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> I'm sure many people in SV would move if they thought they could keep 90% of their TC in another area. I dunno about Stripe, but a lot of folks at Google (an

> I'm sure many people in SV would move if they thought they could keep 90% of their TC in another area. I dunno about Stripe, but a lot of folks at Google (and presumably the other FAANGs in the region) have had that option for a decade or more. I've had friends I met at Google Mountain View move to Ann Arbor, Boulder, Toronto, Tel Aviv, Boston, Seattle, etc, usually to be close to family when they're having kids. You do get CoL-adjusted but 90% of SV salary is pretty typical. Only restrictions are that you have to be a solid performer beforehand, and you have to find a team that's either in that location or that's willing to have you work remotely (many teams are happy to have remote workers, particularly ones who are high performers). > If Stripe IPOs - they could use that stock they earned for 2 years while working remotely to buy a house almost anywhere besides NY/SF. (Effectively meaning they don't need SF/NY income anymore because they have paid the most expensive part of housing off) That's the case for most people who have worked for ~5-10 years at a Silicon Valley company. When 2009 hit I had a bunch of coworkers who joked about buying up whole city blocks in Detroit and plopping down a Google office and an intentional-living commune there. A lot of mid-career engineers at a FAANG could buy a house for cash in most parts of the U.S. and then have enough left over to retire, but choose not to because at that point they've put down roots in the Bay Area (and gotten addicted to the weather and culture).

RussianCow 6y ago
> I dunno about Stripe, but a lot of folks at Google (and presumably the other FAANGs in the region) have had that option for a decade or more. ... Only restrictions are that you have to be a solid performer beforehand, and you have to find a team that's either in that location or that's willing to have you work remotely (many teams are happy to have remote workers, particularly ones who are high performers). Anecdotally, I have never heard of anyone getting a job at a FAANG with that kind of salary working remotely from day 1. On the other hand, I have met several people who started on-site but switched to working remotely later. I'm not saying it's not possible to do the former, but it seems like it's way easier to work remotely for a FAANG if you've already proven yourself, which obviously doesn't work if you have already moved to a lower CoL area and are looking for work.
- nostrademons 6y ago
  Yes. 100% remote new hires are extremely rare at FAANGs, and usually reserved for people who are industry superstars (eg. Lars Bak). Going 100% remote after being a valued contributor for 2-4 years beforehand is open to many ordinary employees.
- tsmith 6y ago
  > Anecdotally, I have never heard of anyone getting a job at a FAANG with that kind of salary working remotely from day 1. The cities the parent comment mentioned (Ann Arbor, Boulder, Toronto, Tel Aviv, Boston, Seattle) are all cities where Google has offices. So, the folks they mention weren't working remotely, but rather working locally in remote offices. Source: Google San Diego employee
  - nostrademons 6y ago
    Many of them actually are working remotely, but have the option to go into the local office if they need anything. Sometimes they also started going into the office a few days a week and then stopped because there's really no point when the team they're working with is remote. (This is before COVID - now everybody is in this situation, and it's likely the whole company will once we come out of COVID. Most of the moves in question were either from my first time at Google [2009-2014] or the period when I wasn't working for them [2014-2020].) Source: know the people mentioned.
    - oscardelben 6y ago
      I think it's very rare, I've worked at Google for 8 years and I've met maybe 1 person who works from home on a somewhat regular basis.
      - lsiebert 6y ago
        Observer bias arguably. If they are working from home, rather hard to meet them.
agotterer 6y ago
So many comments in this thread assume that people live in SF/NY purely for the money and access to jobs. I think people are missing the point that people actual like living in these places too and are willing to pay a premium it. I live in New York and like living here. I understand the cost of living here is high, but I also know that there are few places that can offer the lifestyle New York can. Given the option to keep most of my salary and relocate to a lower cost of living city, I think I’d stay in New York.

RussianCow 6y ago

> I dunno about Stripe, but a lot of folks at Google (and presumably the other FAANGs in the region) have had that option for a decade or more. ... Only restrictions are that you have to be a solid performer beforehand, and you have to find a team that's either in that location or that's willing to have you work remotely (many teams are happy to have remote workers, particularly ones who are high performers). Anecdotally, I have never heard of anyone getting a job at a FAANG with that kind of salary working remotely from day 1. On the other hand, I have met several people who started on-site but switched to working remotely later. I'm not saying it's not possible to do the former, but it seems like it's way easier to work remotely for a FAANG if you've already proven yourself, which obviously doesn't work if you have already moved to a lower CoL area and are looking for work.

nostrademons 6y ago
Yes. 100% remote new hires are extremely rare at FAANGs, and usually reserved for people who are industry superstars (eg. Lars Bak). Going 100% remote after being a valued contributor for 2-4 years beforehand is open to many ordinary employees.
tsmith 6y ago
> Anecdotally, I have never heard of anyone getting a job at a FAANG with that kind of salary working remotely from day 1. The cities the parent comment mentioned (Ann Arbor, Boulder, Toronto, Tel Aviv, Boston, Seattle) are all cities where Google has offices. So, the folks they mention weren't working remotely, but rather working locally in remote offices. Source: Google San Diego employee
- nostrademons 6y ago
  Many of them actually are working remotely, but have the option to go into the local office if they need anything. Sometimes they also started going into the office a few days a week and then stopped because there's really no point when the team they're working with is remote. (This is before COVID - now everybody is in this situation, and it's likely the whole company will once we come out of COVID. Most of the moves in question were either from my first time at Google [2009-2014] or the period when I wasn't working for them [2014-2020].) Source: know the people mentioned.
  - oscardelben 6y ago
    I think it's very rare, I've worked at Google for 8 years and I've met maybe 1 person who works from home on a somewhat regular basis.
    - lsiebert 6y ago
      Observer bias arguably. If they are working from home, rather hard to meet them.

agotterer 6y ago

So many comments in this thread assume that people live in SF/NY purely for the money and access to jobs. I think people are missing the point that people actual like living in these places too and are willing to pay a premium it. I live in New York and like living here. I understand the cost of living here is high, but I also know that there are few places that can offer the lifestyle New York can. Given the option to keep most of my salary and relocate to a lower cost of living city, I think I’d stay in New York.