Lyft Moves Customer Support Team to Nashville to Combat High-Priced SF Market(techcrunch.com)
techcrunch.com
Lyft Moves Customer Support Team to Nashville to Combat High-Priced SF Market
http://techcrunch.com/2015/09/26/lyft-moves-customer-support-team-to-nashville-to-combat-high-priced-sf-market
88 comments
If the pay cut isn't too large, this could still work out to a net increase in real income, just because the cost of living in Nashville is about half of San Francisco.
Let's do a hypothetical. Glassdoor suggests Lyft support makes about $40k a year. Let's suppose a cost of living in SF of $35k a year. (Our imaginary support rep is young and spends a little recklessly. Ah, youth!) Now, they up and move to Tennessee, and take, say, a 15% pay cut. Now they're down to $34k/year; how will they make ends meet? Well, their cost of living is halved (18k/year) - they can take a little bit of a lifestyle upgrade and still have $10k in their bank account in December.
Moving across the country is a rough proposition, but unless Lyft is asking for something like a 30% pay cut, the salary is a carrot and not a stick.
Let's do a hypothetical. Glassdoor suggests Lyft support makes about $40k a year. Let's suppose a cost of living in SF of $35k a year. (Our imaginary support rep is young and spends a little recklessly. Ah, youth!) Now, they up and move to Tennessee, and take, say, a 15% pay cut. Now they're down to $34k/year; how will they make ends meet? Well, their cost of living is halved (18k/year) - they can take a little bit of a lifestyle upgrade and still have $10k in their bank account in December.
Moving across the country is a rough proposition, but unless Lyft is asking for something like a 30% pay cut, the salary is a carrot and not a stick.
> If the pay cut isn't too large, this could still work out to a net increase in real income, just because the cost of living in Nashville is about half of San Francisco.
So long as you don't mind being stranded there.
So long as you don't mind being stranded there.
No state / municipal income tax in nashville probably and much cheaper cost of living probably means that the actual relative wealth of those employees will increase tremendously. I'd love to see a tech hub grow in the southeast. Having lived in the bay area and in TN, it's definitely not a feeling of being stranded. There's a lot of outdoorsy activities (caving was my personal favorite), though the city life ist as great.
I think being stranded meant, there are no other jobs in the sector to be had.
I can't imagine that being true for the Nashville area, unless it's being out-competed by even cheaper areas like I assume mine (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joplin-Miami,_MO-OK_metropolit... I assume our cost of living is even lower).
Of course there's also the issue of do you want to stay in the customer support sector if you can possibly help it!
Of course there's also the issue of do you want to stay in the customer support sector if you can possibly help it!
I think the OP probably assumed there were fewer tech company opportunities in the area.
Nashville is one of the few Real Cities(TM) in the Southeast. If I were forced to go back, my top three places to land would be:
* Nashville, TN
* Atlanta, GA (Assuming that I still possess enough of my tech "fortune" to purchase a place inside city limits.)
* Chattanooga, TN (For EPB internet and what appears to be sensible city stewardship, obviously.)
* Nashville, TN
* Atlanta, GA (Assuming that I still possess enough of my tech "fortune" to purchase a place inside city limits.)
* Chattanooga, TN (For EPB internet and what appears to be sensible city stewardship, obviously.)
Maybe the parent means that someone working a support job in SF might want to think long and hard about moving across the country where they presumably know noone and have no social support network or other potential employers if their job with Lyft goes away.
But consider also how many of those (barely getting by?) working customer support in SF are actually locals and how many moved to the area to get into tech. Their social support network in the area may be pretty thin.
People moving to SF specifically for support jobs? That sounds very unlikely to me. Support jobs in a region are filled by locals with limited employment options or by non-locals who have other reasons for moving to that region and just need a job, in my experience.
Perhaps not specifically for support jobs, but for opportunities to join startups in whatever positions they can.
Haha, as someone who would prefer to live on the west coast for getting my career started (but ultimately wants to settle down in the South since family is nearby), those cities are my top choices as well. I'm currently in Knoxville finishing up grad school, but I've been scouting out possible technology-oriented cities in the South (unfortunately, there aren't many).
