8 ms·

Salesforce offer to relocate employees after Texas abortion law goes into effect

99 points by throw0101a 5y ago

madengr 5y ago
Will they do the same for vaccinations? My body, my choice, correct?
jeffbee 5y ago
Texas will continue to collect the worthless husks of silicon valley zombie companies like HPE while companies who value their employees, because those employees are educated, experienced, skilled, and profitable, will not be interested in that move. Putting your company in Texas narrows your labor market considerably.
- Gortal278 5y ago
  I do wonder if this was intentional to stop the migration from CA iv been reading about.
midnitewarrior 5y ago
Public health and safety are greater needs than people whining about fake free-dumb concerns. You live in this free society because countless others have dealt with the minor inconveniences like sanitation and vaccination. Grow a pair, stop being a leech on society and get vaccinated.
- batch12 5y ago
  The word vaccine isn't even in the article.
xwdv 5y ago
Virtue signaling at it’s finest. Homes in Texas are cheap, if you relocate to a higher cost of living area the equivalent house you get for the money will be a downgrade. So most people won’t take the offer, and thus Salesforce doesn’t spend any resources on moving employees but gets to reap the benefit of good PR.
raxxorrax 5y ago
I don't like what they do in Texas, especially their witch hunt register. That said, this is pretty tasteless without further comment.
hn_throwaway_99 5y ago
Other people have mentioned it as a "conspiracy theory", but I actually think it's pretty straightforward, and there is no conspiracy about it. Current Texas government is definitely worried about the numbers of people moving here who don't share their politics, and while many of these items have been GOP priorities for a while, I think Texas pushing so hard now on things like the abortion law, voting restrictions, constitutional carry, social media restrictions, etc. is basically at attempt to convince liberal people not to come here, and it's having an effect.
- jasonboyd 5y ago
  Interesting idea. They may very well see that as an added benefit but I suspect the reason for the big push now is due to the conservative supermajority in the supreme court.
- jollybean 5y ago
  I think this is conspiratorial. Texas is not worried about Californian Liberals moving the needle, the political needle is moved by migrants from the South, who will not be encumbered by these kinds of laws. It's hard to fathom the motivation for this kind of law politically, but I think we shouldn't doubt that it's made in 'good faith' by a lot of the people pushing it. Salesforce/Benioff thing is mostly an issue of PR and branding though it might actually be beneficial for a very small number of people. This is the guy who has 'Religious People' (Monks) living in his home and virtue signals about it. A bunch of the Pied Piper gags are about him. That said, I think it's also probably in mostly good faith as well, I'm sure he's personally upset by the law. Edit: I should say that it's not beyond reason that politicians might be thinking this even if it's really irrational, they do all sorts of wacky things. By and large I think Texas likes the ingress and the people ingressing there I think have some idea of what Texas is.
  - hn_throwaway_99 5y ago
    "Most movers to Texas are from California and Florida": https://apnews.com/article/texas-business-census-2020-science-0d436b250dc07111bff4b4f6cdd6682b https://apnews.com/article/texas-business-census-2020-scienc...
zamalek 5y ago
That's an applaudable move, even if their motives aren't completely pure. This is a nice outlier from the average.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
andrei_says_ 5y ago
So Texas abortion laws refugees are becoming a real phenomenon.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
jleyank 5y ago
Gee. Mediocre COVID response. Mediocre treatment of women. Mediocre treatment of non-white folks. Mediocre view of the democratic process. Hot as blazes. Mediocre electrical grid. Some risk of catastrophic weather events. Some people might find these as undesirable aspects of living in Texas.
- ctvo 5y ago
  The desirable aspects: 0 state income tax. Low housing cost, and low cost of living in general. Culturally diverse (Asians, Hispanics), with large urban centers (Dallas, Houston, Austin). To each their own.
  - dmitriy_ko 5y ago
    0 state income tax, but property taxes are 3% vs 1% or so in California.
    - bin_bash 5y ago
      Average property tax in Texas is 1.69%. It seems in my area the nice areas are around 2%. I'm not sure where you're getting 3% from. Also, our house in TX is almost half the price of our house in CA (and much nicer), so even though the rate is double the actual tax amount is the same.
      - dmitriy_ko 5y ago
        I was looking at Austin on Zillow and property taxes were really high, maybe it's just the areas I looked at.
        mud_dauber 5y ago
        NW Austin resident checking in. 1500 sq ft house = $7700 property taxes (2020). Yeeesh.
  - jleyank 5y ago
smallmouth 5y ago
Wouldn't it be cheaper for salesforce to reimburse their employees for birth control?
hcykb 5y ago
It just sounds so crazy to me that someone would move just for not being able to abort
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
errantmind 5y ago
IMO, Texas is pretty nice minus the abortion law. * In cities, access to high quality, diverse food in stores and restaurants * No state income tax * Cheap land outside cities. Fertile land in the Eastern half of the state * Plenty of jobs of all kinds * Decent schools * Mostly friendly people * Low overall cost of living * People are generally skeptical of the government (I count this as a perk) * Accommodates a lot of different lifestyles and perspectives, depending on where you choose to live
- audit 5y ago
  In my view -- it does not matter. A corporation should be able to economically punish any entity they choose (as long the punishment is within economic boundaries, and they have some sort of business/employment relation with that entity ) The stronger the message the better, why do it in small pieces. Why not stop doing business (eg Sales/support) in the state of TX. Whether it is a customer, an employee, a state or even a country. Corporations should be able to participate in political discourse when they want to and as long as they stay with the boundaries of economic punishment -- it should be celebrated. TX people love freedom, so freedom of corporations to punish economically -- should be one of those freedoms Perhaps some powerfull entities can economically retaliate, although I am not sure how. Salesforce is dominant in their industry and pretty powerful.
audit 5y ago
There are about 900 employees of salesforce situated in TX. It would, perhaps, send a stronger message of Salesforce position on the matter, if they stop selling to any business located in TX, also in Poland (that has even stronger abortion law). [1] Basically do not sell or do not hire anybody located in jurisdictions with a strong anti-abortion law. Overall affect of corporate political activism should not be selective, and show maximum punishment to the jurisdictions that go opposite of the view of the corporation. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_in_Poland#Legal_abortions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_in_Poland#Legal_abort...

