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posted by Fnord666 on Tuesday April 04 2017, @11:04PM   Printer-friendly
from the flock-that dept.

Politicians and economists lament that certain alpha regions — SF, LA, NYC, Boston, Toronto, London, Paris — attract all the best jobs while becoming repellently expensive, reducing economic mobility and contributing to further bifurcation between haves and have-nots. But why don't the best jobs move elsewhere?

Of course, many of them can't. The average financier in NYC or London (until Brexit annihilates London's banking industry, of course...) would be laughed out of the office, and not invited back, if they told their boss they wanted to henceforth work from Chiang Mai.

But this isn't true of (much of) the software field. The average web/app developer might have such a request declined; but they would not be laughed at, or fired. The demand for good developers greatly outstrips supply, and in this era of Skype and Slack, there's nothing about software development that requires meatspace interactions.

[...]Some people will tell you that remote teams are inherently less effective and productive than localized ones, or that "serendipitous collisions" are so important that every employee must be forced to the same physical location every day so that these collisions can be manufactured. These people are wrong, as long as the team in question is small — on the order of handfuls, dozens or scores, rather than hundreds or thousands — and flexible.

Because the feedlot isn't hiring for Ruby?


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  • (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 04 2017, @11:52PM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 04 2017, @11:52PM (#488902)

    I was in a 'hub' office for years. They closed it. Out of work for a year.

    No one, and I mean NO ONE will return your calls if you are not even in the same state. Number in my local area? 3 jobs to submit anything to. Got an onsite out of 2 of them. If you think they are picky in a big city you have seen nothing like those in a small city.

    Moved to a much larger city where there are a lot more opportunities.

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  • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 05 2017, @02:01AM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 05 2017, @02:01AM (#488953)

    During each of my last two job hunts, after having been fired no less, I got flown diagonally across the country. That's about 3500 miles each I suppose, plus a north-south trip of about 2000 miles. It's not a big deal. Considering just the airports I used, I flew:

    1. Boston Massachusetts to LA California
    2. Boston Massachusetts to Fort Lauderdale Florida
    3. Fort Lauderdale Florida to Seattle Washington

    Your problem might be that you are more into art than tech, perhaps something involving web sites or phone apps or games. Real programmers write C and assembly for things like VxWorks and the Linux kernel. (that was me) Real programmers write code that runs inside things like radar, pacemakers, autopilots, anti-lock brake controllers, air-to-air missiles, LASIK surgery robots, hypervisors, telecom switching equipment, photocopiers, police radio handsets, satellites, VoIP conference phones, etc.

    I don't love moving, but I expect it. Moving is required to get the best jobs, especially if you want to live in a place that feels like America or is affordable. I have my half-acre lot, and could have had either a beachfront house or a wooded 5-acre lot with room to shoot in the backyard. I don't pay state income tax. I have the security of a solid stand-your-ground law.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 05 2017, @10:39AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 05 2017, @10:39AM (#489082)

      Yup, no tech in game engines. Nope, not at all.

    • (Score: 2) by TheRaven on Wednesday April 05 2017, @01:03PM

      by TheRaven (270) on Wednesday April 05 2017, @01:03PM (#489111) Journal
      Snide remarks about not real tech aside, I'd largely agree. Last time I was looking for a job, I was freelancing (so, from the perspective of most recruiters, unemployed) and still had offers including relocation expenses for several countries. Most of the freelance work that I was doing was for companies 6 or more time zones away (in both directions).
      --
      sudo mod me up
  • (Score: 2) by mechanicjay on Wednesday April 05 2017, @04:24PM

    No one, and I mean NO ONE will return your calls if you are not even in the same state. Number in my local area? 3 jobs to submit anything to. Got an onsite out of 2 of them. If you think they are picky in a big city you have seen nothing like those in a small city.

    This is completely false in my experience. I lived in NJ, had Seattle targetted for my destination. This meant updating my location to Seattle on Linked-In, Monster, every recruitment agency that called, etc. Explaining that I was actively trying to relocate to Seattle when I would get calls back. I got interviews, was flown out here for an on-site, and landed two offers with about a 4-6 month search. I probably could have landed something sooner, but I had the luxury of enjoying the job I was in and didn't want to take just any job.

    With cell phone numbers able to follow you around now for what almost 10 years? A local number means very little any more except to the small and provincially minded -- in other words, no one I want to work for anyway.

    --
    My VMS box beat up your Windows box.