So the big companies get huge tax breaks and the rest of us get to pay for it. How about cutting taxes for everyone?
5
The move to the suburbs was partly caused by "white flight." This new generation is more diverse and open to new cultures and ideas, and it is appears they do not want to segregate themselves.
13
This is a great trend. Suburbs are dead zones, devoid of any culture or interest. All the restaurants and stores are bland chain operated same same blah. You have to drive everywhere, and people in their cars are not civilized, they treat other drivers like enemy number one. Suburban sprawl prevents the building and use of efficient transportation systems. Living in the suburbs makes you fat and the lack of contact with people on a daily basis makes people less open minded.
26
Totally agree. My employer is backwards thinking and they moved us out of downtown last year for highway sprawlsville. A number of employees have left due to the location. They did make an arrangement to get some rush hour bus service out there, but it's incredibly lacking and even driving is a longer commute as every road is choked with cars (yet, the same folks complain about city traffic).
I applaud any employer looking out for their future and considering their location options.
I applaud any employer looking out for their future and considering their location options.
5
You have to be partially nuts to be willing to spend an hour or two every work day fighting traffic. The development scam is finally collapsing - build houses far from jobs, the roads clog, widen the roads, but oops - then they build yet denser housing and the roads clog up again. No way out of that one. I think the younger families are wising up and saying 'no thanks!'
It will be very interesting to see how this plays out with respect to suburban, and especially, exurban real estate. They keep building those big box houses on the far flung fields - but if this trend is real will they become the next cycle of blighted real estate?
It will be very interesting to see how this plays out with respect to suburban, and especially, exurban real estate. They keep building those big box houses on the far flung fields - but if this trend is real will they become the next cycle of blighted real estate?
10
Let them have the big cities. I had the misfortune to work in the cesspool of Chicago for two years. In that time, I had one tire flattened, my outside driver's side mirror broken, my rear windshield broken, my license plate sticker stolen, and my license plate stolen. Tell me again how great crime infested big cities are. Would you want to raise children in such an environment?
5
Back when I worked in downtown Chicago, I had none of those issues; I took CTA / Metra!
11
Some NYC Public schools are quite good. Although the class sizes are too large. In downtown Manhattan yes, you can raise kids there just fine. If you can afford the rent. Private schools not necessary as many kids grow up thriving on the city at large.
4
Another commenter asks: How does moving into an expensive city (speaking for Boston at least) attract young workers?
Check out GE's current advertising campaign. Snarky young tech grad drops his resume on the sidewalk with a $20 bill attached to it while talking to snarky young recent GE hire.
The not so subtle message?
In addition to the State of Massachusetts and the City of Boston subsidizing GE's corporate rent for the next 20 years.. The wealthy parents of recent graduates will be more than willing to further subsidize the corporate rent in their grateful understanding that the "new GE" is providing their adult kid with a job.
Think of it as preppy corporate internship 2.0.
GE's current corporate advertising campaign is directed at the wealthy parents of recent college grads selling them on the utter coolness factor of their recent graduate being employed at GE. Therefore please understand that the pay will not rationalize to an urban apartment going rate. At least not on the entry level.
So GE will rent a bunch of downtown conference rooms and open layout shared work spaces but 3-5 days a week the employees will be working from home. That is the apartment that can't be afforded by the salaries. But... your kid will be involved to developing the next generation operating system for locomotives. If you help them pay their (our) rent. (the ads actually say much of this)
And if your kid is any good at ping pong they may get invited to more meetings at the office.
Check out GE's current advertising campaign. Snarky young tech grad drops his resume on the sidewalk with a $20 bill attached to it while talking to snarky young recent GE hire.
The not so subtle message?
In addition to the State of Massachusetts and the City of Boston subsidizing GE's corporate rent for the next 20 years.. The wealthy parents of recent graduates will be more than willing to further subsidize the corporate rent in their grateful understanding that the "new GE" is providing their adult kid with a job.
Think of it as preppy corporate internship 2.0.
GE's current corporate advertising campaign is directed at the wealthy parents of recent college grads selling them on the utter coolness factor of their recent graduate being employed at GE. Therefore please understand that the pay will not rationalize to an urban apartment going rate. At least not on the entry level.
