4 ms·

They have been priced out of their own neighborhood and that is really unfortunate. Theoretically they should move to a place with a cheaper cost of living. Peo

by redorb 9y ago

They have been priced out of their own neighborhood and that is really unfortunate. Theoretically they should move to a place with a cheaper cost of living. People move all the time for wages and cost of living; I would guess its the number one reason people move. They don't work for Facebook they work for a contractor; I would say they need to find a better job or a less expensive place to live (cost of living).

rhizome 9y ago
Theoretically they should move to a place with a cheaper cost of living. Theoretically the entire company could do that.
- jogjayr 9y ago
  So...make all of their employees choose between uprooting their lives to move to a low-cost area (which they they didn't get to pick), or leaving their job? Didn't Reddit catch some flak over that recently? (yes I'm aware it was the other way, into the Bay Area rather than out)
  - rhizome 9y ago
    Please. Most (if not "basically all") of their employees already moved to work there.
    - jogjayr 9y ago
      I'm one of those employees. I'd still be resentful if my company unilaterally imposed a move on me. And I don't even own a house here. If I move away, I'd want it to be a place I chose, taking into account my own needs and preferences. People put down roots after a while; friends, family, schools, social clubs.
- deegles 9y ago
  I mean, they slowly are... Seattle is booming. Google, Facebook, et al. are all massively expanding their presence. Admittedly, the COL is going up rapidly there too, but at least there's a huge amount of construction happening. I wish the large tech companies would experiment with more remote-only teams, it would be great to eliminate the commute and live anywhere I want.
  - mahyarm 9y ago
    When things go bad, the satellite offices get shut down first. That is a reason for employees to stay in the area.
  - Aloha 9y ago
    I know, now those of us who do not make wages indexed to cost of living in the bay area are being pushed out.
ThrustVectoring 9y ago
Unfortunately, rent controls and frozen property taxes prevent this sort of thing - changes in living situations reset the ratchet, which means that the terms of trade are going to be extremely unfavorable.
Aloha 9y ago
Moving costs money. If you're scraping by as tightly as they are - how would one expect them to afford to move? You need money to rent a u-haul to haul your stuff, some cash to rent an apartment, and then enough cash to provide a runway to find a job (which in a service industry role shouldn't take more than 6-8 weeks) - that still adds up to about 10k to relocate to a cheaper part of the country.
- godelski 9y ago
  Having moved across the country a few years back for my job, the idea that it costs near $10k is ridiculous. I didn't even have half that to my name when I moved. Checking U-Haul, you can geta 15' for 10 days and go from SF to NYC for under 3k. And you're probably going to be going half that distance and in less time. So let's say you go more central. Estimate U-Haul at 2k, gas at 1k, rent of new place as $500/mo (so $1k first month). And let's say you eat out every day on the trip and actually use all 10 days. For 3 people that's $5(per meal)3(people)3(meals per day)*10(days)=$450. You're at ~$4.5k right there, under half your value. I can tell you I did 2/3 of the country in 3 days and closer to $2k (but I own a truck). And with my experience this is a conservative value. I'd expect you could do it a lot cheaper than that. With $5k you CAN move most places in the country. For a few grand you can move most places within a half country radius. I'm not trying to say that saving isn't hard, but I'm calling BS on your $10k number. A few grand is a number close to which you can save and borrow from friends/family. I think the reluctance to move is more a reluctance to move, not so much the financial burden. I know most of my friends won't do it for that reason. And I won't lie, that is a tough part, but you have to do what you have to do.
  - estebank 9y ago
    You're not considering that these people are living month-to-month so they don't have 5K lying around and that the time between jobs when they are moving is time they're not getting paid. That means that you need >5K, otherwise you just erased all your savings to move to a place with a lower job prospects.
    - 9y ago

by redorb 9y ago

rhizome 9y ago

Theoretically they should move to a place with a cheaper cost of living. Theoretically the entire company could do that.

jogjayr 9y ago
So...make all of their employees choose between uprooting their lives to move to a low-cost area (which they they didn't get to pick), or leaving their job? Didn't Reddit catch some flak over that recently? (yes I'm aware it was the other way, into the Bay Area rather than out)
- rhizome 9y ago
  Please. Most (if not "basically all") of their employees already moved to work there.
  - jogjayr 9y ago
    I'm one of those employees. I'd still be resentful if my company unilaterally imposed a move on me. And I don't even own a house here. If I move away, I'd want it to be a place I chose, taking into account my own needs and preferences. People put down roots after a while; friends, family, schools, social clubs.
deegles 9y ago
I mean, they slowly are... Seattle is booming. Google, Facebook, et al. are all massively expanding their presence. Admittedly, the COL is going up rapidly there too, but at least there's a huge amount of construction happening. I wish the large tech companies would experiment with more remote-only teams, it would be great to eliminate the commute and live anywhere I want.
- mahyarm 9y ago
  When things go bad, the satellite offices get shut down first. That is a reason for employees to stay in the area.
- Aloha 9y ago
  I know, now those of us who do not make wages indexed to cost of living in the bay area are being pushed out.

ThrustVectoring 9y ago

Unfortunately, rent controls and frozen property taxes prevent this sort of thing - changes in living situations reset the ratchet, which means that the terms of trade are going to be extremely unfavorable.

Aloha 9y ago

Moving costs money. If you're scraping by as tightly as they are - how would one expect them to afford to move? You need money to rent a u-haul to haul your stuff, some cash to rent an apartment, and then enough cash to provide a runway to find a job (which in a service industry role shouldn't take more than 6-8 weeks) - that still adds up to about 10k to relocate to a cheaper part of the country.

godelski 9y ago
Having moved across the country a few years back for my job, the idea that it costs near $10k is ridiculous. I didn't even have half that to my name when I moved. Checking U-Haul, you can geta 15' for 10 days and go from SF to NYC for under 3k. And you're probably going to be going half that distance and in less time. So let's say you go more central. Estimate U-Haul at 2k, gas at 1k, rent of new place as $500/mo (so $1k first month). And let's say you eat out every day on the trip and actually use all 10 days. For 3 people that's $5(per meal)3(people)3(meals per day)*10(days)=$450. You're at ~$4.5k right there, under half your value. I can tell you I did 2/3 of the country in 3 days and closer to $2k (but I own a truck). And with my experience this is a conservative value. I'd expect you could do it a lot cheaper than that. With $5k you CAN move most places in the country. For a few grand you can move most places within a half country radius. I'm not trying to say that saving isn't hard, but I'm calling BS on your $10k number. A few grand is a number close to which you can save and borrow from friends/family. I think the reluctance to move is more a reluctance to move, not so much the financial burden. I know most of my friends won't do it for that reason. And I won't lie, that is a tough part, but you have to do what you have to do.
- estebank 9y ago
  You're not considering that these people are living month-to-month so they don't have 5K lying around and that the time between jobs when they are moving is time they're not getting paid. That means that you need >5K, otherwise you just erased all your savings to move to a place with a lower job prospects.
  - 9y ago