4 ms·

Why is it that nonprofit tech organizations see such value in maintaining a San Francisco office location (looking at you Mozilla and EFF) only to lowball emplo

by Phlarp 8y ago

Why is it that nonprofit tech organizations see such value in maintaining a San Francisco office location (looking at you Mozilla and EFF) only to lowball employees on compensation? Surely the perception of having a trendy location can't be worth more than market salaries in the pursuit of talent? Are there other benefits to the location besides perception?

ironmagma 8y ago
> Are there other benefits to the location besides perception? Definitely. Access to talent pool, networking opportunities, easy customer research, marketing, and so much more.
- Phlarp 8y ago
  It really seems like a double gut-punch from my perspective. I was approached by a recruiter representing EFF when I graduated (state school in the midwest) and while 75K for a fresh grad seemed like reasonable compensation for a non-profit, when I viewed that in the context of both a cut for the recruiting body shop and the high cost of living in SF for both a company and individual that it was a farcical proposal. Would the fight for digital liberties really be _that_ encumbered by a location in Kansas City, Austin, Atlanta, or even a generic Valley office park?
  - kiaulen 8y ago
    KC native here. I haven't been to SF, and don't ever plan to. I live 12 miles away from my work (to the East, thank goodness), and bought a home a few years ago in a very nice suburb for $160k. 3 bed, 2.5 bath, gigantic finished basement and 2 car garage. My mortgage is like $1.3k/month For the same $1.3k in SF, I could get a deluxe cardboard box by the side of the road. No thank you. And KC is google fiber as well, so I'm getting great internet for $50/mo. I really think more tech companies should try KC or Austin. The cost of living is much lower, so more of people's salaries becomes spending money.
  - ironmagma 8y ago
    > Would the fight for digital liberties really be _that_ encumbered by a location in Kansas City, Austin, Atlanta, or even a generic Valley office park? Probably not, but it's hard to convince your entire company to up and move. SF is not perfect, and there are big problems with it, but there are also lots of nice things about it and it's a known quantity. Personally I do want to leave soon, but to where is a big question with no obvious answer.
jlebar 8y ago
Mozilla was big on remote work, at least while I was there. In fact I can't think of too many other places that had as many remote workers doing that level of systems programming.

by Phlarp 8y ago

ironmagma 8y ago

> Are there other benefits to the location besides perception? Definitely. Access to talent pool, networking opportunities, easy customer research, marketing, and so much more.

Phlarp 8y ago
It really seems like a double gut-punch from my perspective. I was approached by a recruiter representing EFF when I graduated (state school in the midwest) and while 75K for a fresh grad seemed like reasonable compensation for a non-profit, when I viewed that in the context of both a cut for the recruiting body shop and the high cost of living in SF for both a company and individual that it was a farcical proposal. Would the fight for digital liberties really be _that_ encumbered by a location in Kansas City, Austin, Atlanta, or even a generic Valley office park?
- kiaulen 8y ago
  KC native here. I haven't been to SF, and don't ever plan to. I live 12 miles away from my work (to the East, thank goodness), and bought a home a few years ago in a very nice suburb for $160k. 3 bed, 2.5 bath, gigantic finished basement and 2 car garage. My mortgage is like $1.3k/month For the same $1.3k in SF, I could get a deluxe cardboard box by the side of the road. No thank you. And KC is google fiber as well, so I'm getting great internet for $50/mo. I really think more tech companies should try KC or Austin. The cost of living is much lower, so more of people's salaries becomes spending money.
- ironmagma 8y ago
  > Would the fight for digital liberties really be _that_ encumbered by a location in Kansas City, Austin, Atlanta, or even a generic Valley office park? Probably not, but it's hard to convince your entire company to up and move. SF is not perfect, and there are big problems with it, but there are also lots of nice things about it and it's a known quantity. Personally I do want to leave soon, but to where is a big question with no obvious answer.

jlebar 8y ago

Mozilla was big on remote work, at least while I was there. In fact I can't think of too many other places that had as many remote workers doing that level of systems programming.