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Scraping By On Six Figures? Tech Workers Feel Poor in Silicon Valley's Wealth Bubble (theguardian.com)
Big tech companies pay some of the country's best salaries. But workers claim the high cost of living in the Bay Area has them feeling financially strained, reports The Guardian. One Twitter employee cited in the story, who earns a base salary of $160,000 a year, said his earnings are "pretty bad", adding that he pays $3000 rent for a two-bedroom house in San Francisco. From the article: Silicon Valley's latest tech boom has caused rents to soar over the last five years. The city's rents, by one measure, are now the highest in the world. The prohibitive costs have displaced teachers, city workers, firefighters and other members of the middle class, not to mention low-income residents. Now techies, many of whom are among the highest 1 percent of earners, are complaining that they, too, are being priced out. The Twitter employee said he hit a low point in early 2014 when the company changed its payroll schedule, leaving him with a hole in his budget. "I had to borrow money to make it through the month." He was one of several tech workers, earning between $100,000 and $700,000 a year, who vented to the Guardian about their financial situation.
There are over 50 Starbucks(alone) in San Francisco. Where do all the baristas live and how do they get by?
Some have said that people live far away and commute for hours.
But that can't be true. Who would do that before moving within a year to someplace you could commute by bus within a half hour?
Quite obviously what is really going on, is that there is a large Demolition Man style underground city below SF, populated almost entirely by baristas and where no mans law applies. Only the "Law of the Bean" as the lower denizens refer to the code they live by. It is a stricter but simpler life.
If you look carefully the proof of this is obvious. Why would steam be coming from vents in the street in a place where it hardly ever rains? Obviously cooking fires from those who live below. Also of course there is the incredible pale skin that is the hallmark of the barista, in a state known for its generous sunshine.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Damn, you must suck at it.
Congratulations, but I'm not sure how that's related to the previous post.
This reminds me of one crowded family I know living together in San Francisco- A motherless family with the dad, three daughters, 2 mulleted uncles and eventually one of the uncles married and the wife moved in too. I'm not sure how they split up the costs, but one of the uncles was just a comedian and ventriloquist, so I can't imagine he could contribute much. The other uncle had some sort of wedding band, but some how they always pulled everything together in neatly packaged 30 minute episodes.
>> He was one of several tech workers, earning between $100,000 and $700,000 a year, who vented to the Guardian about their financial situation.
I could imagine the 100k guy might be feeling the burn, but I have zero sympathy for the 700k guy. It must be a bitch playing your pity violin in the cramped space of your Lamborghini.
Soo this guy clears $105k after tax, pays rent of $36k (some of which he could offset by having a roommate) and yet somehow has a problem in that his $70k of disposable income a year - nearly 1500 bucks a week... is not enough? Perhaps he needs to learn how to cook and get off the coke and hookers?
People who were just much more substantial
It's okay to say "fat."