So GE will rent a bunch of downtown conference rooms and open layout shared work spaces but 3-5 days a week the employees will be working from home. That is the apartment that can't be afforded by the salaries. But... your kid will be involved to developing the next generation operating system for locomotives. If you help them pay their (our) rent. (the ads actually say much of this)
And if your kid is any good at ping pong they may get invited to more meetings at the office.
9
I just want to add that in addition to millennials some of the "older" generation "likes to be in an urban setting, with great access to public transportation." And, "they don't want to be confined to a building with a cafeteria serving bland, overpriced food or be next to another cookie cutter shopping center." I can get more energy in doing my job being in a vibrant downtown than in a boring suburb. Just saying.
8
I grew up in Queens, suburban Chicagoland and exurban Cali in the 60s and 70s and vowed I would never live in a suburb again. For a few years I drove from SF to a suburban office park, but other than that it's been 35 years of commutes from urban residential to urban offices, by BART, light-rail, bus, bike and foot, including raising 2 kids. I enthusiastically leave the suburbs to Beaver.
7
but would you be able to send those kids to a private school in the city (considering the poor quality of public schools in most urban areas)? Afford decent housing for an entire family in an expensive city? No doubt some would be able to but for the overwhelming majority it would be a pipe dream.
3
I'm looking out the window of the startup where I work in downtown Boston, and I have a clear view of precisely where the new GE headquarters will be! My female colleagues and I are excited for this addition to the Fort Point section of Boston, because it will make this area less isolated in the evening. I don't begrudge my male colleagues (or the hundreds – thousands? – of other engineers in hoodies who work in this area) anything at all. But the other women and I feel like it will level the playing field even more when we can work a little later and not feel skittish about making our way to the train alone.
4
The new segregation.
4
The best place to locate, by far, is NYC. I lived in Boston first job out of college, in tech, and NYC is a far better place to live. It is more multicultural, more vibrant, with more things going on. People really don't want to live in Seattle either. SF and NYC are the favored destinations for different kinds of people.
High value tech workers today want to not only be in an exciting city, but in a situation where they meeting tech, venture capitalists, and others.
The largest problem is the high cost of living (more of a problem for the support staff) because of politically induced housing scarcity through zoning density restrictions creating economic rents that creates high rents that favor landlords. See Harvard Economist Edward Glaeser and Financial Times columnist and economist Tim Harford (book: "The Undercover Economist") for more info.
I hope the corporations in NYC lobby hard to remove the onerous zoning density restrictions so that others can afford to live here.
High value tech workers today want to not only be in an exciting city, but in a situation where they meeting tech, venture capitalists, and others.
The largest problem is the high cost of living (more of a problem for the support staff) because of politically induced housing scarcity through zoning density restrictions creating economic rents that creates high rents that favor landlords. See Harvard Economist Edward Glaeser and Financial Times columnist and economist Tim Harford (book: "The Undercover Economist") for more info.
I hope the corporations in NYC lobby hard to remove the onerous zoning density restrictions so that others can afford to live here.
3
"The best place to locate, by far, is NYC. I lived in Boston first job out of college, in tech, and NYC is a far better place to live. It is more multicultural, more vibrant, with more things going on. "
NY is also much more expensive, disgracefully. Rent is unaffordable for graduates of non-elite schools or employers. Home ownership is impossible. How can anyone who is not in the upper few % possibly afford NY, in either the short or long term? Can rezoning alone fix this? How much more living space can rezoning permit?
NY is also much more expensive, disgracefully. Rent is unaffordable for graduates of non-elite schools or employers. Home ownership is impossible. How can anyone who is not in the upper few % possibly afford NY, in either the short or long term? Can rezoning alone fix this? How much more living space can rezoning permit?
8
I'm not certain that NYC is much more expensive than Boston. In both situations, one can live far from the city center, but in NYC, one has fairly fast subways and in Boston, esp. the most prevalent --the Trolley/subway Green Line is very slow.
Economist Glaeser wrote an article, "Build Big, Bill" which explains how NYC can again have affordable housing through fixing the zoning laws.
