5 ms·

The jobs may be spreading out but the compensation sure hasn’t been. The best paying jobs with the most interesting, cutting-edge work are still located in just

The jobs may be spreading out but the compensation sure hasn’t been. The best paying jobs with the most interesting, cutting-edge work are still located in just a few cities. I keep hoping some more opportunities will appear in the southeast near my family, but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen, so for the time being I will be staying in the Bay Area.

sieabahlpark 7y ago
Right? If these companies could stop being so reliant on in person meetings they could save money on office space and just pay me more for being remote where I want to live.
- momokoko 7y ago
  If those companies didn't need people on-site, the jobs would, and typically do, go overseas to lower-wage countries. There are tons of companies using remote work. It's called outsourcing.
  - munk-a 7y ago
    There are plenty of remote employment opportunities that are stable career paths. So I don't think it's fair to say that as soon as remote work is a possibility the job will be sent overseas. I think the early 2000s burned a lot of companies for trying to cheap out on dev costs by offshoring - offshoring is a valid choice in some situations and will probably become more and more competitive as time goes on... but there still is quite a lot of value in hiring out of the four year uni grad pool.
  - thebean11 7y ago
    You think the only barrier to outsourcing white collar work is the physical location of workers?
- hellisothers 7y ago
  The companies are also signaling that they find random in person collaboration more valuable than heads down efficiency. I imagine there is a correlation between novel/interesting ideas that generate new revenue and being immersed in an environment of peers that you collaborate/chat with.
  - sl1ck731 7y ago
    Anecdotally I would imagine the opposite. I am not going to innovate for you after even a 20 or 30 minute commute and all the in-office interruptions and ceremony. After 5 I'm out the door and the lights upstairs are off. I'm not responding to emails or picking up my phone. However remotely I am basically never off. A common thing that comes up with remote work is you have a hard time just turning off, but I don't mind as I'm not mentally exhausted by interruptions and can actually enjoy the work I'm doing. But I'm sure its a person to person thing, type of environment, industry, etc.
flipgimble 7y ago
Compensation may be lagging but still being pushed up by national competition and a mobile workforce. However the 2x cost of living premium over the national average in the Bay Area doesn’t seem to have any downward pressure. Then the cutting edge work seems to be rather myopically focused on advertising, surveillance, yuppie culture products or developer tools. Plenty of arguments for talent to look away from the Bay Area.
- munk-a 7y ago
  I think the latest Bay trend has been acquihiring teams on in remote locations to cut down on labour costs by shifting more responsibility onto those areas with lower costs of living.
SkyPuncher 7y ago
As a remote employee, I'd argue quite the opposite is happening. Sure, the absolute top paying jobs still require you to live and work in a few, select cities. However, there are many companies that are competing with SF/NYC companies regardless of talent location.
- sidlls 7y ago
  Remote employees account for a very tiny percentage of the job market, to the point where it quite literally doesn't matter.
  - SkyPuncher 7y ago
    Correct. However, the opportunities are certainly there.
    - mycall 7y ago
      Any leads?
      - SkyPuncher 7y ago
        Check the monthly job threads on HN. Last months: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21419536 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21419536 There are a couple of good tools for searching. I've had an extremely good response rate from the HN jobs. It seems to have a lot more motivated listings. Weworkremotely.com is my go to for remote specific jobs. There are dozens of spin-offs, but they essentially scrape the same underlying data. Weworkremotely seems to have less desirable/less motivated roles, but I have had some good conversations. You will notice a handful of companies that seem to be endlessly posting on those sites.
  - dwoozle 7y ago
    Today, but large scale efforts like city development happen over multiple decades, over which the number of remote workers will almost certainly increase due to new technology.

sieabahlpark 7y ago

Right? If these companies could stop being so reliant on in person meetings they could save money on office space and just pay me more for being remote where I want to live.

momokoko 7y ago
If those companies didn't need people on-site, the jobs would, and typically do, go overseas to lower-wage countries. There are tons of companies using remote work. It's called outsourcing.
- munk-a 7y ago
  There are plenty of remote employment opportunities that are stable career paths. So I don't think it's fair to say that as soon as remote work is a possibility the job will be sent overseas. I think the early 2000s burned a lot of companies for trying to cheap out on dev costs by offshoring - offshoring is a valid choice in some situations and will probably become more and more competitive as time goes on... but there still is quite a lot of value in hiring out of the four year uni grad pool.
- thebean11 7y ago
  You think the only barrier to outsourcing white collar work is the physical location of workers?
hellisothers 7y ago
The companies are also signaling that they find random in person collaboration more valuable than heads down efficiency. I imagine there is a correlation between novel/interesting ideas that generate new revenue and being immersed in an environment of peers that you collaborate/chat with.
- sl1ck731 7y ago
  Anecdotally I would imagine the opposite. I am not going to innovate for you after even a 20 or 30 minute commute and all the in-office interruptions and ceremony. After 5 I'm out the door and the lights upstairs are off. I'm not responding to emails or picking up my phone. However remotely I am basically never off. A common thing that comes up with remote work is you have a hard time just turning off, but I don't mind as I'm not mentally exhausted by interruptions and can actually enjoy the work I'm doing. But I'm sure its a person to person thing, type of environment, industry, etc.

flipgimble 7y ago

Compensation may be lagging but still being pushed up by national competition and a mobile workforce. However the 2x cost of living premium over the national average in the Bay Area doesn’t seem to have any downward pressure. Then the cutting edge work seems to be rather myopically focused on advertising, surveillance, yuppie culture products or developer tools. Plenty of arguments for talent to look away from the Bay Area.

munk-a 7y ago
I think the latest Bay trend has been acquihiring teams on in remote locations to cut down on labour costs by shifting more responsibility onto those areas with lower costs of living.

SkyPuncher 7y ago

As a remote employee, I'd argue quite the opposite is happening. Sure, the absolute top paying jobs still require you to live and work in a few, select cities. However, there are many companies that are competing with SF/NYC companies regardless of talent location.

sidlls 7y ago
Remote employees account for a very tiny percentage of the job market, to the point where it quite literally doesn't matter.
- SkyPuncher 7y ago
  Correct. However, the opportunities are certainly there.
  - mycall 7y ago
    Any leads?
    - SkyPuncher 7y ago
      Check the monthly job threads on HN. Last months: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21419536 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21419536 There are a couple of good tools for searching. I've had an extremely good response rate from the HN jobs. It seems to have a lot more motivated listings. Weworkremotely.com is my go to for remote specific jobs. There are dozens of spin-offs, but they essentially scrape the same underlying data. Weworkremotely seems to have less desirable/less motivated roles, but I have had some good conversations. You will notice a handful of companies that seem to be endlessly posting on those sites.
- dwoozle 7y ago
  Today, but large scale efforts like city development happen over multiple decades, over which the number of remote workers will almost certainly increase due to new technology.