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A CEO Who Pays Employees to De-Locate from the Bay

blog.ycombinator.com

151–160 of 232 posts

Re: A CEO Who Pays Employees to De-Locate from the Bay

#151

Move to Washington State. Don't pay California income tax. Instant 8% boost to your take-home pay.

That, and Washington kicks hella ass. Washington State. Not that Washington. The good one.(tm)

And hope that the REALLY big quake doesn't get you. You know, the one off your coast that is estimated at 100x anything that the San Andreas fault can produce.

See https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/08/a-major-... if you don't know what I'm talking about.

Re: A CEO Who Pays Employees to De-Locate from the Bay

#152
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The reason is probably super inflated salaries in bay area due to high cost of living. Lock in has probably less to do with this than pure money aspect.

I think there's a collective realization happening in the Bay Area that the landlords are the real winners and everyone else is just playing their game. Employees hate seeing 3k/month fly out the door in rent just as much as CEOs hate paying it, just as much as investors hate seeing their capital ultimately end up with landlords. Big companies in general are conservative. They've made it and don't want to take unnece…

That's why Georgism is a thing.

Re: A CEO Who Pays Employees to De-Locate from the Bay

#153
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When compared to cost of living, sure. But factor in savings rate and opportunities and the cost of living cut is well worth it. For example, I pay 2.5x in rent for a smaller place compared to what I was paying for a mortgage before I moved here. But my salary is 2x and a bit, and I'm saving more than 2x as a result.

If you don't mind me asking, what did the 25% increase in housing/income ratio come out of if your savings rate stayed the same?

Presumably the fact that food, entertainment, transportation and other expenses went up under 2x.

For most Americans, housing+savings is under 50% of income.

Re: A CEO Who Pays Employees to De-Locate from the Bay

#154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple - is in Cupertino Facebook - Menlo Park Oracle - Redwood Shores Twitter - San francisco Having an office with paint that says 'Twitter' doesn't mean 'Twitter' is in Seattle. Satellite offices are rarely taken seriously.

An office doesn't have to "taken seriously", whatever that means, to provide you a job, which is all we're talking about. WalterSear even mentioned a satellite office in his post.

If the satellite offices are in Seattle, and the main offices are in the bay area, where are most of the jobs?

Re: A CEO Who Pays Employees to De-Locate from the Bay

#155
post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We had a dev working for the summer who got a job at an SF startup this past week. He's making $2k a week, but his rent for his apartment costs $3k and he's got roommates. As someone who has lived off of $40k and rented a $1.4k a month loft that was absolutely palatial, in the middle of the city with great views, this sounds like insanity. My coworker who is from the Boston area was similarly aghast at the difference…

FYI, you don't need to pay $3k - I lived in the Mission / Potrero Hill area (with roommates, mind you) for a few years, and my rent had always been between $1000-1850/mo. Centrally located, safe(-ish), and beautiful. You can run through Bernal Heights Park, get ice cream at Humphrey Slocombe, and bike to the 24 Hour Fitness on 16th and Potrero. If you're in tech, you can definitely live well in SF :)

Yeah, living with roommates for 3k a month is a choice. I know people (myself included) who live with roommates, in nice places in desirable neighborhoods in SF, for 1/3 to 1/2 that.

Re: A CEO Who Pays Employees to De-Locate from the Bay

#156

As someone who works remotely and who posts remote-friendly openings for his team in the Who's Hiring HN thread, it's kind of amazing to me that more people aren't actively looking to get out. I live and work in a small midwestern town because my wife's military job has us here. If I was single, however, I would make the most of my remoteness and try working from a variety of towns. Here's some places that I would tr…

I work remote and I've worked from a few of these places. Panama is ok. Costa Rica and the Bay Islands of Honduras both have HORRIBLE internet. Thailand is hell if you need to work the same time zone as people in the US.

But I agree, it's great to travel and work.

Re: A CEO Who Pays Employees to De-Locate from the Bay

#157
post #11

Ok, so I "delocate". Do I then have to take a pay cut because I'm now somewhere else? Spreading the tech sector out around the country even more is great, and things like this can be a step in the right direction. But a big part of why the Bay Area is what it is has to do with funding. Most VCs are there, and don't seem to be willing to move away. Hell, YC requires you to be there, at least during your time with them…

I think part of the challenge becomes if the startup gets into a situation where it needs to get acquired/acqui-hired by Google/Facebook/Apple/Cisco/Salesforce/Oracle/Uber. Will potential acquirers want to entertain having all the acquir-hired talent remote and not onsite to be integrated/indoctrinated?

Re: A CEO Who Pays Employees to De-Locate from the Bay

#158
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many/most companies pay something like this for relocation. I never thought of it as a bonus, rather a way for an employer to offset the expense and misery of moving. If a company didn't help pay for relocation, I wouldn't want to work for that company. It's not a bonus, it's an expectation.

Facebook pays $50k to relocate to Bay Area!

But then you have to live in the bay area.

Re: A CEO Who Pays Employees to De-Locate from the Bay

#160
post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You forgot at least two pros: - Large salaries lead to higher savings rates - Opportunities are just not comparable almost anywhere less expensive: there are tens of thousands of jobs from hundreds of employers here in the Bay Area for technology that pays well, compared with hundreds or maybe a few thousand jobs for maybe a dozen or few tens of employers Also the "monoculture" dig applies to tech specifically: in te…

We had a dev working for the summer who got a job at an SF startup this past week. He's making $2k a week, but his rent for his apartment costs $3k and he's got roommates. As someone who has lived off of $40k and rented a $1.4k a month loft that was absolutely palatial, in the middle of the city with great views, this sounds like insanity. My coworker who is from the Boston area was similarly aghast at the difference…

Most comments here don't even mention kids. Childcare is very expensive on top of your rent/mortgage.

It's highly likely that by the time you are 35-40 you will be paying for rent/mortgage AND childcare.

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