Meet Napur Dave. On the surface, she lived the American dream. She had a ten year residency in the US. Then, she had an engineering job at Google. Dave had a nice apartment in Silicon Valley, the capital of IT support and computer repair. But recently, she ?left Silicon Valley and moved back to her native India. The Silicon Valley exodus: One India native had enough.
So, one reason is the expensive burden. Like most Google engineers, Napur Dave has a six digit income. They make on average, $93,000-$176,000 a year. That’s a great salary for most of the country. But in Silicon Valley, that doesn’t get you far. ?She called the rich Google employee, ‘just a myth’. But that wasn’t Dave’s only problem.
Her other issue was loneliness. She worked long hard hours on Google’s campus. Hence, this gave her little time for a social life, or to meet friends. Consequently, finding a mate was challenging. Because she worked at Google, some men were intimidated by her. She moved to San Francisco to improve her social prospects. But it backfired. Her commute was three hours long. So enough was enough. She moved back to India, where she continues to work for a Google firm. But most important, Dave is much happier.
Well, all that glitters isn’t gold. And Dave isn’t the only one. Several weeks ago, I talked about how even Silicon Valley leaders are leaving Silicon Valley. Some of their reasons are difference; maybe it’s because they fear an apocalypse. But people are leaving in droves. The Silicon Valley exodus is real. Not only that, the Silicon Valley exodus has no end in sight. What will it take to get people going back? Is it raises for their employees? These companies make billions a year. They can afford it. ?But yet their employees struggle for survival. Is it loneliness? Maybe these companies can invest in social functions, or cut hours, or hire more people. But if this trend continues, my fear is Silicon Valley will be a ghost town. Will it ever get better?