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Tech workers consider escaping Silicon Valley’s sky-high rents

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Re: Tech workers consider escaping Silicon Valley’s sky-high rents

#391

Post by loco5niner »

chris11 wrote: post #321
aripickar wrote: post #8

I'm pretty bearish on the pandemic actually leading to massive change in the number of people permanently working from home. My boss put out a survey a week or two ago among my org (30 or so people), and 70% said that they want to work from the office, full time, 20% said some time or most of the time, and 10% said fully remote. And this is a group of people that would be largely well suited to working from home duri…

I have the same concerns. Personally I liked coming into my office. My workspace was decent, I liked being able to have lunch with my coworkers, and the free food was good. Plus my commute was basically non-existent. I also have long term concerns about my career. Most of employees were working in the office, and the few employees who were remote, regularly came in for a few days. I was happy with my rent, and I woul…

> My workspace was decent, I liked being able to have lunch with my coworkers, and the free food was good. Plus my commute was basically non-existent.

If i could say all that, of course! I'd like the office too. I can't

Re: Tech workers consider escaping Silicon Valley’s sky-high rents

#392

Post by GhettoChild »

brenden2 wrote: post #28

Desirable areas will always be (relatively) more expensive. Even if we see significant deflation (which is unlikely given the scale of money printing), these areas (NYC, SF) will probably remain expensive so long as they remain significant culturally and economically. When it becomes uncool to live in SF or NYC, then perhaps people will move to places like Wyoming en masse.

Parts of Wyoming (Jackson area) have actually been having lots of people (relatively) moving there and is now surprisingly expensive.

Re: Tech workers consider escaping Silicon Valley’s sky-high rents

#393

Post by GhettoChild »

Turing_Machine wrote: post #99
brenden2 wrote: post #28

Desirable areas will always be (relatively) more expensive. Even if we see significant deflation (which is unlikely given the scale of money printing), these areas (NYC, SF) will probably remain expensive so long as they remain significant culturally and economically. When it becomes uncool to live in SF or NYC, then perhaps people will move to places like Wyoming en masse.

Silicon Valley and San Francisco are two different things. Most junior people in Silicon Valley live in cookie-cutter apartment buildings smack in the middle of a vast wasteland of anonymous subdivisions. Pull up some satellite views and take a look. That's not desirable. It's just expensive.

Thats something that has always amused me about the peninsula (other than SF). Other than the weather there really isn't anything remarkable about the place.

Re: Tech workers consider escaping Silicon Valley’s sky-high rents

#394

Post by anpago »

soneca wrote: post #192
_jal wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> young, no kids, etc There is your major reason for that survey result. Companies with median-older workforces will see more enthusiasm for remote work.

I think you are right. I worked on a startup that had a few hundreds employees. Most of them in the early twenties. Every week day, a rotating subgroup of 5 to 10 of them would go to the bar after work. On Thursdays and Fridays there would be more like 30 to 80 people. I was already married, in my late thirties, so I would go home. You could tell everyone was eager to the end of the day. They were personal friends, n…

Indeed a lot of people especially when they start out, move to a new location. Away from family and friends and the office banter and social keeps them sane and not lonely.

Same with many older staff, kids have moved out or have their own lives. So many again love the office gossip and banter. Enjoying poping to the cafe or pub at lunchtime with others.

They also realise they need to ensure they are not just a remote voice on a concall and the odd email.

It seems at present the younger and older with lockdown are suffering more than those in more busier households.

Re: Tech workers consider escaping Silicon Valley’s sky-high rents

#395

Post by dan_can_code »

_jal wrote: post #13
aripickar wrote: post #8

I'm pretty bearish on the pandemic actually leading to massive change in the number of people permanently working from home. My boss put out a survey a week or two ago among my org (30 or so people), and 70% said that they want to work from the office, full time, 20% said some time or most of the time, and 10% said fully remote. And this is a group of people that would be largely well suited to working from home duri…

> young, no kids, etc There is your major reason for that survey result. Companies with median-older workforces will see more enthusiasm for remote work.

I'm 24, live independently and don't have any children. I am very enthusiastic about remote working because it let's me live a life outside of work.

Living in a place ~70 miles from London, commuting eats up to 4 hours of my day. That's 4 hours unpaid that I could spend on hobbies, socialising and maybe even just doing absolutely nothing. Commuting to London also costs a ridiculous amount of money - which I would rather invest in my future.

For me, it's about balance. Sure, I'm expected to work 8 hours a day. But when I'm working 8 hours, and commuting 4, what life do I have to myself other than eating, cooling off from working and eating, and sleeping?

Before quarantine, working, eating and sleeping were my life. I was miserable. Due to the obvious health concerns we were then allowed to work from home.

