Lately I’ve been approached a lot by recruiters, all with work from home positions. I’ve been contemplating a move to the country, as long as I have good internet and can get to the airport in an hour or so. When I started my career, I could only have done my job in a city (I don’t work in tech, incidentally).
More surprisingly, Autor concludes that cities are no longer a mecca of well-paying jobs for folks without a college degree. In the past, he says, cities were a place where anyone with "a strong back and good character" could climb a ladder to the middle class. This is increasingly not the case — even in "superstar" cities like New York and San Francisco, where low-skilled workers are more and more likely to be funneled into the service sector.
I work in insurance. Requirements: college degree, inquisitive mind, “people person,” analytical, decent computer skills, good writing ability, ability to travel... most companies don’t train like they used to, but some do occasionally. Mostly they want to hire experience. I have 30 years experience handling complex stuff; most companies won’t have you work remote off the bat. As I recall, you’re bilingual, which is very desirable these days in the business.
I think what’s interesting to me about this story is that, if cities are no longer the meccas for decently paid work, that if work is less tied to place, that’s a strong upside to knowledge workers who just need an internet connection and a phone. Sort of a double edged sword. Basically no great jobs if you don’t have the right education and background, but more opportunity for geographical arbitrage if you do.
It'd be great if you continued making the same, but worked from a LCOL area. However many companies despite it not making a difference to their business where you live will actually pay you less in LCOL areas. If you can convince a company to pay you HCOL wages while living in a LCOL area you've hit the jackpot.
Remote jobs do tend to pay more because it's seen as a more risky arrangement for both parties, so the employee is paid more and the employer expects the employee to make very clear what their contribution is to the company. If you can land one and move to a LCOL area, I agree, it is amazing how fast the savings add up.
Another incentive for employers is that they can tap into a much richer pool of knowledge as opposed to limiting themselves to the local talent pool/trying to get people to move locally.
In my case there is also the expectation that you'll get the work done, it doesn't matter what the hours you have to work. If you can balance work and life, it's not bad. During my first 6 months in this gig, I routinely worked several hours in the evening and would then not "work" until 10 or 11 the next day. Rinse and repeat.
My current employer loves remote tech contractor workers because 1. They can just fire anyone not getting stuff done* and 2. They don't have to pay for office space to house them.
*the bar for "getting stuff done" is surprisingly low in my sector....
I think another factor with places like Vermont is cost of living and way of life. Compared to where I live, all associated living costs significantly decrease. Also, when you factor in ancillary work items like clothes, travel, food, etc. it would really make a difference. Plus, its just from a geographical perspective, nicer.
The cynic in me thinks that the hierarchy of employment will always exist and those who like to rise to power will fight for those positions. They want an audience and so the corporate structure might keep many in brick and mortar locations. And I wonder to what extent politicians will go for border protection. I've noticed interesting shifts in the telemedicine space in medicine so for now I'm just a spectator.
Right. Cities are places where people who make a lot of money can live and play. It's tough to preen and mingle out in the boonies with nobody around. Example: Caterpillar's top brass moving from Peoria (boonies) to Chicago (Restaurants! Orchestras! Beautiful people! Finally, a place where we can do business!)
Interesting quote, I haven't time to read whole article. I don't know why the author is surprised though at urban centers not being meccas of opportunity for the unskilled. Hasn't the death of upward mobility into the middle class been heavily analysed and reported on for the last few decades as Globalism sent all the manufacturing jobs to China, laying waste to middle America?