San Diego tech companies can't fill thousands of jobs - Sunshine Tax explained (San Francisco: real estate, rental)

[NYSD1995]

A great article with some basic fundamentals behind the "Sunshine Tax" and how it affects out-of-state workers. Not mentioned in this article is the reality that most of these 6k "job openings" are already filled with temporary contract labor (often H1-B) and these contracts can last 3-5 years. So these companies have zero incentive to raise salaries to be on par with the industry standard. The other issue is that these medians reflect the high band of San Diego - the vast majority of tech workers will make less than 75k without some sort of differentiated skillset.

San Diego tech companies can't fill thousands of jobs - SignOnSanDiego.com

"“Our universities have terrific programs in engineering, biotechnology and other fields, but we lose a large number when they graduate, especially the ones who don’t have family roots here,”"

"“As many as 20 to 30 percent either go back to where they came from or move to places where the jobs are more plentiful, such as Silicon Valley."

"San Diego also has a tough job bringing in workers from the outside, partly because salaries don’t always compensate for the high cost of living. The local median salary for a high-tech worker is $93,250, just $10 different from the median in Austin, Texas. But San Diego’s median home price of $333,000 compares with Austin’s median of $222,450"

"a worker in North Carolina’s high-tech center in Durham — which has a high median salary of $100,402 — would need $40,000 more to have the same purchasing power in San Diego. A median-paid tech worker in Denver would need $27,000 more."

"because of the relatively high cost of living in San Diego, “the only person you’re going to get from out of state is someone who really, really wants to live here.” "

[shmoov_groovzsd]

Originally Posted by Sassberto

A great article with some basic fundamentals behind the "Sunshine Tax" and how it affects out-of-state workers. Not mentioned in this article is the reality that most of these 6k "job openings" are already filled with temporary contract labor (often H1-B) and these contracts can last 3-5 years. So these companies have zero incentive to raise salaries to be on par with the industry standard. The other issue is that these medians reflect the high band of San Diego - the vast majority of tech workers will make less than 75k without some sort of differentiated skillset.

San Diego tech companies can't fill thousands of jobs - SignOnSanDiego.com

"“Our universities have terrific programs in engineering, biotechnology and other fields, but we lose a large number when they graduate, especially the ones who don’t have family roots here,”"

"“As many as 20 to 30 percent either go back to where they came from or move to places where the jobs are more plentiful, such as Silicon Valley."

"San Diego also has a tough job bringing in workers from the outside, partly because salaries don’t always compensate for the high cost of living. The local median salary for a high-tech worker is $93,250, just $10 different from the median in Austin, Texas. But San Diego’s median home price of $333,000 compares with Austin’s median of $222,450"

"a worker in North Carolina’s high-tech center in Durham — which has a high median salary of $100,402 — would need $40,000 more to have the same purchasing power in San Diego. A median-paid tech worker in Denver would need $27,000 more."

"because of the relatively high cost of living in San Diego, “the only person you’re going to get from out of state is someone who really, really wants to live here.” "

Nice Sass, this should be a sticky.

[whiteboyslo]

Nails a lot of it right on the head. I'm 28 and have a degree in Engineering from Cal Poly SLO. I have a great job that pays relatively well for the field by San Diego standards. The wife also works and makes a good chunk, so for years we've been a $100K+ income household. But of course, everyone knows what that gets your real estate-wise in sunny San Diego, and that's jack squat. Back in 07, we were living in a tiny 700 sq ft 1 bedroom and not really putting a ton of money away at the end of the month. There was no chance of ever being able to afford anything halfway decent unless we bought and flipped (which was all the rage back when we were looking), so the wife and I left San Diego to live in Durham, NC. I took a $10K/yr pay hit, my wife pretty much stopped working, and I took a job that meant an hour commute one-way (lots of gas money and vehicle wear n tear). EVEN WITH ALL THAT, we still came out ahead. Way ahead. We bought a nice 1700 sq ft house in a very desirable neighborhood for $225K and still lived very comfortably. We loved the area and thoroughly enjoyed our time there.

BUT, and here's the sun tax working for you, we moved back. I hated the job and missed everything I had left here (the job, the friends, the awesome SoCal weather, the endless list of things to do, etc). So here we are, back in San Diego. I'm now making $10K more than when I left (so $20K more than NC), the wife's making decent money, and my commute is back down to a reasonable 10 minutes. So now we're looking at what we can afford in the areas we want to live in, and it ain't good. $400K means buying a house with serious compromises and/or a good amount of work needing done. Supposedly the housing costs in SoCal have crashed to the point where it's now supposedly affordable. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Yeah right!

But, in the end, the sun tax wins. even in our smaller rental with its crummy kitchen and thin walls (yay, townhouse), I'm 10X happier than I was out there. San Diego's just frickin' awesome and, for me, it's home.

But for those with no ties to the area, yeah, they're gone. You can live so much better in just about any other area of the country and, for some, San Diego is just not worth the cost.

Mike

[NYSD1995]

In my opinion if you want to stay hands-on technical and are outside of the core SD niches (biotech & wireless), you can make 125k+ as a contractor instead, and there are many, many more jobs to choose from. It's not that much less stability than FTE, and probably more interesting too as you get to move around from project to project. You'll never get into that type of salary as an employee here without going into management or having a serious specialty.

[Tycho Brahe]

As a techie that is considering moving to San Diego, it is not the cost-of-living that is keeping me from doing so.

I live in NYC, so high cost-of-living is nothing new. San Diego is actually much cheaper in absolute terms (before salary adjustments). As I commented in another thread, it is the lack of jobs in interesting San Diego locations that is a deterrent. I can get a job in central San Francisco, New York, Boston, LA (well, Santa Monica), Austin, Atlanta, etcetera, but the best San Diego can do are tech complexes in faraway suburban valleys.

[blauskies]

What are raises and bonuses like in San Diego for Tech/Engineering Positions? I'm in South Florida and they suck beyond belief, I have not had a decent raise in 3 years there is little competition left here and employers know it, so they don't give good raises.

I'm about ready to say adios to South Florida for good.

[esmith143]

Did I read this right: San Diego tech companies can't fill thousands of jobs, because prospective employeees move to places where the jobs are more plentiful, such as Silicon Valley? :facepalm:

And then in the next sentence they complain about high home prices in San Diego? Has this irony been completely lost on everyone so far?

[NYSD1995]

Originally Posted by esmith143

Did I read this right: San Diego tech companies can't fill thousands of jobs, because prospective employeees move to places where the jobs are more plentiful, such as Silicon Valley? :facepalm:

And then in the next sentence they complain about high home prices in San Diego? Has this irony been completely lost on everyone so far?

The article says that employers can't fill the jobs because they won't pay high enough salaries. That is perhaps the most ironic thing of all. Seems like an easy enough "problem" to solve.

[deuce35]

Originally Posted by Sassberto

The article says that employers can't fill the jobs because they won't pay high enough salaries. That is perhaps the most ironic thing of all. Seems like an easy enough "problem" to solve.

You know what they say? Common sense isn't very common...sad but true.

[bradleyyo]

A lot of people ask for a raise and most of the time they will give it to them as a way to hire them