Name: Where Tech Workers Are Moving: New LinkedIn Data vs. the Narrative
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Where Tech Workers Are Moving: New LinkedIn Data vs. the Narrative

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SubscribeSign inShare this postWhere Tech Workers Are Moving: New LinkedIn Data vs. the Narrative bigtechnology.substack.comCopy linkTwitterFacebookEmailDec 17, 2020Share this postWhere Tech Workers Are Moving: New LinkedIn Data vs. the Narrative bigtechnology.substack.comCopy linkTwitterFacebookEmail is a free, weekly newsletter dedicated to covering the tech world with honest, nuanced reporting. Join the 7,900+ subscribers who tune into Big Technology for tech news without the spin. Sign up here: There’s a narrative that the tech industry’s future lies in Texas and Florida. That tech workers and executives — sick of California’s oppressive policies and sky-high real estate costs — are moving en masse to Miami and Austin this year. That these cities are building dominant talent foundations that will persist for years due to the pandemic. That narrative is wrong.&nbsp;The story crumbles when placed next to new LinkedIn data showing where tech workers are actually moving in 2020. The key beneficiaries of this year’s tech migration are less buzzy cities like Madison, Wisconsin; Richmond, Virginia; and Sacramento, California. These places don’t get much play in the news, but they’re attracting tech talent at significantly higher rates than they were last year. Austin, conversely, is gaining tech workers more slowly.Big TechnologyThe country’s biggest tech migration increase took place in Madison. The city was gaining 1.02 tech workers for each one that left last year, and it’s now gaining 1.77, a 74% jump. Sacramento and Richmond, meanwhile, were losing tech workers before the pandemic and have turned it around. Sacramento was adding a fraction of a tech worker — 0.87 — for each one that left last year, and now it’s adding 1.02. Richmond was adding 0.95 last year, and it’s adding 1.06 this year. Other Midwest cities, including Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Cleveland, Ohio, have significantly reduced the rate at which tech workers were leaving their cities.Big TechnologyAustin, for its part, is not experiencing a pandemic-induced tech worker surge. Last year, Austin was gaining 2.06 tech workers for every one that left; now it’s down to 1.84, a drop of 10.78%. Though Austin is still gaining tech workers this year, the notion that 2020 was a watershed year for tech workers moving there is a myth.&nbsp;Now on to the ugly stuff. The only two cities in the country losing tech workers that previously were gaining them are New York City and San Francisco. New York’s change in inflow/outflow ratio is -20%. San Francisco’s is -35%. To put that in context, San Francisco was previously gaining 148 workers for every 100 that left; now it’s gaining only 96. These steep drops may only be temporary, however, as these cities will likely bounce back post-pandemic.&nbsp;“There are some people who have moved and are going to stay in their new place and some who might be willing to come back in a couple of years to San Francisco or New York,” Kimbrough said. “I'm not calling time on these cities. They will definitely come back.”Seattle, meanwhile, has kept up its surge of incoming tech workers during the pandemic. The city was adding 2.52 tech workers for each one it was losing before the pandemic, and it’s kept the ratio well above 2. I wondered if this meant Seattle was on its way to becoming the new tech capital of the U.S., thinking Amazon and Microsoft’s ascents might have something to do with it. But Kimbrough looked at LinkedIn’s data along with other housing data and poured cold water on the idea. “We believe a lot of these moves are likely short-term,” she said. “We expect to see tech talent returning to legacy tech hubs like the Bay Area when offices reopen.” In other words, beware the narrative.&nbsp;BloombergVoxHunter WalkBig TechnologyBig TechnologyLast Week TonightA few more highlights:Big TechnologyThe tone in tech coverage is accountability driven (a euphemism for mean to tech, ha) and that's probably a good thing! There's a needed conversation about the role of tech in our lives.... but it's difficult to argue tech media coverage is anything but critical of the industry and focused on FANG.&nbsp;So what does that mean for the rest of us? Unlike other industries (ie, healthcare), there is no trade press. For example, biotech has tons of publications interested in molecular biology, new platforms, etc...reporters with phd in chem etc.&nbsp;The good news? Companies have a better understanding than ever before of who matters to their biz (investors, potential recruits, customers, etc) and the tools are better than ever to reach them. The universe is knowable — it's hundreds or maybe thousands of people. Sure, being on the front page of the NYT is great but... a bcc email to 200 people is probably a lot less work and maybe significantly more effective.I think what the tech chattering class is saying is... sometimes tech media isn't worth the hassle. And i think that's often fair.&nbsp;Thank you, Will. Point taken.&nbsp;I’ll print thoughtful dissent as it comes in, with your permission. If you have thoughts and pushback like this on future stories or even a question, feel free to reply, and I’ll do my best to include it.&nbsp;With the pandemic forcing people to stay home for nearly 10 months now, many have turned to interactive fitness companies, such as Peloton, to stay active and perhaps fill a social void. Peloton has more than three million users, members are averaging 24 workouts per month, and this past September, the company announced its first profitable quarter. This week, it became more valuable than Ford Motor Company.&nbsp;Big Technology PodcastBig TechnologyLike this postShare this postWhere Tech Workers Are Moving: New LinkedIn Data vs. the Narrative bigtechnology.substack.comCopy linkTwitterFacebookEmail16 CommentsFor your security, we need to re-authenticate you.Click the link we sent to , or .Expand full commentExpand full commentNo posts© 2022 Alex Kantrowitz ∙ ∙ &nbsp;is the home for great writingThis site requires JavaScript to run correctly. Please or unblock scripts

SubscribeSign inShare this postWhere Tech Workers Are Moving: New LinkedIn Data vs. the Narrative bigtechnology.substack.comCopy linkTwitterFacebookEmailDec 17, 2020Share this postWhere Tech Workers Are Moving: New LinkedIn Data vs. the Narrative bigtechnology.substack.comCopy linkTwitterFacebookEmail is a free, weekly newsletter dedicated to covering the tech world with honest, nuanced reporting. Join the 7,900+ subscribers who tune into Big Technology for tech news without the spin. Sign up here: There’s a narrative that the tech industry’s future lies in Texas and Florida. That tech...

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