If you know anyone looking for a job, you might want to tell them to go see a start-up. Eighty seven percent of technology startups plan to hire new employees this year, according to an interactive report by Silicon Valley Bank, which serves high growth tech companies across the United States.

In the US, that number is 14 percent higher than four years ago, when SVB's annual Startup Outlook was first conducted.

Based on a survey of more than 750 startup executives across the US and 125 in the UK, the study reveals that software companies plan to do the most hiring, with 90% planning to increase the size of their workforces this year.

"Tech companies are a bright spot in the economy worldwide," said Greg Becker, president and CEO of Silicon Valley Bank. "There is a lot of opportunity to put people to work at startups, which is particularly welcome news since jobs in general are recovering slowly."

For the purposes of this study, startups are primarily defined as companies in the innovation sectors like clean energy, technology, and biotech, with less than $100 million in annual revenue and fewer than 500 employees (US) or less than £25 million in annual revenue and fewer than 100 employees (UK). Just over 40% of the startups that are hiring in both the US and the UK had fewer than 10 employees at the time of the survey.

Results of the survey are being released in a series of reports, which are available at www.svb.com/startup-outlook-report or www.svb.com/uk