national uptick in the tech job market.

"We are seeing the hottest technology employment market in the Seattle market in years," Jobster CEO Jason Goldberg said in an email. "Competition for technology workers has increased dramatically over the past six months, with many candidates reporting multiple offers. Large employers such as Microsoft and Google (which is growing its Seattle presence) are now competing aggressively with small startups for tech talent."

The number of engineering and software development positions being posted online by Seattle area companies has grown more than 20 percent since August, he added. Better news, indeed, than simply fewer job cuts.

Update: Jobster says 115 new companies are using its service, and it added basic job listings from another 80,000 employers.