I toured Chattanooga the other day. It's a cute town, but it felt kind of small and somewhat empty to me. I lived in Atlanta for 4 years during my undergrad. Despite being only 30 minutes away from my immediate family, Atlanta is one of my least favorite cities in the US. Too much crime, too little ambition (at least compared to SF and NY), horrible traffic, and not much "living" going on within the city. Everyone basically commutes into it from the suburbs for work and then drives back out in the evening. If you wander around SF, you see all kinds of people out and about. In Atlanta, everyone's cooped up inside; the sidewalks are mostly empty.
Raleigh, Cary, and Charlotte are nice, but they're a little too suburban/vanilla for my taste.
Nashville is quickly becoming my top choice (if I'm unable to live in San Francisco or Austin, TX). I have some family there, and I recently read that it's one of the fastest growing cities for 25-30 year olds interesting in technology.
So, I don't know... as someone who's lived here almost all my life, I just wish the South had at least one big city that was world class in something.
I toured Chattanooga the other day. It's a cute town, but it felt kind of small and somewhat empty to me. I lived in Atlanta for 4 years during my undergrad. Despite being only 30 minutes away from my immediate family, Atlanta is one of my least favorite cities in the US. Too much crime, too little ambition (at least compared to SF and NY), horrible traffic, and not much "living" going on within the city. Everyone basically commutes into it from the suburbs for work and then drives back out in the evening. If you wander around SF, you see all kinds of people out and about. In Atlanta, everyone's cooped up inside; the sidewalks are mostly empty.
Raleigh, Cary, and Charlotte are nice, but they're a little too suburban/vanilla for my taste.
Nashville is quickly becoming my top choice (if I'm unable to live in San Francisco or Austin, TX). I have some family there, and I recently read that it's one of the fastest growing cities for 25-30 year olds interesting in technology.
So, I don't know... as someone who's lived here almost all my life, I just wish the South had at least one big city that was world class in something.
Maybe it's not far enough south to be considered Real(TM), but I think you conspicuously omitted Raleigh (the overall Triangle area that includes Durham & Chapel Hill, too).
Besides the companies other people have mentioned (Cisco, RedHat, IBM), there are many others that either have long-established or are trying to grow their presence in the Triangle area.
Google (Chapel Hill -- small engineering office mostly used to recruit interns from UNC & Duke)
Citrix (downtown Raleigh -- I think this is their biggest office outside Santa Clara, and they consistently have 50-75 job openings there)
NetApp, Microsoft, Lenovo (their HQ), IBM (still a major presence even though it's shrunk a lot over the past decade), Genband/Avaya/Ciena (all created after Nortel's implosion), BASF, Bayer CropScience, SAS (HQ), John Deere, Credit Suisse, Cree (HQ), EMC, Fidelity Investments, RTI International, the US EPA, and many more.
In biotech, there's, Pfizer, Biogen, Merck, UCB Biosciences, Quintiles, Parexel, PPD, United Therapeutics, Glaxo SmithKline, Syngenta, and many, many more pharmas & CROs.
Google (Chapel Hill -- small engineering office mostly used to recruit interns from UNC & Duke)
Citrix (downtown Raleigh -- I think this is their biggest office outside Santa Clara, and they consistently have 50-75 job openings there)
NetApp, Microsoft, Lenovo (their HQ), IBM (still a major presence even though it's shrunk a lot over the past decade), Genband/Avaya/Ciena (all created after Nortel's implosion), BASF, Bayer CropScience, SAS (HQ), John Deere, Credit Suisse, Cree (HQ), EMC, Fidelity Investments, RTI International, the US EPA, and many more.
In biotech, there's, Pfizer, Biogen, Merck, UCB Biosciences, Quintiles, Parexel, PPD, United Therapeutics, Glaxo SmithKline, Syngenta, and many, many more pharmas & CROs.
