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Seems to be quite a bit of hedging and walking back in that article like not calling it a second headquarters. If it’s just a customer service call center there’s been waaaay too much excitement about its transformative effects. WRAL said last week it was 100% that it would be announced this week and now we hear it’s not imminent.
YES. I want tech companies. I'm bias, because I have worked in high tech for 20+ years. I rather live in a growing economy than in a stagnant/shrinking one. Bring on the high tech jobs.
I worked 31 years in tech.
The federal job I ended up with had security.
Many of our employees left for higher pay and promises in the private sector.
Then they returned a few months later trying to hire back with us.
Many of these punk companies hire up fast and cut back just as fast.
Hope these new hires see how lousy NC's unemployment benefits have become. When they get booted, they may wind up in a mission if there's room.
31 years in tech !!! you must be sitting on ca$h. Hopefully.
I built my own business and quit after 20 years. nothing better than to work for yourself !!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by CapitalBlvd
I worked 31 years in tech.
The federal job I ended up with had security.
Many of our employees left for higher pay and promises in the private sector.
Then they returned a few months later trying to hire back with us.
Many of these punk companies hire up fast and cut back just as fast.
Hope these new hires see how lousy NC's unemployment benefits have become. When they get booted, they may wind up in a mission if there's room.
They trying to find the right words ... Tim Cook not wanting to offend some folks. RTP got this !!! Don't sell your house now, just wait a few more months !!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by blueheronNC
Seems to be quite a bit of hedging and walking back in that article like not calling it a second headquarters. If it’s just a customer service call center there’s been waaaay too much excitement about its transformative effects. WRAL said last week it was 100% that it would be announced this week and now we hear it’s not imminent.
Many of our employees left for higher pay and promises in the private sector.
Then they returned a few months later trying to hire back with us.
Many of these punk companies hire up fast and cut back just as fast.
Hope these new hires see how lousy NC's unemployment benefits have become. When they get booted, they may wind up in a mission if there's room.
seriously, in the pantheon of short-sighted and ignorant - you stand alone.
If one chooses the safety of a government job, where layoffs are (almost) zero, then you trade in some pay for that.
You moved here in 1986, yes? And you went from private blue-chip companies to government employment?
Were you awesome at punch cards? Early on in learning MS-DOS code? Convinced that either of those skillsets would mean lifelong job safety without learning new skills?
The answer to the thread subject is clear, we absolutely don't need these tech companies. I'm holding out for the resurgence in cotton with my back-up plan being tobacco (we can gut all those hipster lofts in the warehouses in Durham and go back to what they were designed for). That's what the area really needs, surely better than over-paid transplants with Amazon or big Pharma.
I'm sure I'll get a lot of negative feedback for saying this, but I personally wouldn't want Amazon to come to Raleigh. I think all this growth too fast isn't necessarily a good thing, and to be honest it's probably a bad thing.
Unfortunately, Raleigh is losing more and more of its Southern charm as big corporate moves in, driving up taxes, prices, and the general cost of living for everyone else, even though the companies themselves often underpay their due. We're not Austin or New York or Seattle (nothing against those cities), but that's just not who we are and some of us are perfectly content with retaining our Southern character: our charm, pace of life, affordability, neighborly and friendly atmosphere, and of course, our culture. Besides, do we really want Raleigh to be known as "that other city Amazon's in"? I'm sure a lot us are perfectly happy being known as the "City of Oaks" (if known well as such to others at all), which, IMO, reflects the city's history, geography, and culture much more than Amazon-ville #2.
I suppose some of the most common arguments for wanting Amazon to come here are:
1. More jobs. Duh. But this comes at an obvious cost. Are all the tax incentives we're giving to Amazon for them to come here in the first place really going to benefit Raleigh in the long run? I doubt it, and many economists seem to agree. The fact of the matter is that government sponsorship of Corporate America through tax incentives rarely works, and is essentially just taxpayers being forced into subsidizing wealthy corporations out of their own pocket. Raleigh leaders are doing a grave disservice to their citizens if they decide to "sell out" to Amazon. On this note, does anyone else find it just laughable that many of these big companies on one hand demand robust public infrastructures and amenities to support their relocating to XYZ affordable (for now) city, yet also demand subsidies to the companies themselves (or are able to coax said cities into giving away these subsidies)? Tell me in what universe are those two things compatible?
2. More growth in general. See my initial paragraph. We in America hold this problematic notion that bigger is better, that growth is inherently good, and that more economic activity (even at the expense of other things) must be beneficial, right? Not necessarily true, and sometimes just flat-out wrong. I'm just copying and pasting what I wrote in another thread about Garner, NC's lack of (negative) growth, but I think it applies to pretty much anywhere else, too:
"NC's cities, as most people know, are very good at growing. In fact, they're downright booming. The challenge now is to make sure that the growth is sustainable and that new developments and projects will improve the landscape, not detract from it. Unfortunately, too many tract-type housing developments, strip malls, and big box stores, among other more "cookie-cutter" type developments, have continued to leave an ugly mark. What happened to people actually caring about the aesthetic qualities of architecture and not just low-cost this and low-cost that?"
