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Old 08-07-2012, 10:17 PM
 
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I suspect that like most real estate decisions the key motivator is price but that the primary decision is location. If you "fall in love" with Lincoln Park but can get more space for less money in Lakeview but you won't head out to Pilsen -- that is essentially what is happening. Applied to office shoppers this is not much different -- the desire to be "someplace" that is reachable via Metra & CTA service is BIG magnet for the greater loop. That said it ain't like you are gonna see tech firms bidding against lawyers and other high dollar tenants for sleek offices in high rises... And even back in the days when internet firms were far more active in River North and West Loop markets it ain't like those areas are now supporting some kind of Seattle or Portland scene...
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Old 08-07-2012, 10:22 PM
 
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Default Tell that to new grads and experienced folks...

...that are desperate for work. Unemployment in Chicago is much worse than Silicon Valley, NY Metro or Texas...

http://www.google.com/publicdata/exp...l=en&ind=false

Quote:
Originally Posted by deliz View Post
Well Chet I guess we looked at different google sites. Still even if your link is accurate it's not bad odds for the guy to get a job
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Old 08-07-2012, 10:32 PM
 
Location: Upper West Side, Manhattan, NYC
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chet everett View Post
...that are desperate for work. Unemployment in Chicago is much worse than Silicon Valley, NY Metro or Texas...

Unemployment in the U.S. - Google Public Data Explorer
That is overall unemployment rate however. It would be more useful to look at unemployment rate by industry or something like the QWI.
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Old 08-07-2012, 10:37 PM
 
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Default Agreed.

If you find a source that allows the comparisons feel free to link to it -- I would be surprised if they differ much. Sadly "tech jobs" are insignficant part of the Chicago region's employment.

Fact is there are just too few jobs in the region in pretty much every field... Can you believe hospital employment is shrinking here?? http://lehd.did.census.gov/cgi-bin/b...un=View+Report

Silcon Valley wages are literally more than double than those here: http://lehd.did.census.gov/cgi-bin/b...un=View+Report

Quote:
Originally Posted by marothisu View Post
That is overall unemployment rate however. It would be more useful to look at unemployment rate by industry or something like the QWI.

Last edited by chet everett; 08-07-2012 at 10:46 PM..
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Old 08-07-2012, 10:46 PM
 
Location: Upper West Side, Manhattan, NYC
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chet everett View Post
If you find a source that allows the comparisons feel free to link to it -- I would be surprised if they differ much. Sadly "tech jobs" are insignficant part of the Chicago region's employment.

Fact is there are just too few jobs in the region in pretty much every field... Can you believe hospital employment is shrinking here?? Industry Focus - Top Industries
There are still a lot of tech-oriented jobs in Chicago though. I work now as a consultant, but my job is still a tech job. I'm not sure how it's classified, but there's a lot of IT/tech consultants who do software development in Chicago. I get contacted for jobs on LinkedIn pretty much everyday by tech companies in town looking for new employees. Half of the companies I've never even heard of, but when I look them up, they're actually legitimate companies with offices in Chicago. It's kind of...odd. There's much more tech than meets the eye here.
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Old 08-07-2012, 10:51 PM
 
Location: Upper West Side, Manhattan, NYC
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chet everett View Post

Silcon Valley wages are literally more than double than those here:
Not comparable though. The standard of living here is lower on average than that of Silicon Valley. People get paid more on average there partially because of this reason. I used to work in Minnesota and my salary was raised an automatic $15,000 when I moved to Chicago without "moving up." That type of thing tends to happen when you move to somewhere more expensive. Market based adjustment.
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Old 08-07-2012, 10:57 PM
 
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I don't disagree that your salary would need to be adjusted to have an equal standard of living in Si Valley as you might enjoy in Chicago but from the EMPLOYER perspective the environment OUT THERE is what matters and if they are willing to throw 2X+ salary at people it it certainly not a statement of what sort of booming tech environment Chicago has...