I've actually never been in NC, [0] and also don't know anyone from anywhere in the state, so I have no idea what it's like. Do you have either personal or second-hand knowledge of the area?
[0] Not even to pass through on the periodic AL<->PA trips I used to take!
[0] Not even to pass through on the periodic AL<->PA trips I used to take!
I do. Born elsewhere in NC and, went to college in Chapel Hill, and have lived and worked in the area for a bit after. Chapel Hill/Carrboro are nice, well-to-do college towns, Durham isn't too far down the road and the downtown (like many in the country) is experiencing a resurgence, Raleigh is the 'big' city in the area but I haven't really had a reason to do much there. Outside of downtown, it seems pretty surburban with people commuting in and out on the ring roads. Cary is very paint-by-numbers suburban with the tech companies already mentioned plus a lot of people from out of state (jokingly called "Containment Area for Relocated Yankees" by some). You're 3-4 hrs from the Appalachians 2.5-3+ from the beach (depending on where you're headed) and have pretty good connections at RDU, which is a relatively pleasant airport. I-95 will connect you up and down the eastern seaboard (about 4 hrs to DC, 4 hrs to Charleston, etc).
Nvidia and a few other tech companies used to have big teams in that region (raleigh/durham/chapel hill). Lots of biotech in the area, cheap cost of living (relative), tons of colleges, moderate climate. Not a bad place, but a bit slow/small-towny for my taste.
Red Hat is headquartered in Raleigh (founded in Durham I think), and Cisco and IBM have big triangle presences too. Epic (of Unreal Engine fame) and SAS are based in Cary.
Are you me?
Also, Charlotte. It's like Atlanta, but better/smaller/in the foothills of NC. So like Atlanta, but better.
Also, Charlotte. It's like Atlanta, but better/smaller/in the foothills of NC. So like Atlanta, but better.
Atlanta's still pretty cheap. You can live pretty much anywhere you want with an $85K+ salary, which isn't hard to get no matter your specialty. As far as large cities go, I'd call Atlanta a bargain.
Eventbrite in the last year or so has opened an office in Nashville and has around 100 employees there, mostly in Customer Support and Engineering.
I suspect a lot of their team will choose to find other jobs rather than move to Nashville even if the pay stays the same. Having lived in the south, I think I'd have to see salary at least double to make up for the drawbacks of living there. --And I'm talking real dollars, not double from the drop in the cost of living.
Define "the south?" It's Nashville, one of the most awesome places for young people in the country. Amazing food, music, and cheap enough where an educated professional can actually afford to live nicely instead of like a college student.
And it's SF - Nashville, not NYC to Nashville. It's not like they're leaving a real world class city with irreplaceable amenities.
And it's SF - Nashville, not NYC to Nashville. It's not like they're leaving a real world class city with irreplaceable amenities.
> And it's SF - Nashville, not NYC to Nashville. It's not like they're leaving a real world class city with irreplaceable amenities.
Dan Francisco residents like to consider San Francisco a world class city with irreplaceable amenities.
As a New Yorker, I find it amusing, since San Francisco seems to me like a quaint little provincial town, but what matters is that people moving to Nashville will likely feel that way, whether or not it's actually they.
Dan Francisco residents like to consider San Francisco a world class city with irreplaceable amenities.
As a New Yorker, I find it amusing, since San Francisco seems to me like a quaint little provincial town, but what matters is that people moving to Nashville will likely feel that way, whether or not it's actually they.
That's highly unlikely and I question the accuracy of the Tech Crunch report. A pay cut is too much to ask, unless the whole company is going through tough times and needs to tighten their belts to avoid Chapter 11. Much more likely is that the regional pay scale will be lower, so if you move to Nashville with an $80K base, and the new hires are coming in at $50K, it's going to be a while before you get a raise.
> A pay cut is too much to ask
Is it really, when you're not paying $3500/mo for a studio in TL?
Is it really, when you're not paying $3500/mo for a studio in TL?