I run into a number of people in their 20s that don't have STEM jobs that manage to live in NYC and even Manhattan and they really wouldn't want to live anywhere else.
Google has one of the largest office buildings in the city taking up an entire block because they know the importance of attracting top talent.
NYC also has a very good FQHC CHC Community Health Centers and many public hospitals that service the uninsured. The two that I'm most familiar with are The Ryan Center with the main center on the Upper West Side and Urban Health Plan located in the South Bronx which is a very poor part of NYC.
Economist Glaeser wrote an article, "Build Big, Bill" which explains how NYC can again have affordable housing through fixing the zoning laws.
I run into a number of people in their 20s that don't have STEM jobs that manage to live in NYC and even Manhattan and they really wouldn't want to live anywhere else.
Google has one of the largest office buildings in the city taking up an entire block because they know the importance of attracting top talent.
NYC also has a very good FQHC CHC Community Health Centers and many public hospitals that service the uninsured. The two that I'm most familiar with are The Ryan Center with the main center on the Upper West Side and Urban Health Plan located in the South Bronx which is a very poor part of NYC.
1
Yes, sadly, most people don't understand this at all and they think that cities are inherently expensive. They're artificially expensive. Sadly, comments like yours will be mostly ignored in favor of the more knee-jerk ones.
As the article states only the top echelon of GE gets space downtown. This smacks of building a cathedral for the 1%. Who I'm sure will get moving allowances and housing subsidies. The rest will get left behind. Marooned in suburbia, they will not be advancing to headquarters positions.
A brilliant plan to shed masses of high priced senior employees, and a permanent guarantee of a future labor force that can be hired out of college and churned out at 30 by natural attrition before they get too expensive.
Companies moved out of big cities in the 70's and 80's so that workers could afford housing and raise families. Now it's not a goal for corporations. I wonder how soon the millennials will figure this out. The college kids from rich families will have a great couple of years. The college students saddled with educational loans won't be joining the party.
A brilliant plan to shed masses of high priced senior employees, and a permanent guarantee of a future labor force that can be hired out of college and churned out at 30 by natural attrition before they get too expensive.
Companies moved out of big cities in the 70's and 80's so that workers could afford housing and raise families. Now it's not a goal for corporations. I wonder how soon the millennials will figure this out. The college kids from rich families will have a great couple of years. The college students saddled with educational loans won't be joining the party.
20
I'll bet the top floor with Immelt won't be using public transit to and from work.
11
Yes and they'll probably build elevators for their cars like martha stewart has (or had) at the starrett lehigh in nyc.
It is odd that Mr. Schwartz managed to report his story without the mention of Jeff Bezos' decision to move Amazon HQ into downtown Seattle. The effects are instructive. 20,000 jobs for openers, ramping up to 50,000. A city within a city. In the case of Amazon the cost argument works. Yes rents have risen and values have risen even more, but Software and programming are the heart of the Amazon model and the young women and men coming from all over the world are not only changing the former white face of Seattle, their six figure salaries have met the higher costs of urban living. Mr. Bezos decision helped Weyerhaeuser decide to move from suburban Seattle to the the oldest historical part of Seattle. Dozens of other companies that service Amazon and Weyerhaeuser plus a burgeoning health services, and health research boom have created tens of thousands of additional well paying jobs. Add the impact on the urban campus of the University of Washington and it is no surprise that downtown Seattle alone has 65 major building projects currently underway.
11
" their six figure salaries have met the higher costs of urban living. "
but what of those without six figure salaries? Will they live in tents in public parks? in cars? Let's be realistic, most college graduates start at around 30,000 - 40,000 dollars. Not much in a large city. In the suburbs or smaller towns it is enough. Employers should also consider this when they are trying to decide where to set up to attract young blood.
but what of those without six figure salaries? Will they live in tents in public parks? in cars? Let's be realistic, most college graduates start at around 30,000 - 40,000 dollars. Not much in a large city. In the suburbs or smaller towns it is enough. Employers should also consider this when they are trying to decide where to set up to attract young blood.
3
Really? Are people that lazy that they won't go and explore?
I find that new people who move in have no idea where anything is. They have no idea where the hot spots are and have no idea about the diversity in the area.