The additional free time made me realise how much of my life I wasn't living for myself, I picked up my hobbies, I exercise more and am overall much happier. Due to that, I am lot more productive. I don't think I'll ever go back to that lifestyle, as I would rather live than just exist. I feel like I deserve a life, and I don't think I'm alone in that feeling.

What I guess I'm trying to get at is, it should be on an individual level, an individual balance. And I personally believe, on an individual level people want a life that suits them rather than the company they work for - and that's how I believe life should be.

Capitalism seems to suggest the one size fits all, be in the office during working hours, or you won't succeed is the only way to succeed - and it's painfully ignorant to how people actually may want to live their lives, and doesn't reflect what we're capable of as a society.

Of course, this is my personal opinion, and the above may suit an awful lot of people. But there are also an awful lot of talented people in the world that have commitments that don't allow them to make 12 hours a day sacrifices, and cannot afford to even consider moving to Silicon Valley (or in my case London) to access opportunity.

I am happy to accept there is value of socialising with colleagues in person, but that shouldn't be a necessity to offer your skills to the world.

We have the Internet, and I believe we should use it to create a more decentralised economy where more people are able to reap the benefits of capitalism and invest in their families, their local communities, businesses and their futures.

Re: Tech workers consider escaping Silicon Valley’s sky-high rents

#396

Post by 535188B17C93743 »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #248
ruffrey wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where'd you go, if you don't mind me asking...?

Midwest, college town, house in the country on 80 acres. My kids grew up, they could walk around outside all day and still be at home. They could invite friends to visit, do projects, shoot, saw, drive carts, dig holes. All three are Eagle Scouts, Engineers, black belts. Wife and I have 7 gardens plus landscaping projects. Two sheds 20X50, tractors and implements. Orchard. All for less than that old house in San Jose…

Good to hear you're happy

Re: Tech workers consider escaping Silicon Valley’s sky-high rents

#397

Post by brenden2 »

GhettoChild wrote: post #392
brenden2 wrote: post #28

Desirable areas will always be (relatively) more expensive. Even if we see significant deflation (which is unlikely given the scale of money printing), these areas (NYC, SF) will probably remain expensive so long as they remain significant culturally and economically. When it becomes uncool to live in SF or NYC, then perhaps people will move to places like Wyoming en masse.

Parts of Wyoming (Jackson area) have actually been having lots of people (relatively) moving there and is now surprisingly expensive.

Perhaps Wyoming wasn't the best example, but I was looking for something very sparsely populated and WY fits that bill.

Re: Tech workers consider escaping Silicon Valley’s sky-high rents

#398

Post by jandrese »

dreen wrote: post #186
jandrese wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My commute is also my morning and evening cardio routine as a bike 5 miles each way. I've been really missing the every day bike rides this year.

Why not take the ride anyway? Just turn halfway and go back home.

Annoyingly I have to drive into work now because after the ride is the metro trip for the rest of the distance, but the metro is shut down till Labor Day so it's straight out. All that time I had blocked out in my day is spent driving instead. :(

Re: Tech workers consider escaping Silicon Valley’s sky-high rents

#399

Post by chris11 »

dcolkitt wrote: post #146
aripickar wrote: post #8

I'm pretty bearish on the pandemic actually leading to massive change in the number of people permanently working from home. My boss put out a survey a week or two ago among my org (30 or so people), and 70% said that they want to work from the office, full time, 20% said some time or most of the time, and 10% said fully remote. And this is a group of people that would be largely well suited to working from home duri…

I see it from the opposite side. This won't be employee-pulled, but company-pushed. Many organizations are going to be significantly cash-strapped at the end of this recession. One of the juiciest targets will be cutting the high fixed cost of office leases. Especially in expensive areas like Silicon Valley. If a company can push the average employee to work from home 3 days a week, they can convert to floating desks…

Floating desks sounds really unenjoyable. Plus I'd have health concerns about that before a vaccine is developed.

Re: Tech workers consider escaping Silicon Valley’s sky-high rents

#400

Post by ckdarby »

asdff wrote: post #294
Consultant32452 wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One thing to keep in mind is that this is NOT what working remotely is really like. During normal times if I am missing socialization at work I can make up for it by going out more during the week. During normal times if I want I can spend a few hours working from the local cafe. But the cafes are closed. During normal times, kids are at school for most of the day so they don't disrupt you. But schools are closed. I'…

It doesn't matter if I have my laptop and a hotspot at the beach with tacos and a bucket of beers. It's an issue with a lack of effective communication on emails/slack/zoom compared with meeting with your colleagues face to face. Productivity has fallen off a cliff among everyone I've asked, and this is the reason.

>Productivity has fallen off a cliff among everyone I've asked

You're not asking but I'm here to tell you that productivity has skyrocketed for me & those that I work directly with.

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