99 points by throw0101a 5y ago

Will they do the same for vaccinations? My body, my choice, correct?

Texas will continue to collect the worthless husks of silicon valley zombie companies like HPE while companies who value their employees, because those employees are educated, experienced, skilled, and profitable, will not be interested in that move. Putting your company in Texas narrows your labor market considerably.

Gortal278 5y ago
I do wonder if this was intentional to stop the migration from CA iv been reading about.

midnitewarrior 5y ago

Public health and safety are greater needs than people whining about fake free-dumb concerns. You live in this free society because countless others have dealt with the minor inconveniences like sanitation and vaccination. Grow a pair, stop being a leech on society and get vaccinated.

batch12 5y ago
The word vaccine isn't even in the article.

xwdv 5y ago

Virtue signaling at it’s finest. Homes in Texas are cheap, if you relocate to a higher cost of living area the equivalent house you get for the money will be a downgrade. So most people won’t take the offer, and thus Salesforce doesn’t spend any resources on moving employees but gets to reap the benefit of good PR.

raxxorrax 5y ago

I don't like what they do in Texas, especially their witch hunt register. That said, this is pretty tasteless without further comment.

hn_throwaway_99 5y ago

Other people have mentioned it as a "conspiracy theory", but I actually think it's pretty straightforward, and there is no conspiracy about it. Current Texas government is definitely worried about the numbers of people moving here who don't share their politics, and while many of these items have been GOP priorities for a while, I think Texas pushing so hard now on things like the abortion law, voting restrictions, constitutional carry, social media restrictions, etc. is basically at attempt to convince liberal people not to come here, and it's having an effect.