And therein lies the issue. People have a propensity for looking only at the net positives that an influx of growth brings. But we must not forget about all the side-effects of said growth.
3. More things to do/more fun/more excitement. I'm sorry, but if you're moving to Raleigh because you think companies like Amazon that are popular with Millennials and a younger workforce are going to somehow turn Raleigh into the next San Francisco or Seattle, you're sorrily mistaken (it's not like Raleigh natives and locals would ever want such a thing, either). But riddle me this: why does everything have to be about wanting to be more like XYZ city, or about competing with XYZ city? Why can't we just be us? There are some people who couldn't care less about things like this. If you want excitement, big-city living, and a more "hip" culture, there are better places to look than Raleigh, even if all this growth somehow overturns the inherent and intrinsic cultural markers and foundations of a Southern capital city.
I think I've ranted enough, but I hope you get my point. I'm not saying that these companies are one-sidedly problematic or without good intentions, I just think we need to seriously scrutinize the impact that they'll have on changing the natural, cultural, and economic identities of the cities we so dearly call home.
I'm sure I'll get a lot of negative feedback for saying this, but I personally wouldn't want Amazon to come to Raleigh. I think all this growth too fast isn't necessarily a good thing, and to be honest it's probably a bad thing.
Unfortunately, Raleigh is losing more and more of its Southern charm as big corporate moves in, driving up taxes, prices, and the general cost of living for everyone else, even though the companies themselves often underpay their due. We're not Austin or New York or Seattle (nothing against those cities), but that's just not who we are and some of us are perfectly content with retaining our Southern character: our charm, pace of life, affordability, neighborly and friendly atmosphere, and of course, our culture. Besides, do we really want Raleigh to be known as "that other city Amazon's in"? I'm sure a lot us are perfectly happy being known as the "City of Oaks" (if known well as such to others at all), which, IMO, reflects the city's history, geography, and culture much more than Amazon-ville #2.
I suppose some of the most common arguments for wanting Amazon to come here are:
1. More jobs. Duh. But this comes at an obvious cost. Are all the tax incentives we're giving to Amazon for them to come here in the first place really going to benefit Raleigh in the long run? I doubt it, and many economists seem to agree. The fact of the matter is that government sponsorship of Corporate America through tax incentives rarely works, and is essentially just taxpayers being forced into subsidizing wealthy corporations out of their own pocket. Raleigh leaders are doing a grave disservice to their citizens if they decide to "sell out" to Amazon. On this note, does anyone else find it just laughable that many of these big companies on one hand demand robust public infrastructures and amenities to support their relocating to XYZ affordable (for now) city, yet also demand subsidies to the companies themselves (or are able to coax said cities into giving away these subsidies)? Tell me in what universe are those two things compatible?
2. More growth in general. See my initial paragraph. We in America hold this problematic notion that bigger is better, that growth is inherently good, and that more economic activity (even at the expense of other things) must be beneficial, right? Not necessarily true, and sometimes just flat-out wrong. I'm just copying and pasting what I wrote in another thread about Garner, NC's lack of (negative) growth, but I think it applies to pretty much anywhere else, too:
"NC's cities, as most people know, are very good at growing. In fact, they're downright booming. The challenge now is to make sure that the growth is sustainable and that new developments and projects will improve the landscape, not detract from it. Unfortunately, too many tract-type housing developments, strip malls, and big box stores, among other more "cookie-cutter" type developments, have continued to leave an ugly mark. What happened to people actually caring about the aesthetic qualities of architecture and not just low-cost this and low-cost that?"
And therein lies the issue. People have a propensity for looking only at the net positives that an influx of growth brings. But we must not forget about all the side-effects of said growth.
3. More things to do/more fun/more excitement. I'm sorry, but if you're moving to Raleigh because you think companies like Amazon that are popular with Millennials and a younger workforce are going to somehow turn Raleigh into the next San Francisco or Seattle, you're sorrily mistaken (it's not like Raleigh natives and locals would ever want such a thing, either). But riddle me this: why does everything have to be about wanting to be more like XYZ city, or about competing with XYZ city? Why can't we just be us? There are some people who couldn't care less about things like this. If you want excitement, big-city living, and a more "hip" culture, there are better places to look than Raleigh, even if all this growth somehow overturns the inherent and intrinsic cultural markers and foundations of a Southern capital city.
I think I've ranted enough, but I hope you get my point. I'm not saying that these companies are one-sidedly problematic or without good intentions, I just think we need to seriously scrutinize the impact that they'll have on changing the natural, cultural, and economic identities of the cities we so dearly call home.
so why did the locals just pack it in and cash in... Southern charm now that is a joke as this place sold out long before what you are posting.
Most of the country is suffering from stagnant wages, violence, opioid addiction, and no prospects for upward mobility. Successful economic areas with vibrant communities are concentrating into very few "islands" around the country. I'd rather we be one of the islands, and getting cutting-edge economic engines in here is the best way to assure that. Sure, that success will bring its own set of issues to address and resolve, but that's better than the alternative, which is to rot away like sadly most of America is.
Unfortunately some people can't see the forest for the trees.
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