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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: 3, Interesting) by kaszz on Wednesday April 05 2017, @02:01AM (3 children)

    by kaszz (4211) on Wednesday April 05 2017, @02:01AM (#488954) Journal

    I think you are right on target. Big cities = many people = many job opportunities to choose from. Rural setting = pray everyday your job continue to exist. And if it doesn't you are possibly stuck with a need to move really fast into a crowded city with few housing options. By settling in a big city there's usually always options for some nice work without the need to move.

    On top of that, there's a lot more shops to supply any hardware needs, more entertainment, food and social options. But one doesn't necessarily have to live in the city. The important thing is to have quick and efficient access to it.

    However there's some aspects of this that are less than good. If you need to take out a huge bank loan to afford a place to live to access the workplace then you are taking an economic investment risk in the property market for your employers benefit without any return. Should the market turn sour you will be stuck with a big loan for something you can't sell and no income to pay it either. Other situations may put you in a situation where you live in an expensive apartment where most of your money goes to rent and most of your time goes to sleep or work which perhaps is kind of pointless. Having hobbies that requires space is also an obstacle in premium price cities.

    It may pay to optimize for the size of the city!

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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 05 2017, @02:07AM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 05 2017, @02:07AM (#488957)

    Keep a couple years of pay available in near-cash form. When the job goes, you pick another rural location and move.

    The benefit: you get to live in places that are peaceful and cheap. You can spend $50,000 to $400,000 on a house, maybe getting an acre of land or more. Your taxes may be low. Your 2nd amendment is not infringed.

    • (Score: 0, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 05 2017, @06:27PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 05 2017, @06:27PM (#489264)

      lol... 2nd amendment... yeah that's a priority when looking for a job. also if they ban homosecsurals from molesting baby girls in the ladies toilets.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 05 2017, @07:25PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 05 2017, @07:25PM (#489298)

        That was a pretty ignorant comment. Why did you bother with it? Is it supposed to be a form of humor to attempt to portray people who acknowledge the second amendment for what it is, as stupid bigots? If that is the case, then it was neither funny nor insightful. You should be embarrassed that you took the time to post and submit that comment. There is no need to be so immature and close minded here.