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Google Plans Large New York City Expansion

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Re: Google Plans Large New York City Expansion

#91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The nice thing about NYC in comparison to the Bay Area is that we're not afraid of building more housing here, so supply increases every year and has a dampening effect on rent increases. Also, mass transit is much better, so if you live even 30 minutes away on a subway line the rents will be much lower. If you're willing to commute an hour each way (which is still less than a lot of people who drive every day on I-1…

> and has a dampening effect on rent increase Is that really true? I don't know if this data is accurate but googling "average rent new york city" vs "average rent san francisco" brings up these 2 results as the first hits. They look almost identical. The site claims average rent for NYC is $3634 vs SF at $3735. It also claims prices increased in NYC by 9.46% over last year vs SF at 0.62% https://www.rentjungle.com/a…

I'm a tech worker in NYC and none of my firends (except one idiot) pays more than 2500 for their studio apartment within Manhattan. I share a super fancy apartment in a hirise in Brooklyn and pay less than 2K. If you're okay living in Queens you can get a 2BR with less than 1h commute. And this is not even talking about distant Brooklyn, Bronx or jersey (also less tax)

Re: Google Plans Large New York City Expansion

#92
post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, there's me. I passed their interview gauntlet, but their initial offer was well under what I currently make, and their second barely matched it. They also badly down-leveled me (which is partially my fault for not insisting on an L5 interview loop). From my direct experience, and talking to other people who have negotiated with Google, the only ways to get a good offer out of them is to either come from a FAANG…

in SV, got an L5 offer couple years back, barely matching my relatively low for SV total with the base lower. They pretty much refused to negotiate. The same experience as couple acquaintances - one even took such an offer and not surprisingly ran away a year later. On the other hand - some other acquaintances make $400K-$500K as L5/L6 there.

[deleted]

Re: Google Plans Large New York City Expansion

#93

I wonder how much goodwill Google could have generated by locating this hub in say Orlando or Des Moines. Even if they spent 150k per engineer in relocation costs (1 time fee), it’s hard to imagine they wouldn’t make that up in terms of cheaper real estate and lower salaries. There were obviously some benefits in choosing New York City (and I realize it’s an expansion technically), but still, it’s so......unimaginati…

Goodwill with whom? some local political hack sure for 6 months or so going to piss off a lot of staff and the good ones will not go.

Re: Google Plans Large New York City Expansion

#94
post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Companies don't want to establish new offices in cities where they cannot attract new talent or there isn't a large existing base of talent This seems especially silly. There are almost limitless people who would like to get one of the FAANG co's on their CV. They'd gladly relocate and benefit from reasonable property prices for a year or three. Google or Netlix are hardly going to struggle to attract talent if the…

I don't know man? You'd be surprised how attached people are to their spouses or partners. Doesn't matter how badly you want to work at Google, if your spouse is an IP attorney or VP at an academic hospital, as a family you just can't go moving to the middle of nowhere. It's not ALL about being able to work at Google. There's a lot more going on in making these decisions. (At least there is for the type of people tha…

That's now a small minority of a minority. It's more usual for just one partner to have the especially high powered career. Even more so after starting a family.

For those that have both then sure, it's more nuanced and may come down to which of the two has the better future chances, or to make different decisions. Most potential workers will not be in that situation at all.

Re: Google Plans Large New York City Expansion

#96
post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was in Des Moines a couple of weeks ago to do interviews for our office there. The talent pool of people who would want to work in Des Moines is very local, and the quality is far lower than in bigger metro areas. (the distribution curve skews right) Anyone with talent there tended to want to move out of the area. We ended up postponing our hiring. Des Moines favors people that want to settle down and have a quiet,…

>Des Moines favors people that want to settle down and have a quiet, comfortable suburban life. I'm 24, but that is definitely what appeals to me. The mere thought of working in NYC or other tech hubs is nauseating. I'd feel totally out of place culturally.

But you seem to want to work at a big tech company and exactly what do you mean out of place culturally?

I as a white brit enjoyed working (London UK) for an Arab company which was incredibly diverse - just with I had take a language class at night school.

Re: Google Plans Large New York City Expansion

#97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

95% of Googlers in NYC will be lifetime renters just like they are in the Bay Area. Hardly the gilded class

Friend just bought a $400,000 one-bedroom co-op in Midtown East. He makes a low six-figure salary, and will have to be judicious about his spending for a few years. New York isn’t the Bay Area—we build supply to meet demand.

I don’t understand - are you giving this near half-million single bedroom as an example of affordability?

Re: Google Plans Large New York City Expansion

#98

I wonder how much goodwill Google could have generated by locating this hub in say Orlando or Des Moines. Even if they spent 150k per engineer in relocation costs (1 time fee), it’s hard to imagine they wouldn’t make that up in terms of cheaper real estate and lower salaries. There were obviously some benefits in choosing New York City (and I realize it’s an expansion technically), but still, it’s so......unimaginati…

The goal isn’t to reduce costs or move existing employees. It’s to tap a talent pool to hire new people.

I think its more likely the other way around the "talent" doesn't exist there

Re: Google Plans Large New York City Expansion

#99

I wonder how much goodwill Google could have generated by locating this hub in say Orlando or Des Moines. Even if they spent 150k per engineer in relocation costs (1 time fee), it’s hard to imagine they wouldn’t make that up in terms of cheaper real estate and lower salaries. There were obviously some benefits in choosing New York City (and I realize it’s an expansion technically), but still, it’s so......unimaginati…

How many Google engineers do you think would be willing to move to the midwest or Florida? Especially in return for lower pay (and a one-time bonus).

There are several cities I'd be willing to reloc to -- Florida and the Midwest are not in that list (not even Chicago, due to the winter weather). SF, Seattle, Portland, NYC, Boston are at the top of the list. Maybe San Diego or Austin or the DC area.

Re: Google Plans Large New York City Expansion

#100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The nice thing about NYC in comparison to the Bay Area is that we're not afraid of building more housing here, so supply increases every year and has a dampening effect on rent increases. Also, mass transit is much better, so if you live even 30 minutes away on a subway line the rents will be much lower. If you're willing to commute an hour each way (which is still less than a lot of people who drive every day on I-1…

> and has a dampening effect on rent increase Is that really true? I don't know if this data is accurate but googling "average rent new york city" vs "average rent san francisco" brings up these 2 results as the first hits. They look almost identical. The site claims average rent for NYC is $3634 vs SF at $3735. It also claims prices increased in NYC by 9.46% over last year vs SF at 0.62% https://www.rentjungle.com/a…

You can live in many places that are not New York City and have a reasonably timely public transit commute into it.
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