San Antonio's favorable cost of living not enough (Austin, Portland: foreclosure, rent)

[austindoxie1972]

Originally Posted by Randyk47

Initially the company was excited as they thought they were going to save on office space and labor. ... What happened in reality was that while they saved a bit on office space they saved virtually nothing on personnel cost.

I found this to be true with other companies who have moved to San Antonio (I used to be a DoD contractor with a large management consulting firm). And I think this is a particularly vexing problem in SA's tech sector. Austin learned a long time ago -- if you want someone with X job skill, you'll have to pay Y+Z salary. Doesn't matter if your town is supposedly cheaper or has a lower cost of living or is the "music capital of the world."

With some of the comments on Rackspace salaries, it seems SA might still be stuck in that 90s mindset.

[Shock]

Originally Posted by austindoxie1972

With some of the comments on Rackspace salaries, it seems SA might still be stuck in that 90s mindset.

So you take the comments about one employer in SA and generalize those comments for all of SA... all in one sentence.

With that said, I am curious what you all think is a fair salary for a Sr. System Administrator.

[Shock]

Originally Posted by Pancho-Villa

So, do you disagree with what CyVaquero posted above? Seems like he knows what he's speaking of. That's not my field at all.

Can't speak on his experience with hiring sysadmins, but we certainly haven't had that issue. sysadmin is a very general job title though. The consensus in this thread is that SA is behind as a tech hub. Sure. The good news is the city has a plan to follow to address this. The city needs to continue to be more welcoming with new ideas that attract young techies. It's going to take a lot of time. And hopefully Rackspace is patient through it.

[Pancho-Villa]

No less than 100K with some experience. I know many that make more...not here in SA.

[tejano2828]

After living here for more than 22 years we are preparing to rent out our home and buy a home in Colorado and move out. San Antonio is a great city to start out a living, raise a family, but we plan to buy more houses and looking at some of the prices of houses vs other cities and square footage it just doesn't add up plus all the nice areas have massive traffic problems which we are not very fond of.

[CLR210]

Originally Posted by L210

I believe I posted a thread a few years ago on an article that included the opinions of several different IT companies in San Antonio. They all said that they had to recruit from other states. However, when it comes to sales, most companies across the country have a hard time with recruiting and maintaining employees. Most sales jobs will accept a degree in anything. It's just an undesirable occupation.

It's not an undesirable occupation for those of us who enjoy it. The problem with finding good and highly skilled talent for sales positions in SA is the pay. Tech sales requires a lot of knowledge and skills that SA companies don't want to pay for. I've been working remotely for the past 15 years for companies located in other states because of the low pay in SA. The salaries offered in SA for these positions are truly laughable

[TexasRedneck]

Having retired from 40 years of sales in the same field, I have to agree - the pay locally isn't nearly what it can be elsewhere. Flip side - the family has been in this area since the 1830's, so my roots are deep. That's what kept us here, and frankly I don't regret it. Being able to walk into a store and have a check accepted despite the "no checks" sign - having children who've been hired because "we know your family" - to me, those are things you just can't put a price on.

There ARE those still out there that will make a decision based on reputation - and it's something I emphasized to my kids growing up - that a reputation can make or break you. Doesn't work everywhere - but frankly, it's MY face that I've got to look at in a mirror, and that's what counts in my book.

San Antonio certainly isn't for everyone, but there's a LOT of "hidden gold" out there if you're willing to find it. Y'know the old saw "Money can't buy happiness"? Well.......it IS true. Different communities will "fit" different folks. If you don't like it, for heavens' sake - MOVE. Don't make yourself (and others) miserable by spending all your time grousing over how unhappy you are someplace!

Now....flame-retarding suit on, y'all go ahead an' have at it!

[ged_782]

Originally Posted by tejano2828

San Antonio is a great city to start out a living, raise a family, but we plan to buy more houses and looking at some of the prices of houses vs other cities and square footage it just doesn't add up plus all the nice areas have massive traffic problems which we are not very fond of.

Low housing cost (when comparing larger metros) has traditionally been San Antonio's crown jewel. Maybe that's changing, though. As for all the nice areas having massive traffic problems, I don't think that's true, unless you are only considering newer developments. There are a number of upscale established neighborhoods that don't have traffic congestion.

[CLR210]

Originally Posted by TexasRedneck

Having retired from 40 years of sales in the same field, I have to agree - the pay locally isn't nearly what it can be elsewhere. Flip side - the family has been in this area since the 1830's, so my roots are deep. That's what kept us here, and frankly I don't regret it. Being able to walk into a store and have a check accepted despite the "no checks" sign - having children who've been hired because "we know your family" - to me, those are things you just can't put a price on.

There ARE those still out there that will make a decision based on reputation - and it's something I emphasized to my kids growing up - that a reputation can make or break you. Doesn't work everywhere - but frankly, it's MY face that I've got to look at in a mirror, and that's what counts in my book.

San Antonio certainly isn't for everyone, but there's a LOT of "hidden gold" out there if you're willing to find it. Y'know the old saw "Money can't buy happiness"? Well.......it IS true. Different communities will "fit" different folks. If you don't like it, for heavens' sake - MOVE. Don't make yourself (and others) miserable by spending all your time grousing over how unhappy you are someplace!

Now....flame-retarding suit on, y'all go ahead an' have at it!

Exactly the reasons we stay here as well. This is our home

[Bo]

USAA has an IT outpost in Plano. You have to figure the talent pool in SA was a factor in the decision to put jobs hundreds of miles away from the mothership.

https://www.usaa.com/inet/pages/ente...VURL_planojobs