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The Worst US Cities To Work In IT
bdcny7927 writes with an excerpt from CIO.com to inspire some caution before your next job switch: "IT workers have their choice of many great US cities for work and play (Atlanta, Chicago, Seattle), but what are the cities that you probably should avoid? Here's a very unscientific, highly subjective and unapologetically snarky list of our least favorite US tech job locales."
The list for people that don't like slideshows:
1. Detroit, Mich. - Jobs available: 449
2. Bentonville, Ark. - Jobs available: 81
3. Cleveland, Ohio - Jobs available: 211
4. Syracuse, N.Y. - Jobs available: 49
5. Tie: Boston, Mass., and San Francisco, Calif.
6. Anytown in Alaska - Jobs available: 24
7. Orlando, Fla. - Jobs available: 235
Where a BS in CS or CIT makes 9 bucks an hour and an illegal migrant housing framer makes 30.
THL phish sticks
I'd gladly take a position in Alaska. Wide open land with relatively few people. No overbearing State government that can't balance the budget, not much of an immigration problem up there either. Thanks to the oil revenues residents get checks from the State. About the only thing I would miss is being able to take the t-tops off on my Z28 even occasionally in the winter and pretty much all summer long.
If I had to name a State as worst State it would be California. Land of tax and spend with no fiscal restraint, holder of first county to declare bankruptcy and likely first State to go bankrupt. Of course the single biggest reason to avoid California for me is that about 3/4 of my firearms are unconstitutionally deemed illegal by the State.
-- Slashdot, making the Left look conservative since 1997.
I wish I would be transferred to Alaska. The hunting and fishing is great. There is room to breath. A man can raise a family in a manner more suitable to the American ideal. The commutes cannot be any worse than the suburbs of any major US city. Sign me up!
I hope you already have a family going then, because Alaska has a terribly unfavorable male-to-female ratio. Unfavorable if you're a man, that is. Otherwise I do agree with you.
It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education. - Einstein
In this economy, any IT job is a good job.
Of everyone who was in my circle of friends working in the IT and computer industry in the mid-to-late 1990s, the only people who have jobs today are in middle management. Not one non-manager I knew back then and know today is working today in the tech industry.
I became an ex-pat, teaching English, translating documents, and helping with the Windows machines in an accounting office in Mexico. I would like to return, but there are just no jobs stateside where I want to live right now.
One friend saved enough money to semi-retire; he, right now, is living with his family to minimize expenses and off of savings. He's not really sure he even wants to return to the industry; the last job he had a couple of years ago left him really burnt out.
Another friend lost his job at a video game company in the late 1990s. He never got hired in the tech industry again, and is currently living off of a military disability pension, paying his debts and planning on returning to college.
These are my luckier friends. Two friends, who have families to raise, both very recently lost jobs in the tech industry and have no idea when they will get work again. One is living off of savings and is really scared when he will get a job again. Another didn't have as much savings, had to leave the apartment he was leasing, and is currently shacked up with a buddy who lets him sleep in the extra bedroom in exchange for computer help; his wife and kids are living with their family.
I am sure either one of these guys would accept a job in Cleveland or Alabama or anywhere else where the company is willing to pay them enough to support their family.
It's a really scary time to work in the tech industry. If you have a job, and it pays enough to support your family, thank the lucky stars you're still working. Not everyone is as lucky as you right now.
Uhm, no.
Alaska has a ton of oil and very few people. The Alaska Permanent Fund is an endowment created by the state government that sets aside approximately 25% of the state's proceeds from mineral sales.
The dividends from this endowment are then divvied up and paid to the people living in the state.
-- If you try to fail and succeed, which have you done? - Uli's moose
That was true during the pipeline construction era, but it's far closer to 55-45 male/female now. Funny how a rush of 50,000 male construction workers will skew the demographics of a state with a population of fewer than 300,000 (in the '70s) people.
My personal worst list:
I agree with Bentonville. Wal-Mart has to outsource development because it's such a crappy place to work and then you have to live in podunkville, AR, for the privilege of working in a crap shop. Their turn over is high and even the really good people I know who have worked there hated it.
Even with the economy in the toilet there are too many good opportunities out there to be stuck in a dreary job.
That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
I've worked in IT in the Orlando/Central Florida area since 1996. It's not that bad. It's not some perfect Utopia, but nor is it one of the worst places to work.
The Good
The Bad
The Ugly
The tourists aren't that bad, unless you are hanging out in the tourist areas. Which you aren't going to do after your first month here.
In all, there's more good than bad.
Sure, they show a picture of some crappy neighborhood in the city. Just north, Oakland county is one of the richest in the nation. The other suburbs are just fine too. Let's set Detroit aside for a moment and consider Michigan in general. Some points:
1) We've got more coastline than California - and it's fresh water.
2) We've got 4 seasons (which is good or bad depending on your preference).
3) More second homes than any other state (most on the water).
4) We've don't get earthquakes, hurricanes, forest fires, termites, poisonous spiders/snakes.
5) We do get the occasional tornado, but far less than most of the midwest.
6) Education: we've got plenty of geek-schools.
7) Manufacturing. Does anyone care? We can build anything here - tech included
8) We've got an enormous set of technically capable people just waiting for companies to set up shop here.
Outside the 139 square miles of Detroit, Michigan is a paradise compared to a lot of places.
Not 100% true. The problem with Boston and its greater area is age. The metro area was designed with nothing in mind. As a result a simple commute can turn into a nightmare if something goes wrong. there are not too many alternative routes once you get downtown because of the one-way streets that will exercise your patience to the point of no return. Also Boston is home to thousands of free-loading college students who make commutes on Friday and Saturday nights even more painful.
I lived many blocks away from Fenway and yet every game turned my community and traffic around it into a clusterfuck. I worked next to AT&T stadium in SF and the side effects associated with each game were nothing compared to what I've experienced in Boston.