Toyota Engineering is moving from LA to Detroit. They gave the staff 2+ years' notice. 2/3 of the work force is expected to leave. There's severance and whatnot involved (they seem to take care of their employees very well). With enough transparency and lead time, though not ideal it's manageable.
Is /anyone/ actually going to move? Low ish salaried positions, moving thousands of miles to the other side of the country??
Is this just a case of them saying "well, we offered the the choice, they chose to quit"?
Is this just a case of them saying "well, we offered the the choice, they chose to quit"?
Siting call centers in cheaper locations has been a norm in the US for years. If it couldn't be done that way, it would all have moved to India or the Philippines.
Most call center staff (non-technical) are easily and quickly trained on the job. There is also very high turnover in the industry, so quickly ramping up trained staff is part of basic operations. The recruits don't have to have any specialized skills other than being literate.
The CRM systems in place are also designed with a lot of call scripting in place to guide the conversations based on target companies and customers. Generally a single call center handles the customer service operations of multiple companies and teams of CSRS can be reconfigured to support different companies at different times.
Most call center staff (non-technical) are easily and quickly trained on the job. There is also very high turnover in the industry, so quickly ramping up trained staff is part of basic operations. The recruits don't have to have any specialized skills other than being literate.
The CRM systems in place are also designed with a lot of call scripting in place to guide the conversations based on target companies and customers. Generally a single call center handles the customer service operations of multiple companies and teams of CSRS can be reconfigured to support different companies at different times.
Right. Urban Outfitters moved its customer support, sales and warehouse jobs from Philadelphia to the Augusta, GA area in 2005.
Was the Zappos move to Las Vegas (though this is a while ago) driven by similar motivations?
Nashville has some of the nicest people in customer-facing roles, in my experience, and coupled with its low cost of living and the area's desire for a more diversified economy, this sounds like a multiple win.
This is an incredibly common move for startups that reach a certain size. Once you have about 50+ customer service reps the math makes sense. In some companies the customer service department is 50% of total headcount.
One thing to keep in mind, turn over in customer service is pretty high. You could open another office and with natural attrition make the move without layoffs in ~18 months.
One thing to keep in mind, turn over in customer service is pretty high. You could open another office and with natural attrition make the move without layoffs in ~18 months.
I think this is going to become more and more common. There are not a ton of great reasons IMO to locate anything but your core engineering team in tech hot spots like San Francisco, Boston and New York.
Why are there a ton of great reasons to have your core engineering team in SF? Biggest concentration of talent seems like the main (only?) positive. Super high cost of hiring + recruiting these days, difficulty getting candidates to accept offers, quick turnover are just a few reasons not to.
Distributed teams are where it's at. There is no need to make your most experienced people with the deepest knowledge (often the married people with children) go through all the drama and hot mess that is the Bay region. The taxes. Finding an apartment (or house!). Finding a school for your kids. The cost of living. Parking. The NIMBYism, political correctness, and hatred of engineers a la the Google Bus. The overhead of homelessness, and the aroma of shit and piss on the street.
At some point, companies are going to have to get with the program if they want to keep their best people. That will happen once enough of them can't fill senior roles. They'll respond to quality of life issues—those are getting more important in hiring, not less. You don't need to locate your engineering team in SF and force them to put up with all that bullshit. Make life easier for them, not harder.
At some point, companies are going to have to get with the program if they want to keep their best people. That will happen once enough of them can't fill senior roles. They'll respond to quality of life issues—those are getting more important in hiring, not less. You don't need to locate your engineering team in SF and force them to put up with all that bullshit. Make life easier for them, not harder.
I wonder if there's good ways to connect your offices via connections in physical locations, always on.
I envisage a whole wall that's a screen with a camera, acting like a portal to a different office location. Stick it in a corridor or a tearoom, a common area where people can just encounter one another at random and chat. If you want to have an in-depth talk with someone at another office, send them a message asking to meet at one of the portal locations rather than scheduling a Skype session. Encourage people to meet and introduce themselves to people they happen to see through the portal.
Does anyone do this kind of thing?
