bay area work ethic? (Oakland, Cupertino: attorney, income, living in)

[sonarrat]

I take as much work as I can possibly get. I have a Bachelor's degree in music, which I got four years ago. I have a full-time office job. Most days, after I get off work, I grab a bite to eat and then go up the peninsula to rehearse with a choir, or a performer, or if I'm lucky a symphony. I'm out of the house from 7:30 am to 10:30 pm or later, and I usually have musical work on weekends as well.

No one will accuse me of not being hungry for work. If I get a call on Friday night to play the next day, I'll do it every time. But it's not just to make more money. It's because I don't buy into the sensibility of a coworker of mine who uses the excuse of a 2+ hour commute from Modesto so he can leave work at 1 pm, or the real estate huckster I used to know who bought and sold a house in Tracy during the boom and has spent most of his life trying to rip people off so he could be as lazy as he wanted, or the one who is in his forties, lives in a house with his brother and parents but buys new sports cars every 6 months. I think these people all need to wake up and realize that life is just going to leave them behind if they don't participate in it. There's no golden bullet. You just keep at it until you can't keep at no more.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

How old are these attorneys?

The ones in my (older Xer) generation around here were (as associates) and still are (as partners / owners) complete and absolute workaholics.

[jbunniii]

When I lived in LA, I often wondered what most of my neighbors did for a living. They never seemed to go to work and had ample time to hang around in coffeeshops "working on screenplays" or otherwise slacking. It's just my theory, but I think the service sector in LA (restaurants, shops, etc.) being open longer hours is actually indicative that the customers don't spend as much time working.

Silicon Valley has much more of a workaholic culture than anywhere I've been in SoCal. I don't think that's a good thing necessarily - for one thing it means there's a lot less of any other kind of culture - but it is what it is.

[batransplant]

I think my husband should have opened in Silicon Valley area to attract people willing to work more. Here in the east bay, the attorneys are gone by 6PM every day and rarely come in on the weekends. How do you explain why all the Nor Cal attys are the lowest billers in the firm? We are trying to make sense of it? Is it maybe the location being in a part of the east bay which is less expensive to live? Maybe they earn enough in base salary so do not care about earning bonus for additional expenses? They do not care that they are the lowest billers in the firm? They have no motivation to work more even from a professional or competitive perspective.

Maybe it is just these 4 lawyers? I realize it is maybe an over generalization of the bay area because maybe if the firm was in SF or Silicon Valley, he would attract a more motivated and aggressive type of talent?

We cannot figure it out.

[18Montclair]

I think its hillarious that you specifically pin this on the East Bay work ethic. LOL

Maybe what was flawed is your husband's hiring process. Some things are better left to professional head hunters.

[baybook]

Maybe you should have better things to do with your time than make generalizations about 7 million people based on your observations of 4 individuals. If your husband is the boss, prehaps he should ask them. If he's a co-worker, he should mind his own business and spend more time on his own billablehours.

Originally Posted by batransplant

Maybe it is just these 4 lawyers? I realize it is maybe an over generalization of the bay area because maybe if the firm was in SF or Silicon Valley, he would attract a more motivated and aggressive type of talent?

We cannot figure it out.

[Ultrarunner]

Interesting observation...

I have run into more people that either willingly at first or had no choice in the matter of working fewer hours...

Many have said they will never go back to the grind and pressure...

Many are Registered Nurses that choose to work part time full time... some only work 2 days in the week...

I have also run into more Mr. Moms in the Bay Area... maybe it's a trend... maybe not

[NYSD1995]

I smell troll.

[batransplant]

well all the people working there have small children and both parents are working, but generally in this situation...one of the parents has the job which makes the "concessions". Maybe it is the men in this particular situation.

[hsw]

Consider economic geography of region

Vast majority of high-income professionals (and workaholics) are in offices stretching from Redwood Shores/Menlo/PA/MtnVw/Cupertino/SantaClara to SJ...and some in SF's Financial Dt...not much of economic value is in sprawling, highly populated East Bay except Chevron HQ in San Ramon

IIRC, entire SF region is ~6MM; but SantaClara, SanMateo and SF Counties are only ~2.5MM (and much of that population is even composed of economic underachievers, illegals, gvt "workers" and other welfare recipients).....LA region is ~18MM and is easily dwarfed by economic power of SV region, despite huge population disparities....w/stunning relative lack of economic value or productivity on a per capita basis

Lots of workaholics in SV/SF (prob more than anywhere on planet aside from MidtownManhattan)....some actually enjoy their work and would die of boredom if chose to retire; but will find a lot of <40yo retirees in SV/SF as well...after all, elder statesmen in tech and finance industries in SV are ~40yo