Something you wish you had known before moving to Hawaii

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by daveyboy1225

I see alot of people with quadriple masters degrees asking about jobs. With that kind of education, aren't you able to secure a good job on "mainland" that you are able to work from "remotely"? or demand that you work "remotely"? and just move to hawaii as home base?

Most remote jobs still require some measure of face time. I once worked for a company that was a pioneer in remote work, and an industry leader because it was able to recruit the "best of the best" by allowing them to live wherever they wanted to live. And they had cutting edge technology for virtual meetings, etc. But they still had to foster relationships between people who would work together on teams. Through experimentation they decided the minimum requirement for work in the office was 3 days a month. Otherwise people just got out of touch. And we all came together 4 times a year for company-wide meetings.

It was an ideal working atmosphere, and the company was phenomenally successful. I might still be with them if they had not been acquired by a much bigger company, flush with IPO bucks, which subsequently did a big belly flop.

Anyway, subsequent remote work for other companies showed that the old maxim "out of sight, out of mind" applies to remote workers over time unless they are outstanding producers. And that's why I think the average company is skeptical about having employees work as remotely as Hawai'i (or Alaska) unless they were also providing some local value as well.

Or in short, there aren't a lot of those opportunities around.

[alex7777]

Originally Posted by KauaiHiker

winkosmosis, I would guess that the people you are seeing are locals, and they are living with family. But even someone who came 10-15 years ago is going to have half the mortgage cost of your rent. Or the new arrivals live as roommates when single, or if in a couple with their own place, they have 2 incomes. Given the cost of housing, a single living in his own appartment is somewhat of a luxury in Hawaii--maybe that's the thing you wish you'd known.

BTW, most people consider student loans to be debt, and I would never consider a retirement plan to be available money--too many fees and hassle to get it out.

Hope you're still hanging in there, however.

I can easily see someone living in a group house with friends paying relatively little for rent, and saving on food costs with group-cooking, etc. Living with family is even cheaper, and probably very common there.

Agreed on student loan debt. We rack up too much of that on the mainland too, instead of going to community colleges for two years, living with our folks, working during school, living in group houses, etc.