I envisage a whole wall that's a screen with a camera, acting like a portal to a different office location. Stick it in a corridor or a tearoom, a common area where people can just encounter one another at random and chat. If you want to have an in-depth talk with someone at another office, send them a message asking to meet at one of the portal locations rather than scheduling a Skype session. Encourage people to meet and introduce themselves to people they happen to see through the portal.
Does anyone do this kind of thing?
Atlassian did exactly that, scattering large displays with a permanent audio/video link to an equivalent in another office around their hallways.
Would you happen to know what software setup they have for this?
Where I work it has been done with Google Chrome Boxes. It's a video conferencing platform for Hangouts.
We have someone working remotely through Hangouts. Unfortunately, he has to reconnect a few times a day because the call quality drops after a couple hours. Have you experienced similar?
My friends and I often use Teamspeak when gaming and general socializing. It's very much like sitting down in a room and being able to talk to everyone.
I wonder if there is a professional market for this? Something like a Slack for audio.
I wonder if there is a professional market for this? Something like a Slack for audio.
I've worked off and on remotely for decades. Most day to day work can be handled adequately by email and Skype. What's missing are the camaraderie you get from going out to lunch with colleagues, bull sessions, friendships, etc., which are important for building a team.
That's why you take periodic trips to meet with everyone.
For a partially distributed company you just come to the office 2-4 times a year. For fully distributed companies, you plan company wide events a few times a year to allow that face to face.
For a partially distributed company you just come to the office 2-4 times a year. For fully distributed companies, you plan company wide events a few times a year to allow that face to face.
The Bay area is often a losing proposition, financially, for engineering talent.
Taxes, housing, general expenses are all outrageous and do not often come with commensurate salary increases.
I personally will not move anywhere in CA due to a few of the things you've listed (NIMBYs, PC, CA political climate in general.)
Venture capital is about the only thing SF has that can't be found elsewhere.
Taxes, housing, general expenses are all outrageous and do not often come with commensurate salary increases.
I personally will not move anywhere in CA due to a few of the things you've listed (NIMBYs, PC, CA political climate in general.)
Venture capital is about the only thing SF has that can't be found elsewhere.
Moving to a more employer-friendly place is a losing startegy if you're good enough to get offers in SF. Good engineers will by and large figure out that being in SF is better for them in pay and mobility, and so will not follow you to the middle of nowhere.
On the other hand, I would like to see development of "minor" tech hubs in other more livable cities. I'd give anything to have access to SF-type employment in Chicago, as long as it didn't turn the Chicago housing market into SF's.
On the other hand, I would like to see development of "minor" tech hubs in other more livable cities. I'd give anything to have access to SF-type employment in Chicago, as long as it didn't turn the Chicago housing market into SF's.
> pay and mobility, and so will not follow you to the middle of nowhere.
I've never seen pay properly compensate for the harsh (tangible) expenses of living in SF/CA.
Seattle, Austin, Boulder, in my experience, have all had far better value props.
> Chicago housing market into SF's
As much as I dislike Chicago (political reasons): SF-style-housing-market can't happen there. The city has massive amounts of sprawl, vehicular commuting is common, real estate is plentiful and inexpensive. It's not a peninsula full of NIMBYs.
I've never seen pay properly compensate for the harsh (tangible) expenses of living in SF/CA.
Seattle, Austin, Boulder, in my experience, have all had far better value props.
> Chicago housing market into SF's
As much as I dislike Chicago (political reasons): SF-style-housing-market can't happen there. The city has massive amounts of sprawl, vehicular commuting is common, real estate is plentiful and inexpensive. It's not a peninsula full of NIMBYs.
You can always put housing further from the center, but the radius of not-insane commute times is much harder to expand. Wider highways encourage further-flung suburbs, resulting in at best the same level of congestion, often more.
Fortunately Chicago already has the CTA and Metra infrastructure, and we could presumably make trains longer (and run them more frequently) for a reasonable price. Though at some point you hit the limits of safe separation between trains and the inefficiencies of block signaling. CTA rail doesn't have the physical infrastructure to run express services (there are very few places where a train on a specific line can bypass another) so building more stations doesn't necessarily help you either.
