Onshoring To Silicon Valley
from the opposite-trends dept
Thanks to everyone (and there were a lot of you) for submitting this story from the San Jose Mercury News talking about foreign companies “onshoring” jobs – basically, opening up an office and hiring people in Silicon Valley, because of the various benefits of the location: lots of smart people, lots of other companies for partnering and selling, and easy access to venture capital. While the numbers are small compared to offshoring, it brings up the point we’ve been saying for a while. Despite the naysayers, there are jobs where a physical presence in a certain location makes a lot of sense.
Comments on “Onshoring To Silicon Valley”
Some will be better than others
I was a consultant at Toshiba in Silicon Valley in the late 90s, and I could see that Toshiba was just maintaining a token presence there. The American employees were people of low caliber, the Japanese stuck to themselves and usually hated living there. I’ve observed Europeans at other companies acting the same way. What the USA offers is a good higher education system and a culture of opennness where people aren’t afraid to challenge accepted notions. Foreign companies, which are usually more hierarchical places, may or may not be able to make full use of it.
nothing new
onshoring (in this sense) has been going on for ages. If you want to make it in tech, you have got to make it in silicon valley.
Doesn’t help your ordinary joe!