If you insist on clinging to the area near your house/apt or office, of course you will not find anything interesting! A lot of cities not on the coasts are more spread out but there are clusters of interesting things to do everywhere if you bothered to look.
I use to travel for business a lot and the best part of the trip if it lasted awhile was going to explore the metro area.
I find that new people who move in have no idea where anything is. They have no idea where the hot spots are and have no idea about the diversity in the area.
If you insist on clinging to the area near your house/apt or office, of course you will not find anything interesting! A lot of cities not on the coasts are more spread out but there are clusters of interesting things to do everywhere if you bothered to look.
I use to travel for business a lot and the best part of the trip if it lasted awhile was going to explore the metro area.
1
Nobody wants to explore the burbs.
5
Some people are so lazy that they can't get beyond sighing, "Kids these days!"
1
And, where are these young people going to live? In a box? Central Boston and Chicago have some of the highest real estate prices per sq ft.
It is a honey lure trap. Once they realize that if they want to start a family, they will have to move out, they will be disappointed.
It is a honey lure trap. Once they realize that if they want to start a family, they will have to move out, they will be disappointed.
18
"Once they realize that if they want to start a family, they will have to move out, they will be disappointed."
and they will want to change employers to avoid the 1.5- 2 hour commutes each way. Hopefully some employers will try to benefit from this.
and they will want to change employers to avoid the 1.5- 2 hour commutes each way. Hopefully some employers will try to benefit from this.
3
Boston and Chicago also have amazing public transit options. Many people in Chicago live in the 'burbs and hop on a train to work in the Loop each day.
8
Kat, and how much time does that take each way? one hour? two? this over and above an 9-10 hour day? How can one do this for long?
1
There are a number of reasons for being in cities, but one of them quite frankly is that when you are in a central city, it is easier to attract people to work there. Corporate complexes in the suburbs, besides the obvious factor that unless you drive there is nowhere to go, suffer from really bad traffic, Northern NJ Highways are clogged with traffic of people commuting to office complexes, and it is brutal. For young people, it is living in the city with all it offers (sorry, small town america, but evangelical churches and driving 50 miles to go to a restaurant doesn't work for them and small minded people doesn't work), for older people, it is that the city is often central to mass transit, so they don't have to drive.
Obviously, not all jobs will be in cities, but especially for the more creative functions, software development and design and the like, cities are going to attract the talent, whereas with the more ordinary/drone like jobs like accounting, you can put it anywhere and work with what you can get.
Obviously, not all jobs will be in cities, but especially for the more creative functions, software development and design and the like, cities are going to attract the talent, whereas with the more ordinary/drone like jobs like accounting, you can put it anywhere and work with what you can get.
6
Being downtown allows people more options on where to live. When a company is located in one particular burb, it basically isolates living there to have of the city.
2
Or as Yogi said "nobody goes there anymore it's too crowded"
1
Companies go through management fads, spending inordinate amounts of money to move employees around or place them in "open" offices where you can hear everyone's phone conversations, post-nasal drip, and worse. Someone near the top reads an article about the latest Silicon Valley whimsy and decides, hey, we need that too! Tree houses! Nap pods!
5
Sometimes the decision to relocate downtown accomplishes zilch for corporate identity or anything eles. About 15 years ago, Boeing moved its headquarters from Seattle to downtown Chicago, primarily due to massive subsidies by Chicago and Illinois (surprise!!), and also because the CEO's wife was a Chicago native who wanted to return home. In the end, what exactly did Chicago get for all of its taxpayer money? Mention "Boeing" to anybody, and they think it is still headquartered in Seattle. They sure don't think it's located in Chicago.
Why do cities keep falling for the corporate subsidy/giveaway scam?
Why do cities keep falling for the corporate subsidy/giveaway scam?
9
Dr. RIchard Florida explored the impact of urban areas in attracting human capital in "The Creative Class." Information sector workers carry their capital with them and generally prefer diverse communities with cultural resources.
5
Dr. Flora, if I remember correctly from the book you cite, only examines "elite: employees, not medians.
2
I'd like to know who is thinking these cities are more affordable. The cities they list in the article are among the most expensive in the country to live in. The taxes, housing costs, even food costs are much higher then they are in the burbs. Many city dwellers are moving out to find cheaper places to live.
