A lot of talented people tend to concentrate in the hcol areas because it gives them the most optionality (plus many other benefits, of course, for people who c

A lot of talented people tend to concentrate in the hcol areas because it gives them the most optionality (plus many other benefits, of course, for people who can afford them). If you’re hiring for some specific niches or need very senior people, removing candidates in hcol tech centers from your search pool could make it a lot harder to hire. Like imagine saying you want to hire a great US political lobbyist but you can’t hire anyone who lives in DC. It would be tough right? The dynamics in tech aren’t as dramatic but there’s still some of that effect. I’m not saying an alternative strategy couldn’t work, but there are good reasons companies want to be able to hire in hcol markets.