jasonboyd 5y ago
Interesting idea. They may very well see that as an added benefit but I suspect the reason for the big push now is due to the conservative supermajority in the supreme court.
jollybean 5y ago
I think this is conspiratorial. Texas is not worried about Californian Liberals moving the needle, the political needle is moved by migrants from the South, who will not be encumbered by these kinds of laws. It's hard to fathom the motivation for this kind of law politically, but I think we shouldn't doubt that it's made in 'good faith' by a lot of the people pushing it. Salesforce/Benioff thing is mostly an issue of PR and branding though it might actually be beneficial for a very small number of people. This is the guy who has 'Religious People' (Monks) living in his home and virtue signals about it. A bunch of the Pied Piper gags are about him. That said, I think it's also probably in mostly good faith as well, I'm sure he's personally upset by the law. Edit: I should say that it's not beyond reason that politicians might be thinking this even if it's really irrational, they do all sorts of wacky things. By and large I think Texas likes the ingress and the people ingressing there I think have some idea of what Texas is.
- hn_throwaway_99 5y ago
  "Most movers to Texas are from California and Florida": https://apnews.com/article/texas-business-census-2020-science-0d436b250dc07111bff4b4f6cdd6682b https://apnews.com/article/texas-business-census-2020-scienc...

zamalek 5y ago

That's an applaudable move, even if their motives aren't completely pure. This is a nice outlier from the average.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]

andrei_says_ 5y ago

So Texas abortion laws refugees are becoming a real phenomenon.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

jleyank 5y ago

Gee. Mediocre COVID response. Mediocre treatment of women. Mediocre treatment of non-white folks. Mediocre view of the democratic process. Hot as blazes. Mediocre electrical grid. Some risk of catastrophic weather events. Some people might find these as undesirable aspects of living in Texas.

ctvo 5y ago
The desirable aspects: 0 state income tax. Low housing cost, and low cost of living in general. Culturally diverse (Asians, Hispanics), with large urban centers (Dallas, Houston, Austin). To each their own.
- dmitriy_ko 5y ago
  0 state income tax, but property taxes are 3% vs 1% or so in California.
  - bin_bash 5y ago
    Average property tax in Texas is 1.69%. It seems in my area the nice areas are around 2%. I'm not sure where you're getting 3% from. Also, our house in TX is almost half the price of our house in CA (and much nicer), so even though the rate is double the actual tax amount is the same.
    - dmitriy_ko 5y ago
      I was looking at Austin on Zillow and property taxes were really high, maybe it's just the areas I looked at.
      - mud_dauber 5y ago
        NW Austin resident checking in. 1500 sq ft house = $7700 property taxes (2020). Yeeesh.
- jleyank 5y ago

smallmouth 5y ago

Wouldn't it be cheaper for salesforce to reimburse their employees for birth control?

hcykb 5y ago

It just sounds so crazy to me that someone would move just for not being able to abort

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

errantmind 5y ago

IMO, Texas is pretty nice minus the abortion law. * In cities, access to high quality, diverse food in stores and restaurants * No state income tax * Cheap land outside cities. Fertile land in the Eastern half of the state * Plenty of jobs of all kinds * Decent schools * Mostly friendly people * Low overall cost of living * People are generally skeptical of the government (I count this as a perk) * Accommodates a lot of different lifestyles and perspectives, depending on where you choose to live

audit 5y ago
In my view -- it does not matter. A corporation should be able to economically punish any entity they choose (as long the punishment is within economic boundaries, and they have some sort of business/employment relation with that entity ) The stronger the message the better, why do it in small pieces. Why not stop doing business (eg Sales/support) in the state of TX. Whether it is a customer, an employee, a state or even a country. Corporations should be able to participate in political discourse when they want to and as long as they stay with the boundaries of economic punishment -- it should be celebrated. TX people love freedom, so freedom of corporations to punish economically -- should be one of those freedoms Perhaps some powerfull entities can economically retaliate, although I am not sure how. Salesforce is dominant in their industry and pretty powerful.

audit 5y ago

There are about 900 employees of salesforce situated in TX. It would, perhaps, send a stronger message of Salesforce position on the matter, if they stop selling to any business located in TX, also in Poland (that has even stronger abortion law). [1] Basically do not sell or do not hire anybody located in jurisdictions with a strong anti-abortion law. Overall affect of corporate political activism should not be selective, and show maximum punishment to the jurisdictions that go opposite of the view of the corporation. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_in_Poland#Legal_abortions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_in_Poland#Legal_abort...