20
They're expensive only due to zoning laws which make it difficult to build new housing. It's not that complicated. The issue is that supply of housing is artificially low.
1
Totally overlooked in this piece is the migration of silicon valley companies to San Francisco. Moreover employees of the companies remaining in the valley have increasingly chosen SF to live. These trends have caused a lot of local problems.
2
Been there. Done that. Enjoy the 30% annual rent increases. Ultimately I had to punch out of SF because I could never afford to own a home living there. It was a fantastic 8 years, but then I had to move back to planet earth.
The employees in the Valley are OK with where they live. Myself included. It's boring, but I now have my own home. In the core cities of Silicon Valley, there are less than 1,000 houses for sale at the moment, and it's the peak season for selling. SF is popular because there is no place else to live, and because today's generation of Tech doesn't wear pocket protectors like their parents did.
The employees in the Valley are OK with where they live. Myself included. It's boring, but I now have my own home. In the core cities of Silicon Valley, there are less than 1,000 houses for sale at the moment, and it's the peak season for selling. SF is popular because there is no place else to live, and because today's generation of Tech doesn't wear pocket protectors like their parents did.
2
The reason that companies want
an urban and downtown-type haunt
is that the young mass
don't want to see grass
(unless it's baked in a croissant)
an urban and downtown-type haunt
is that the young mass
don't want to see grass
(unless it's baked in a croissant)
7
Keep your eyes on the Boston skies for the big guys. "Public transportation" for senior management means a subsidized (free!) helipad or heliport.
3
Yes, they're moving there because the metro areas in this country are so affordable when it comes to housing and other costs. Pardon me while I laugh because the cost of living where the jobs are is pretty high. The cost of living is low where the jobs aren't. When you graduate from college that first job is unlikely to pay enough to live in a closet in SF, NYC, Chicago, or any other place in America that is a metropolitan area. In addition, our cities are not nearly as nice to pedestrians as some European cities are. But it's nice to see that corporations are moving back to the cities in order to avoid taxes for schools, roads, etc. Even nicer is realizing that most of the executive staff and senior managers have no idea how the rest of us live and it ain't in luxury.
26
but why should a company's workforce not live in closets so the upper level managers can live well? Why are their workers not willing to sacrifice for them? Why are they so self centered?
3
Great. I'm 32 and after working for four years in the suburbs of Boston, I vowed to never, ever do that again. The traffic, isolation, and lack of anything to do or anywhere to eat around where I worked was soul-crushing.
40
All kinds of corporate functions are noted except for a very key one - manufacturing. Manufacturing will not be done in downtown Boston or Manhattan; it was done in those surburban locations. That was among the reasons corporations moved headquarters out of the city - the entire corporation moved - not just the executives.
Of course now that manufacturing has moved or been outsourced to locations in China, etc. there is no need to keep the mucky mucks in the desolate and culturally deprived 'burbs. Welcome back to city big shots and innovators; and those of you who actually made our products - well, good luck with all that.
Of course now that manufacturing has moved or been outsourced to locations in China, etc. there is no need to keep the mucky mucks in the desolate and culturally deprived 'burbs. Welcome back to city big shots and innovators; and those of you who actually made our products - well, good luck with all that.
4
The operative word is tax. Corporate America is moved by taxes sweetened by state "incentives" - corporate welfare available only to big national and multinational corporations. "...the finance guys in Switzerland and the tax team in the UK." All the more reason to discard the term Corporate America. Multinational corporations have no real nationality - beholden to no single country - loyal to no one save their stockholders. Tax inversions have shown that US headquarters can be "moved" to a foreign country but nothing is really moved except the address on the corporation's tax return. CEO's can live and work wherever they want and move every so often when the tax incentives are too large to ignore. I predict that GE will move again after the next CEO is offered a better deal in a another state.