Fortunately Chicago already has the CTA and Metra infrastructure, and we could presumably make trains longer (and run them more frequently) for a reasonable price. Though at some point you hit the limits of safe separation between trains and the inefficiencies of block signaling. CTA rail doesn't have the physical infrastructure to run express services (there are very few places where a train on a specific line can bypass another) so building more stations doesn't necessarily help you either.
Nashville has a fantastic python community, so there is a strong argument to have some engineering staff there too.
Having a large pool of potential employees to draw from and also you have to be close to the VC firms.
Interestingly, I briefly worked for a company with a presence both in Silicon Valley and in Charleston, SC. The developers were (with a few exceptions) located in Charleston with marketing and customer facing roles out west. The location of engineering was pretty transparently a cost move, but having the office in the Bay area still put them as a Silicon Valley operation. What I wonder is, what's the job market like for the customer facing roles out there?
Depends if its an old over 10 years company and doesn't need to quickly employ lots of developers that could work but you are limiting your pool to the local one.
As my boss(director level) at Reed Elsiver said if you have offices in the suburbs/boonies you don't get the best developers. Given the large number of disastrous projects we had to try and help recover Id agree with him.
As my boss(director level) at Reed Elsiver said if you have offices in the suburbs/boonies you don't get the best developers. Given the large number of disastrous projects we had to try and help recover Id agree with him.
It's absolutely the case that having technical support, technical delivery, tech pubs, QA, engineering, all sitting close together and interacting has a lot of value.
Harder to make the argument for expert-tree customer support though, I'll grant you that.
Harder to make the argument for expert-tree customer support though, I'll grant you that.
The distractions can certainly take away valuable devloper time as well.
you would think by this day that the advances in teleconferencing could reduce the need to be located all in one area, let alone in expensive areas. I know tech support doesn't have to have a central location, have many vendors who support persons work from home and most aren't near their hq.
If anything having core members in a tech hot spots is just asking them to move to another company when the mood suits them. Yeah you might miss out on some hot shots but you open the door to lose yours
If anything having core members in a tech hot spots is just asking them to move to another company when the mood suits them. Yeah you might miss out on some hot shots but you open the door to lose yours
I used to think remote work was the key then I worked on a distributed team for 18 months and I found I hated it. I like working with my coworkers.
Having just moved form Nashville to the Bay Area, I can say that you actually get a lot of the wonderful cosmopolitan bits in the city without the overcrowded mayhem. Also, Nashville is an upcoming GFiber city. I've heard it described as the next big Austin in terms of being another tech hub of the region.
Seems a bit rushed. I'd be curious why Lyft wouldn't open up the new office in Nashville and let attrition take care of the SF roles that they wish to eliminate, or even offer increased responsibility, and therefore career advancement, for those that move to Nashville.
If it really is rent costs, as techcrunch seems to suggest, then they could allow their more senior members in the SF office just work remotely.
Finally, if I were working for Lyft at this point, despite what department I may be in, I would be looking for a new job immediately as they have shown a complete lack of respect for the lives that their employees have and are building. This move has definitely tarnished their brand in my eyes and would make me question having them as a potential employer.
If it really is rent costs, as techcrunch seems to suggest, then they could allow their more senior members in the SF office just work remotely.
Finally, if I were working for Lyft at this point, despite what department I may be in, I would be looking for a new job immediately as they have shown a complete lack of respect for the lives that their employees have and are building. This move has definitely tarnished their brand in my eyes and would make me question having them as a potential employer.
Even with senior members working remotely, they'd still have to pay for an office for the non-senior members. It might be smaller and maybe a bit cheaper, but it's still a high cost. As a business owner, what looks better: $70/sqft or $22/sqft?
If I were working for Lyft, I'd be thinking about moving to Nashville. The cost of living is better and my money will go farther. There's also the whole not-in-a-drought thing. The move also shows me that the company has the insight to not run the company into the ground paying ghastly overhead prices in SF. (I'm not saying it won't run into the ground other ways, but at least it won't be by paying outlandish SF rent prices.)
