As recent as a few years ago, many felt Texas had a promising chance to advance their career ambitions in tech. Gov. Greg Abbott courted Californians by promising “less government” and “smarter regulations,” and in 2021, Houston ranked No. 2 for growing tech markets during the pandemic. However, the policies Abbott has pushed have led some to think Texas is now among the worst states to live and work.
But old Austin attitudes have clashed with the enterprising mindset of bosses in the tech industry. Founder and angel investor Mike Chang lamented to Insider that “Austin is where ambition goes to die.”
Chang also shared his disappointment over a talent disparity between San Francisco and Austin, and other reports tend to agree. CBRE’s list of the top tech talent markets put Austin outside the top five while San Francisco enjoyed the No. 1 spot. A major reason for that is tech talent being almost 12 percent of total employment in the San Francisco Bay Area, whereas the average is 5.6 percent in other cities.
This was inevitable, so many of these California carpetbaggers moved in the fall and I saw multiple articles about the phenomenon with a consistent sentiment from the people who moved here - “The weather is just like LA! It’s so mild and nice, it’s like we didn’t even move!”. They didn’t know what Texas summer held in store for them.
I hated Austin summers so damn much when i lived there. Not as bad as Houston summers, but still really damn bad
Damn. I lived there 20 years ago too, so I can’t imagine how much worse it is now
Not knowing that Austin, Texas is in the south and will therefore be pretty hot in the summer is the type of thing I judge people for. Is the distorted sense of geography from always flying places instead of driving, so you always just magically arrive somewhere without having to actually know where you are?
Wall-in Texas now before they become the world’s most off-putting and annoying climate refugees.
Uncritical Support for my Austin comrades for kicking out those VC bums.
TRUE LOVE IS POSSIBLE
ONLY IN THE NEXT WORLD – FOR NEW PEOPLE
IT IS TOO LATE FOR US
WREAK HAVOC ON THE TECHBRO CLASS
Companies like Oracle moved its headquarters from California to Texas’ capital city, along with Tesla and its CEO Elon Musk—and workers decided to follow.
sure, super innovative tech leaders like Oracle and Tesla
But while the ambition is alive, Austin garners high interest from professionals, ranking among the best cities to live in when considering factors like quality of life and the economy even before the pandemic, and serving as one of the top metros young people in the state turn to when looking for opportunities after graduation.
It might be one of the better options in the local region, but not exactly the strong choice if you can afford other options like on the coasts. In many ways the influx of wealth from outside the region has probably made things worse on balance for those that can’t afford to move themselves as easily.