6
Chemours might wish to attempt to revitalize our withering city by establishing it's presence in the former, historic DuPont building, while some other self-respecting employers made their exodus out of concerns for the safety of their employees; no thanks to the mayor that's been totally ineffective in maintaining peace and quiet on our city streets. In the meanwhile, several expansive former DuPont campuses outside the city limits, quite the opposite of high-rise office buildings. yet situated on major bus routes, these offices offered walking trails, outdoor areas, occasional visits by waddling geese and goslings that used the same paths. You don't get that in the city, nor do workers have the benefit of feeling safe and secure, being surrounded by nature in an environment that offered a more relaxed, stress-free workplace. They're all abandoned now, lights out, eerily quiet buildings sitting on hundreds of acres and open space, offering up the lands for grabs to the highest bidder.
3
This is a thin veil over ageism. These moves completely disenfranchise the workers who have given years of their lives to these corporations and built their lives in the suburbs because that is where the jobs have been for decades. Now what are we supposed to do? Rip our children from their schools and move into the city? Thanks, corporate america, for your appreciation of our many years of service, shown by giving us the thumb.
In the boston area, high tech has all but completely moved to the city in just a short few years. That leaves workers like me, who moved to the suburbs for those jobs decades ago, completely screwed.
This is just a new, currently socially acceptable, strategy for stacking the deck in favor of young, cheap labor over experienced, more expensive labor.
In the boston area, high tech has all but completely moved to the city in just a short few years. That leaves workers like me, who moved to the suburbs for those jobs decades ago, completely screwed.
This is just a new, currently socially acceptable, strategy for stacking the deck in favor of young, cheap labor over experienced, more expensive labor.
38
Darn right. Age discrimination is one of the worst-kept secrets in this country. That's it, corporate America. I'm done with you greedy, evil organizations. To heck with you. You companies ruined this country.
3
Commute like everybody else.
7
I agree that ageism exists. When I started working I was paid 1/3rd the amount of some older people because "they had families to support". Given that it was a recession, I had to just deal with it, but when you start talking about ageism, be careful for what you wish for.
4
Don't forget that Cities have an energy and zeitgeist that a suburb can't touch, and among cities, there are levels. New York, Berlin, Paris, London are at a higher level than most others.
Cadillac keyed into this by moving their HQ to NY. Cadillac House in the Village is a center of art and fashion. While derided by some as a distraction, the need to know those who make the financial center of the US and sell to them (and, then, everyone else) was astute.
Companies will split the low level activity to the lowest cost source, but for the creatives, those who make things work, you need the pull of a city...the person you need and want does not want to live far from art, theater and the dynamic that is unique to a first class city.
Cadillac keyed into this by moving their HQ to NY. Cadillac House in the Village is a center of art and fashion. While derided by some as a distraction, the need to know those who make the financial center of the US and sell to them (and, then, everyone else) was astute.
Companies will split the low level activity to the lowest cost source, but for the creatives, those who make things work, you need the pull of a city...the person you need and want does not want to live far from art, theater and the dynamic that is unique to a first class city.
5
let's see how that pull works when these young workers have kids that reach school age. Will they be able to afford near seven digit home prices and be able to pay private schools?
4
Yoda, my wife and I are staying in the city. We are moving slightly out of the "core" but are staying in the city. Some cities DO offer attractive public schools and we are taking advantage of that because not only are they top in the state, they are included in our taxes. Trying to pay for private school, within the city or without, is becoming prohibitively more expensive in any case.
2
Exactly. I seriously don't get why people assume that there's some sort of natural cycle of life. You graduate, move to the city, have kids, and move to the suburbs. That's not how life is for everyone. I hear these generalizations way too often.
1
Connecticut is over-taxed. GE offered to stay but Malloy wouldn't give them a tax break. He lost the game of chicken with GE.
Just for fun, to compound the pain inflicted on property values in Fairfield, GE's former home, instead of selling their headquarters GE gave it to non-profit Sacred Heart University. In doing so they will receive an enormous tax deduction and the town will no longer be able to collect property taxes on the property because it's part of the non-profit, Catholic university. Well played GE. That was a great farewell and blank you to tax-you-to-death Connecticut.
Just for fun, to compound the pain inflicted on property values in Fairfield, GE's former home, instead of selling their headquarters GE gave it to non-profit Sacred Heart University. In doing so they will receive an enormous tax deduction and the town will no longer be able to collect property taxes on the property because it's part of the non-profit, Catholic university. Well played GE. That was a great farewell and blank you to tax-you-to-death Connecticut.