If I were working for Lyft, I'd be thinking about moving to Nashville. The cost of living is better and my money will go farther. There's also the whole not-in-a-drought thing. The move also shows me that the company has the insight to not run the company into the ground paying ghastly overhead prices in SF. (I'm not saying it won't run into the ground other ways, but at least it won't be by paying outlandish SF rent prices.)
I suspect this might not have been reported correctly. I doubt anyone was given a "move or leave" ultimatum.
Good to see a startup (unicorn?) taking costs and expenses seriously.
The biggest let down to employees is running the company into the ground burning your money all the way. Good job Lyft!
The biggest let down to employees is running the company into the ground burning your money all the way. Good job Lyft!
If you are going to live in the South, Nashville is the place.
In my limited experience of the South, I found Nashville a bit dull. I'd much rather live in Charleston or Savannah or Mobile or Asheville or even New Orleans, personally.
I so agree. Glad to hear someone just say it out loud.
Mobile, AL?
It's gotten a lot better lately. East Nashville has become pretty cool.
it's been "pretty cool" for at least about ten years. to me, that IS Nashville.
Others that should be on any list: Atlanta, Birmingham, Charleston, Charlotte, Chattanooga, Huntsville, Raleigh/Durham/Research Triangle, just to name a few.
I second North Carolina. Super cheap, high quality of life living. Sprawling business (and tech!) ecosystems. Great year round weather.
(I am not living in the US and never heard Nashville.) When I read this title, I thought Lyft is moving customer support team to India. OK, now I know Nashville is the state capital of Tennessee. :-)
It's not mentioned elsewhere, so I'll do a top-level comment. Think hard about moving from SF to Nashville, as the social and political differences might be quite a surprise. While the tech work might be similar, the people you'll see day to day will be rather different...
It might not matter, but don't go into the South unless you understand that it's different in the Red State areas vs. the Blue.
It might not matter, but don't go into the South unless you understand that it's different in the Red State areas vs. the Blue.
You don't suppose this has anything to do with Uber's announcement that they are doubling down (or more!) on the Bay area with the Sears building in Oakland?
http://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/Uber-is-com...
No, probably totally unrelated.
http://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/Uber-is-com...
No, probably totally unrelated.
Didn't Garmin do this to their Spot watch team. I believe basically everyone working in that product left rather than move to Utah.
They definitely did it with the Garmin Connect team. Used to be Motion Based, then acquired, then told to move, then quit. Garmin Connect stagnated for about three or four years after that, with no new features, Strava took off, and now Garmin has to integrate Strava.
Is Strava the old Connect team then?
I'm not surprised they let it stagnate. I use their instruments on our sailboat. They have an iPad app that works pretty well and integrates with our onboard navigation. But it is so limited compared to other navigation apps.
I'm not surprised they let it stagnate. I use their instruments on our sailboat. They have an iPad app that works pretty well and integrates with our onboard navigation. But it is so limited compared to other navigation apps.
Asking employees settled in a place to move to a different state, and then take a pay cut, seems like a big deal.
When you aren't paying a 9%+ state income tax, CA SDI, or more importantly: some of the most expensive housing prices in the nation, it's a much different deal.
Lot of speculation, but, it's entirely plausible these employees will come out ahead in take-home pay. Their net worth will likely improve if this is the case (you can feasibly own property in Nashville.)
I would imagine they'll also come out ahead in quality of life.
Lot of speculation, but, it's entirely plausible these employees will come out ahead in take-home pay. Their net worth will likely improve if this is the case (you can feasibly own property in Nashville.)
I would imagine they'll also come out ahead in quality of life.
Eventbrite and Warby Parker have opened offices in Nashville in the last year for customer support, so it seems like a trend.
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google fiber and nashville has been lyft friendly
Sort of a big ask, no?
Move to another state, take less salary or be fired.
Not saying it's not the right move for the company, but it's sort of a raw deal for the reps.