I’m curious since many of other companies have moved out of the state due to high taxation and a myriad of regulations. There’s even rumors of Blizzard employees having to Uber and Lyft on the side and live in condos shared with many others what with all this controversy surrounding work cycles of game developers and such.
I’ve been told that they can’t move due to costs moving server infrastructure and relocating thousands of employees. This makes sense, but wouldn’t it benefit in the long term? If they moved to a state income tax-free state like Texas or Washington each employee’s salary would go farther. It’s not like Irvine California is the only place on earth with a tech-friendly culture either.
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It’s not like the old days where you literally had to shut down everything, unplug and move it all, and reconnect it in the new location. A bunch of chairs and desks (along with the people that sit at them) sure but you can stagger that.
I’m sure they are already using virtualization in their servers and already using remote replication for disaster recovery. (eg: if an earthquake destroyed all the computers they’d have enough to recover from that in time with little to nothing truly lost in the end). The moving job is half done already.
I guess what I’m getting at I’m sure they’ve looked into it and weighed the upfront cost versus the gain over time.
And as an additional thing don’t forget governors like to toss out tax incentives because a company leaving or a company coming affects those precious employment rates. It’s possible they are paying less than you think.
Less to with taxation and regulation, as you allude to, and cost of living in a specific area, especially metropolitan California. That cost of living also takes into account far more than taxation of one’s income, or anything else, that I’m not going to bother getting into. Simply put, too simple an outlook.
Blizzard, and the rest, enjoy the strong tech background and culture of California. Taxation and regulation effect them little as both what Jara said, and as a multinational company who knows what tax jurisdiction they are falling under.
Until California as a whole finally shoves itself into the rest of the continental US within the next 100,000 years and makes a nice mountain range, they’ll be there.
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Well said Abrahof. I’ll add that Amazon was opening a satellite “2nd HQ” here a while ago, but then threatened to leave over political issues with our then-governor (now VP), but were convinced to stay. But now they’re relaunching that “2nd HQ” in New York anyways.
Granted Amazon to Blizzard isn’t exactly apples to apples, since they are a physical things powerhouse (but also are tech developers). I suppose they’d probably have more to physically move which as I suspected is the harder part.
These companies are more mobile than they appear, allowing them to move pieces around the board as they see fit. (Or at least “casually” threaten to with a certain degree of threat).
Regulatory considerations and the cost of living for their employees are just one factor for these companies. California is still, by far, the best place for high tech industries to find talent. That’s pretty much what it comes down to.
I’ve had the opportunity to take on jobs in other states, but would I want to live in other states? For the most part - no, despite the lower cost of living found elsewhere. California has a lot going for it if you’re a well-educated working professional.
Everyone has different priorities of course. What’s true for me may not be so for others.
California is a jumble of paradise (not the town, that’s a smoldering disaster) and insanity for business. As I’m a native, and far nearer to retirement than graduation, I’ve benefited from past investments and longevity, to the degree that I might be able to survive here after retiring. My two kids are both thinking that it may just be too difficult to settle here permanently, but both are here now… and supporting themselves. Since I find myself in the surf about 4 or 5 times a month, it would be hard to move, and leave that behind.
I heard a news story about school districts in the bay area either having to build houses of their teachers on district land or housing them in parents spare rooms like soldiers in the war of independence. The third amendment states: “No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.” Clever that it doesn’t say “poor teacher.”
Zigra,
Sign me up for a custodian.
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All the servers arent in cali anyway.