10
How does moving into an expensive city (speaking for Boston at least) attract young workers? The average rent for a one bedroom apartment in Boston is $2200 give or take, never mind the expensive Seaport district GE is relocating to. That's assuming a salary of $75,000 if you spend a rather high 35% of your gross salary on rent - pretty good entry level salaries they must be paying, eh?
16
Young workers would rather pay out the rear to live in the "big city" than pay out the rear to live in Fairfield, Ct., why is this so difficult to understand? These kids living in the city won't own cars. They'll also probably pay more than 33 percent of rent at first or they can live with roommates, which is what they'll probably do.
1
Because the kinds of preppy new graduates that GE wants to hire have wealthy parents that are willing to subsidize their adult children's expensive city rents.
In exchange for this the parents of the recent grads can congratulate themselves on guiding their offspring successfully in to a role at the "new GE".
GE's advertising positively flaunts this. GE is actually advertising to upcoming graduates and their parents about how cool it is to work there. And they're spending untold millions on that advertising strategy!
How much chance does anyone think an experienced 58 year old would have of landing one these great new jobs?
In exchange for this the parents of the recent grads can congratulate themselves on guiding their offspring successfully in to a role at the "new GE".
GE's advertising positively flaunts this. GE is actually advertising to upcoming graduates and their parents about how cool it is to work there. And they're spending untold millions on that advertising strategy!
How much chance does anyone think an experienced 58 year old would have of landing one these great new jobs?
5
Its the author's theory and not necessarily the fact. GE said they were moving to work closer with the universities......Fact, they did it to escape the onerous tax programs the state was proposing. Unfortunately, the governor is blind to this.
1
The "no parking lot" comment about GE's new headquarters is very telling. No parking means no (or few) cars which means reliance on public transportation which is one of those GOVERNMENT-funded services that people in cities like (along with street maintenance and lighting, snow removal, trash pick up, first responders, public education, etc.) In other words, government may no longer be considered the problem but will be recognized as a solution. Young and well-paid professionals WANT government services and are willing to pay taxes for them. Either the GOP recognizes that the game has changed or it will continue to shrink its appeal until it is literally a regional party of the most rural parts of the South and lower Midwest, whereas the Democrats will control not only the burgeoning metropolises but will have a lock on those magical 270 electoral votes (hint: they already have a lock on around 240 of them).
30
Young people - and others - are willing to pay more taxes? I'm not sure that's a correct assumption, for I've seen and heard a lot of millennial and the lot lament the tax burdens. I totally agree that taxes are a necessary thing in order to fund desired government operations and projects, but always missing from those who claim to want more and more is any discussion of accountability and actual return on the payment. Look at the MTA for a classic example - always running short of funds, always needing to ask for more, always behind on repairs and cleaning and planning for the future, but always seemingly ready to give more executive bonuses, to agree to union demands for more money or bigger benefit or pension packages. As a result, many people, Republican and Democrat, are frustrated by what they are asked to pay for and what they get in return when they look around them.
2
As long as the Senate filibuster rule remains in place and as long as a senator from Wyoming (with a population similar to Rochestor, NY and the surrounding Monroe county) has the same voting power as a senator from California, the Republicans will always have the power to block anything of importance.
Republicans have lost the popular presidential vote in election but one in the last 30 years. That trend is only accelerating.
Republicans have lost the popular presidential vote in election but one in the last 30 years. That trend is only accelerating.
4
"Young and well-paid professionals WANT government services and are willing to pay taxes for them."
I did not realize the young, who would probably have trouble paying student loans and exhorbitant rents, would be so desiring of paying high taxes too to top it off.
I did not realize the young, who would probably have trouble paying student loans and exhorbitant rents, would be so desiring of paying high taxes too to top it off.
1
Re: GE. I just moved back to the U.S. after living in Bangalore, India for three years. My office was right around the corner from GE's massive John F. Welch Technology Center, home to thousands of engineers and developers. Leaving the suburbs. And the state. And the country.
