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Silicon Valley Back In Business
from the not-so-good-for-traffic-or-housing-prices dept
This probably won't surprise anyone who lives around here based on highway traffic and home prices, but Silicon Valley is booming again, with a new study showing that jobs started growing again in 2005 after nearly half a decade of decline. The study just came out, but covers the job numbers in Silicon Valley from the second quarter of 2005 through the second quarter of 2006 -- and shows the first growth since a similar study in 2001. At the same time, the unemployment rate has dropped from 8% to a much more comfortable (unless you're hiring) 4%. So, for all the talk of yet another bubble, it's good news for the overall Silicon Valley economy... for now.
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Is this actually a good thing?
While the Local Government will like this, is it actually good that all the Tech comapnies congregate in one area. For example, this makes an extra bandwidth load, and means that if a few exchanges are damaged (fire, flood), a whle load of Tech support will go down the tube. also, with modern communication, it does not really matter where everyone is, except that it is convienient for everyone to be in one timezone. It is clearly fare cleverer to base yourself in a nearby but cheaper area, where IT pros can move to without too much upheaval, but which it is cheaper for them and theier employer.
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Re: Is this actually a good thing?
Don't worry about it. The vast majority of tech support and other "real" work, even design work, is done elsewhere. Silicon Valley is mostly about scammy companies that steal VC funds, whose primary business model is executives giving themselves raises.
Silicon Valley's biotech industry, if it deserves to be called that, is a cluster of companies selling randomly generated "genome data" to customers. As insiders in genetics know, their claims of "accurate" data is dubious at best. Otherwise, more useful biotech companies researching new drugs or new crops are scattered about throughout the world.
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Re: Is this actually a good thing?
There is a common misconception that tech=IT = helpdesk/network support/callcenter etc.
That is not Tech. -- it's grunt work:)
Silicon valley is about chip companies making the new chips. Network companies making new network hardware. Software companies comming up with new ideas that haven't been though of, or implemented well.
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The Dog Days of Silicon Valley
With the globalized economy and prosperity, will there be more restaurants in the Valley serving this?
http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch?v=utv8ooOHBN6uk
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In the finest tradition...
...Dorpus has come in and made a frivolous point. Dorpus, I always wonder whether or not you've actually read the article.
As to this being a "good" thing, I think that it could be considered a double edged sword. Yes it's a good thing that the job market is starting to raise demand for employees and the such, but as mentioned this puts a massive strain on the local broadband infrastructure.
Telecommuting would not be much better as again, bandwidth would drop to nil.
I don't know how to solve that problem other than de-centralizing the companies in silicon valley, but, then said companies incur different costs.
So rather than try and argue this, let's roll with the punches and see what happens.
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