Bay Area cities are cracking down on free food at tech companies

Post by AceJohnny2 » Thu, Jul 26, 2018, 11:56 PM UTC

dunpeal wrote: post #211

JimboOmega wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really wonder what it will take to kill this Golden Goose. Bay area employees are already a big premium over employees in other areas, but companies still really want to be here. No free food is almost asinine... but it's not a big thing compared to the extra cost in salaries.

I'm wondering the same. Two growing trends that I'm observing: 1. Businesses moving out of California, especially NorCal. Sergey Brin already said two years ago that he would not have started Google in NorCal today. He was right. There's a lot more interest in other locations, such as Austin. 2. Remote work, and fully remote virtual offices. Personally I know a bunch of people who declined offers in the SFBay to avoi…

Post by newnewpdro » Fri, Jul 27, 2018, 12:04 AM UTC

dunpeal wrote: post #136

justinzollars wrote: post #114

I'm sorry but this is so f*cking stupid. As a Bay Area resident my priorities are the cost of housing, cleaning our dirty streets and alleviating traffic congestion. This is an example of progressivism gone awry. Solving the basics is incredibly important. Our quality of life is in decline (in the bay area) and this is the best our politicians can do? I'm enraged.

> Solving the basics is incredibly important. Ah, but you see, it is also difficult! "Dirty streets" and "traffic congestion" are big, messy problems, requiring careful planning, managing projects and contractors, adversarial factors, etc. By contrast, passing laws that apply to corporations is so easy! They are generally law abiding, so you just tell them "no more free food for you!", and they obey. Until, you know,…

Post by justinzollars » Fri, Jul 27, 2018, 12:04 AM UTC

patejam wrote: post #184

Camillo wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but are you going to do anything about it? If you work at one of the big tech companies in the bay area, chances are you either cannot vote or you're only ever going to vote for the incumbent party, so what does it matter to them if they piss you off?

For the SF locals, it's usually democrats vs democrats, so party affiliation doesn't really matter. Because of this, inucumbents are much more easily voted out of office on the supervisor level (which is where this is coming from). So... vote when you can!

Post by polski-g » Fri, Jul 27, 2018, 12:06 AM UTC

biggc wrote: post #181

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #98

> The ban wouldn't be retroactive, however, so on-site food at companies like Google and Twitter would still be available Cool, so start-ups lose a potential hiring perk to the incumbents. (Does anyone know the story behind this bill? Which politicians and restaurants supported it? I’d like to avoid the latter going forward.)

> Cool, so start-ups lose a potential hiring perk to the incumbents. I don't think catering startups that coordinate with local restaurants (e.g ZeroCater and Chewse) will be affected.

Post by dev_dull » Fri, Jul 27, 2018, 12:10 AM UTC

sidlls wrote: post #171

commandlinefan wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, really. Big tech companies, come down here to Texas. With your well-above-market-average salaries and free food.

And regressive state politics and terrible culture and weather. Tech companies hiring in Texas is a negative signal.