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I hope these people manage to get better pay. I hope the same thing happens all across the Bay Area in all service jobs, and I hope the pressure trickles up unt

by floren 7y ago

I hope these people manage to get better pay. I hope the same thing happens all across the Bay Area in all service jobs, and I hope the pressure trickles up until the tech employees feel the squeeze of $25 burritos, plus even worse rents as the people making their lunches can afford to live in the city and compete for housing. Then I hope people either stop accepting tech jobs in the Bay Area, or companies decide it's a losing proposition to set up shop in a place where you have to pay $250k a year to a new grad. We've got better communications and networks than any time in history. Why do software companies, which consume no raw materials and produce no physical product (both good reasons for setting up in a port city), all need to cluster in half a dozen spots? Think how much more runway you could get out of your seed funding if you set up shop in Missoula or Albuquerque, where you can rent a whole house for $1500/mo, can hire from the local university, and have beautiful outdoor recreation within a 15 minute drive?

chillacy 7y ago
I would be cool to see YC try remote cohorts or build a cohort in a cheaper location.
- conanbatt 7y ago
  They've tried and found it very unsuccessful, unless they buil the entire batch-infrastructure. But companies will definitely start opening more and more satelite offices everywhere. The same salary for the same company in SF or Seattle yields 2-3k a month more for a software employee, and housing costs 1/2. Eventually the table turns and then SF won't be able to do anything about it.
theshadowmonkey 7y ago
Missoula or Albuquerque are nice places to live in. But, the supply of talent is very limited and not so diverse. In the Bay Area, you have so much talent concentrated that its easy to get people iff you pay the right amount of money(which is pretty high)
conanbatt 7y ago
The fastest and most effective way to increase the pay for all low wage workers is to abolish sales taxes. This implies no cost for companies and increased income for all citizens. The city only needs to reduce its spending 25% to achieve that. Considering it already has one of the highest and most inefficient government expenditure rates in the world, its easily achievable with very little fiscal discipline. Thats an actual political solution.

by floren 7y ago

chillacy 7y ago

I would be cool to see YC try remote cohorts or build a cohort in a cheaper location.

conanbatt 7y ago
They've tried and found it very unsuccessful, unless they buil the entire batch-infrastructure. But companies will definitely start opening more and more satelite offices everywhere. The same salary for the same company in SF or Seattle yields 2-3k a month more for a software employee, and housing costs 1/2. Eventually the table turns and then SF won't be able to do anything about it.

theshadowmonkey 7y ago

Missoula or Albuquerque are nice places to live in. But, the supply of talent is very limited and not so diverse. In the Bay Area, you have so much talent concentrated that its easy to get people iff you pay the right amount of money(which is pretty high)

conanbatt 7y ago

The fastest and most effective way to increase the pay for all low wage workers is to abolish sales taxes. This implies no cost for companies and increased income for all citizens. The city only needs to reduce its spending 25% to achieve that. Considering it already has one of the highest and most inefficient government expenditure rates in the world, its easily achievable with very little fiscal discipline. Thats an actual political solution.