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Cost of living is a red herring. The market-clearing price for your labor is lower because you cut yourself off from a lot of competing non-remote employers. B
by erik_seaberg 6y ago
Cost of living is a red herring. The market-clearing price for your labor is lower because you cut yourself off from a lot of competing non-remote employers.
But if most employers were to go fully remote, at that point the shortage-driven Silicon Valley wages would drop near the national average, regardless of how much more it costs us to live here.
- perl4ever 6y ago>you cut yourself off from a lot of competing non-remote employers Just because you're working remotely doesn't mean you wouldn't consider a non-remote job at any price. So the fact that you're local geographically does not reduce to a value of zero, even if you are currently in a remote arrangement. The employers are competing for people too.
- smcphile 6y ago> But if most employers were to go fully remote, at that point the shortage-driven Silicon Valley wages would drop near the national average, regardless of how much more it costs us to live here. Yes, and, using the same reasoning, at some point the cost of living in Silicon Valley would also go down so as to approach the national average.
- erik_seaberg 6y agoTech workers are only 7-12% of the population. Unless other industries also go remote and move away, the Bay Area is still going to have local and foreign speculators cashing in on a severe housing shortage.