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Sure, and then they'd be stuck with Billy Joe and Jim Bob, who once used a computer back in the 90's, as a workforce. Or they could offer the same California s

Sure, and then they'd be stuck with Billy Joe and Jim Bob, who once used a computer back in the 90's, as a workforce. Or they could offer the same California salaries to programmers, who would live like kings in a small town but wouldn't have the same conveniences, and still spend the same amount of money. Moving to the countryside doesn't always make business sense. Sure, costs to have a business in an urban area, but it's easier to find workforce at all needed levels and the trappings of urban civilization keep your workforce occupied and happier in their off hours. Case-in-point: I work for a cash-strapped startup (for reasons) and sometimes have to live off my savings, but I live in an urban area. I could move to my hometown, where my costs would be about 25% of my current expenses, but then I'd be living in a special kind of hell where there are few good restaurants and the nearest bookstore is 60 miles away.

douche 11y ago
Oh my god, the horror of not having five-star restaurants! If Google or Apple moved from the Bay to anywhere else, their workers would follow. Don't doubt that for a second. Or we could just embrace technology and stop insisting that all your workers have to breathe the same oxygen, and allow remote work. There are huge swathes of the United States that are becoming depopulated because industry died and all of the young people have had to leave to find work. I just got back from a trip home to western Maine, and it's disturbing the number of houses that are just abandoned up there.
- drivingmenuts 11y ago
  > Oh my god, the horror of not having five-star restaurants! It's not just the lack of 5-star restaurants, it's the lack of 2+ star restaurants and everything else that goes with it. If your job relocated to western Maine, how much of a wrench in your life would that be? > If Google or Apple moved from the Bay to anywhere else, their workers would follow. Don't doubt that for a second. Only if the pay incentive was great enough, I'm sure. Otherwise, it might be easier to just get a new job in the same area. Google and Apple might be exceptions, considering that they're pretty much both loaded, but any smaller company would have to think long and hard about the expenditures required to get the bulk of their employees moved. People get rooted in their communities, especially if the standard of living is higher than where they're expected to move. > Or we could just embrace technology and stop insisting that all your workers have to breathe the same oxygen, and allow remote work. And someday pigs might fly, but not this century.
  - douche 11y ago
    > If your job relocated to western Maine, how much of a wrench in your life would that be? I'd be fucking stoked. Cheap land, low population density, mountains. But I'm originally a redneck from that area to begin with, so my expectations of amenities and services are very low.
kedean 11y ago
"The Midwest" doesn't mean small 50-person towns. There are many big cities and medium cities in the midwest, chock full of computer savvy people who need jobs. Where exactly do you think this workforce overflowing the Bay Area is coming from? They've flooded California because CA has told them that's where all the jobs are, but there are plenty more where they came from.

douche 11y ago

Oh my god, the horror of not having five-star restaurants! If Google or Apple moved from the Bay to anywhere else, their workers would follow. Don't doubt that for a second. Or we could just embrace technology and stop insisting that all your workers have to breathe the same oxygen, and allow remote work. There are huge swathes of the United States that are becoming depopulated because industry died and all of the young people have had to leave to find work. I just got back from a trip home to western Maine, and it's disturbing the number of houses that are just abandoned up there.

drivingmenuts 11y ago
> Oh my god, the horror of not having five-star restaurants! It's not just the lack of 5-star restaurants, it's the lack of 2+ star restaurants and everything else that goes with it. If your job relocated to western Maine, how much of a wrench in your life would that be? > If Google or Apple moved from the Bay to anywhere else, their workers would follow. Don't doubt that for a second. Only if the pay incentive was great enough, I'm sure. Otherwise, it might be easier to just get a new job in the same area. Google and Apple might be exceptions, considering that they're pretty much both loaded, but any smaller company would have to think long and hard about the expenditures required to get the bulk of their employees moved. People get rooted in their communities, especially if the standard of living is higher than where they're expected to move. > Or we could just embrace technology and stop insisting that all your workers have to breathe the same oxygen, and allow remote work. And someday pigs might fly, but not this century.
- douche 11y ago
  > If your job relocated to western Maine, how much of a wrench in your life would that be? I'd be fucking stoked. Cheap land, low population density, mountains. But I'm originally a redneck from that area to begin with, so my expectations of amenities and services are very low.

kedean 11y ago

"The Midwest" doesn't mean small 50-person towns. There are many big cities and medium cities in the midwest, chock full of computer savvy people who need jobs. Where exactly do you think this workforce overflowing the Bay Area is coming from? They've flooded California because CA has told them that's where all the jobs are, but there are plenty more where they came from.