How would you like to work for Facebook? How awesome would it be to work at their Silicon Valley headquarters? This is the dream for many in IT support. But not so fast! Some insiders talk about Facebook’s struggle: Employees can hardly pay rent.
So how does this happen? Because the San Francisco Bay and Silicon Valley areas are the most expensive areas in the country. Rent is extremely high. In fact, it’s so high engineers making over $100,000 a year struggle. Some even turn to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg for help. Some engineers also asked Facebook, a multi-billion dollar corporation, to pay at least part of their rent.
According to Smartasset.com, you need to make over $215,000 a month for a two bedroom apartment in the Bay Area. Hence, I see the crisis. Also, employees complain of other high prices, like food. I read a coffee and bagel can cost over $8. Furthermore, fresh orange juice can cost over $10. And these are the lucky ones. Now imagine being a janitor, a cab driver, or cook working for Facebook. Then you see these prices everyday. You see, Facebook’s struggle isn’t just their struggle. This crisis, and it is a crisis, faces every tech worker in the Silicon Valley area.
But it sounds like Zuckerberg could be a sympathetic ear. I hope so. His New Year’s resolution is to ask more people how they’re living. He should start with his own employees. I don’t know if paying their rent is the answer, but something has to be done. Workers leave Silicon Valley. In fact, whole tech companies are leaving Silicon Valley. And trust me, the Boston area has room for IT service companies. So Silicon Valley isn’t the only tech candy store in town. And this isn’t just the tech leaders’ burden to bear. The whole area is at risk is something doesn’t change. What if so many leave that nobody wants to move to Silicon Valley? Does anyone think of that? Something has to change. Shouldn’t Facebook lead to way?