Depends on just what drives the desirability, I think.
Google is covering their bases in terms of both "suburban areas" (Mountain View) and "dense cities." So they can attract people who prefer either style of living.
If there's a significant subset that prefers "cheap" directly, then they're missing out on that group. Otherwise, it might be more cost effective to simply keep offering higher wages in the high-cost areas, if cost and desirability are roughly correlated for most people.
Where I see it breaking down personally is that the expensive areas aren't that bad for 20-something folks who want to rent anyway. Say you throw an extra ten to twenty grand a year at rent, that can be easily covered by a compensation premium. But once you start looking at moving from renter to buyer, down payment requirements make expensive areas a lot rougher. This might be fine at Google-level compensation, but there's a lot of other companies who could have a harder and harder time retaining people as they age.
They haven't covered rural. I don't think they are even close.
I know people in multiple states who like to shoot rifles (AR-15 style) and shotguns in their yards. One hunts pigs in his backyard. A different one can hunt turkey.
I can't really imagine that in Mountain View or San Francisco or Manhattan.
majormajor|8 years ago
Google is covering their bases in terms of both "suburban areas" (Mountain View) and "dense cities." So they can attract people who prefer either style of living.
If there's a significant subset that prefers "cheap" directly, then they're missing out on that group. Otherwise, it might be more cost effective to simply keep offering higher wages in the high-cost areas, if cost and desirability are roughly correlated for most people.
Where I see it breaking down personally is that the expensive areas aren't that bad for 20-something folks who want to rent anyway. Say you throw an extra ten to twenty grand a year at rent, that can be easily covered by a compensation premium. But once you start looking at moving from renter to buyer, down payment requirements make expensive areas a lot rougher. This might be fine at Google-level compensation, but there's a lot of other companies who could have a harder and harder time retaining people as they age.
tropo|8 years ago
I know people in multiple states who like to shoot rifles (AR-15 style) and shotguns in their yards. One hunts pigs in his backyard. A different one can hunt turkey.
I can't really imagine that in Mountain View or San Francisco or Manhattan.
And yes, those people are tech talent.
unknown|8 years ago
[deleted]
lotsofpulp|8 years ago