WordPay drops plan for Silicon Valley jobs in favor of Atlanta (how much, Home Depot)

[Airforceguy]

It's always awesome to see job growth occur here in metro Atlanta. Glad to see he changed his mind and decided to expand in ATL.
WordPay drops plan for Silicon Valley jobs in favor of Atlanta | www.ajc.com

[BeyondInfinity]

Yes this is great news for Atlanta! The IT sector is really hot in the Atlanta market. If you have an IT background, you will not have any problems finding a job/career in the metro area.

[LovelySummer]

Great news!

ETA: I don't see why they cannot just recruit the kids from silicon valley. When I was in engineering, I got job offers from all over the country. People *can* move from Silicon Valley to Georgia. I'm sure many would want to do so given extreme difference in the cost of living. An income of 75K in Silicon Valley doesn't buy nearly what it would buy in Atlanta and employers never completely offset the cost of living differential when determining salaries for different geographical locations. You come out as if you are making less in Cali when cost of living is factored in...even with a slightly higher salary...especially if you actually want to buy a home.

[MathmanMathman]

Originally Posted by BeyondInfinity

Yes this is great news for Atlanta! The IT sector is really hot in the Atlanta market. If you have an IT background, you will not have any problems finding a job/career in the metro area.

I had trouble finding one...and left for Texas.

Originally Posted by AJC

Earlier this month, a Home Depot executive said the Atlanta-based retailing giant had opened technology centers in California and Texas because it couldn’t find enough software developers locally.
“At the end of the day, we don’t have the talent pool in Georgia,” Eric Schelling, Home Depot’s director of talent acquisition, said during a gathering of officials considering new career initiatives.

So apparently, the local pool is a bit slim.

[Ant131531]

Because many of the Tech(not GA Tech, but the Tech industry) graduates are moving to cities like SF, Seattle, Austin, D.C...why would you want to stay here unless you got a lucrative job offer when you can move to more exciting, younger cities? Hell, I'm going to try to get my ass out of here once I graduate.

[afdinatl]

California is losing jobs left and right. This is a good move since Atlanta is more attractive to young people.

[Ant131531]

Originally Posted by afdinatl

California is losing jobs left and right. This is a good move since Atlanta is more attractive to young people.

That's a myth. The SF Bay area has been generating many many jobs, the unemployment rate is in the low 5s, and it has a booming economy. L.A.'s unemployment rate has also dropped a lot and has some of the highest GDP growth in the nation.

[noah]

Loosing jobs left and right is not true but if your honest you would note that LA's employment is still 8%, over a full point higher than Atlanta's and most cities other than Chicago.

Originally Posted by Ant131531

That's a myth. The SF Bay area has been generating many many jobs, the unemployment rate is in the low 5s, and it has a booming economy. L.A.'s unemployment rate has also dropped a lot and has some of the highest GDP growth in the nation.

[AtlantaIsHot]

Originally Posted by MathmanMathman

I had trouble finding one...and left for Texas.



So apparently, the local pool is a bit slim.

Yeah, yeah... We know... Every thread you serve up the same pile of puke. Geez, why aren't you in the TEXAS threads.

But anyway, software development is NOT particularly strong in Atlanta, that's a fact. That's not a knock on Atlanta as it's weak in many other major cities also. However, it doesn't alter the fact that Atlanta is a GROWING technology center. There are many forms of tech other than software/computer based. Atlanta has a major startup in solar energy. It also has a growing biotech industry thanks to CDC and the MANY high level universities. No matter how much you try to rain on Atlanta's parade like a big black cloud, it's still charging forward.

[AtlantaIsHot]

Originally Posted by afdinatl

California is losing jobs left and right. This is a good move since Atlanta is more attractive to young people.

You are correct to a large degree. California has bled jobs and people for other states for about 2 decades now. There have been new jobs to replace these and cause a net increase. It has not been as great as it would have been if those many companies had not closed down in Cali and left for other areas such as Northrop Grumman, Hilton, Toyota, and many others. San Fran., New York, etc. were lagging badly for job creation until the recent rise in social media tech. San Fran. is notorious for wildly swinging job growth according to the way the tech market goes. Over the past 25 years, 500,000 people have left California for other states. How did Cali show population growth? Largely through immigration.