Earlier in the thread I also pointed out that the kinds of jobs in Si Valley that result in massive "wealth creation" are far different than the kinds of tech related employment in this region that really is more about keeping the bits flowing. Far more likely to be pretty mundane stuff... Does the kid that crawls out from under my car at Jiffy Lube do similar work to the guys that make sure cars can survive the 24hrs of LeMans? Who gets paid more? Who is more valuable? Who has greater "job satisfaction"?
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Old 08-07-2012, 11:26 PM
 
Location: Upper West Side, Manhattan, NYC
15,323 posts, read 23,905,668 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chet everett View Post
I don't disagree that your salary would need to be adjusted to have an equal standard of living in Si Valley as you might enjoy in Chicago but from the EMPLOYER perspective the environment OUT THERE is what matters and if they are willing to throw 2X+ salary at people it it certainly not a statement of what sort of booming tech environment Chicago has...

Earlier in the thread I also pointed out that the kinds of jobs in Si Valley that result in massive "wealth creation" are far different than the kinds of tech related employment in this region that really is more about keeping the bits flowing. Far more likely to be pretty mundane stuff... Does the kid that crawls out from under my car at Jiffy Lube do similar work to the guys that make sure cars can survive the 24hrs of LeMans? Who gets paid more? Who is more valuable? Who has greater "job satisfaction"?
Oh yeah, I totally agree about the environment. Chicago has its fair share of tech jobs, but I'd say only a small percentage of the companies here have the same "feel" as a lot of the ones in Silicon Valley. It is more conservative in Chicago than out there for sure.
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Old 08-08-2012, 03:49 AM
 
Location: Chicago, IL SouthWest Suburbs
3,522 posts, read 6,099,444 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chet everett View Post
There is nothing "reinventive" (if that is even a word...) about leasing out office space cheaply. There is a MASSIVE glut of office space in Chicago. Vornado (who bought the Mart from the Kennedys) is thisclose to getting sucked under and no doubt the concessions they had to line up to get google out of their motorola problem is largely driven by their desire to get somebody / anybody to help fill that monstrous amount of space. The story on ALL those other real estate announcements is similar to the sorts of "oops we ordered too many cars, please come buy one from us this weekend" type ads that desperate auto dealerships run...

Don't get me wrong, it is not a bad thing that businesses are FINALLY a little less paralyzed by fear to sing leases but the rate-driven / tax incentive fueled environment is not a sign of any kind of "boom", merely a small step out of the HUGE hole that that the massive collapse of 2008 has to eventually deal with.

We are long way from seeing any meaningful growth of real wages and the spectre of horrendous tax increases to deal with unresolved pension issue will continue to make the overall Illinois business climate in the BOTTOM HALF of the country: Illinois ranked 26th overall for business climate
No doubt Illinois has a serious problem with its underfunded pension's.


Reading the link's provided in this thread, I have noticed a general them of human capital along with Chicago being less expensive than both the East or West coast.

There is no doubt Motorola has a very smart workforce they also made it clear there was a problem recruiting newer employees because of its location.

Time will tell if the tech increase will take hold.

Last edited by sunnyandcloudydays; 08-08-2012 at 04:17 AM..
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Old 08-08-2012, 06:36 AM
 
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No Motorola had problems recruiting employees becuase it was known more for its past glory than any current success. The only successful US based consumer phone maker is located in Cupertino CA. It ain't exactly a bustling urban hipster scene. In fact with its big cafeterias and landscaped ground the Apple campus is far more similar to a site in Libertyville or Northbrook...

What I've been saying for about Motorola can be summed up in the history of other corporate aquistions and relocations -- the acquiring company has a problem, in google's case the main reason they purchased the firm was for its masive portfolio of patents, they do not need any of the actual current workers and probably will have get even more grief than MSFT if they really do try to roll their own hardware. Acer Boss Bashes Microsoft Over Surface Tablet | News & Opinion | PCMag.com
The paternalistic founders of Motorola no doubt wanted some assurances that their long term association with philanthropic causes in the region would not be undone by some "brick wall" type lay off. The move is a small gesture that will give some folks a change of scenery. That will make it easier for the smart people to say "well I survived the move from Libertyville to Chicago, maybe the real move that I need to make to a real tech haven in Silicon Valley won't be as hard...". As Moto continues to sell off parts of even the reduced "Motorola Mobiliity" Google Said to be Offloading Motorola's Set-Top Box Biz you can expect even more attrition.

Just becuase there is sushi stand in the Merchandise Mart food court does not make it hip .... Tokyo Lunch Boxes & Catering - Near North Side - Chicago, IL
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