2
This makes sense in terms of age of the workers the companies are trying to recruit. Young people (assuming they are without kids) want to be downtown. When they get a bit older and are transitioning into management jobs, and are getting married and perhaps want to have kids, are ready to move to the 'burbs with (generally) better schools and more yard space. Once the kids fly the nest, older folks are ready to move back downtown to enjoy their new found freedom. Added benefit; the upper management provides mentorship to the younger workers. From a purely economic standpoint, it seems like a pretty good system for companies.
1
I have noticed that now even after people have children they are staying in the City. 20 years ago I seldom saw children on the street, now I can't walk one block without running into at least one stroller. I could count the number of children who lived in my 30 floors building in one hand when I moved in 19 years ago, a few weeks ago the co-op board sent a letter about how many children could attend parties in community areas, this letter would have been unnecessary 10 years ago. I think people are realizing what great places to live cities are.
5
gabriela, and what is the quality of the schools in your city? Will those parents have to pay for private schools for all the kids you mention when they get older? What about more space for them when they want their own rooms? How will the majority afford these things?
3
Yeah. Like the guy who thought pumpkin pie was made from the interior of the pumpkin. The only pumpkin pie he'd ever seen came from the deli or was made with a can marked LIBBYS. He'd never seen a pumpkin.
I used to work for a large commercial real estate consulting company in Chicago. My position lay between the companies making real estate decisions and the city governments approving incentives to attract or retain these companies.
What many people don't realize (including those in city government) is that corporations rarely make decisions based on incentives. They typically have already made their decision, THEN approach local government for incentives. Governments justify the spending by imagining they're in a bidding war for jobs with other municipalities ("if other states are competing on the basis of these dollar incentives, we need to be in the same arena"), but when corporations move people and real estate, is is incredibly expensive, sensitive, and time-consuming. If a company like G.E. decides it wants to move to Boston, it's not going to change its mind because Philadelphia offers a few extra bucks. It would probably, however, call up Boston, bluff on its willingness to walk, and ask for more money. In practice, this is more effective than you'd like to think.
What many people don't realize (including those in city government) is that corporations rarely make decisions based on incentives. They typically have already made their decision, THEN approach local government for incentives. Governments justify the spending by imagining they're in a bidding war for jobs with other municipalities ("if other states are competing on the basis of these dollar incentives, we need to be in the same arena"), but when corporations move people and real estate, is is incredibly expensive, sensitive, and time-consuming. If a company like G.E. decides it wants to move to Boston, it's not going to change its mind because Philadelphia offers a few extra bucks. It would probably, however, call up Boston, bluff on its willingness to walk, and ask for more money. In practice, this is more effective than you'd like to think.
44
Does everything have to have a negative spin? As a long-time city liver, who prefers the diversity, walkability and convenience of a city to the mostly sprawling and very unwalkable suburbs, I think it's great that companies are moving back to the city centers. The fact that young people are prefering this to suburbs I also find very encouraging. Surely there are some negatives, such as the "dollar incentives" required in Delaware, but overall I think this is a very positive trend.
47
" but overall I think this is a very positive trend."
considering the outrageous rents, higher taxes and fact that , when kids come, housing will become even more unaffordable and private schools will have to be paid for, how?
considering the outrageous rents, higher taxes and fact that , when kids come, housing will become even more unaffordable and private schools will have to be paid for, how?
4
The immediate, 24/7 ability to communicate to anyone anywhere anytime and the to do office tasks anywhere with a small electronic object were supposed to make "real" (as opposed to virtual) human interaction obsolete.
Instead, it seems the more we telecommute and the more offices shrink, the greater the need to be next to other people, not to take a meeting, but just to shoot the breeze. Why? Because every business ultimately thrives on gossip.
That's why the old concentration of industries in specific areas has reformed in places like Silicon Valley, Boston, Wilmington, Annapolis (Naval technology), Miami (US-to-Latin America commerce), etc. People meet and interact not only at work, but in gyms, charity events, bars, churches and on the street.
Instead, it seems the more we telecommute and the more offices shrink, the greater the need to be next to other people, not to take a meeting, but just to shoot the breeze. Why? Because every business ultimately thrives on gossip.
That's why the old concentration of industries in specific areas has reformed in places like Silicon Valley, Boston, Wilmington, Annapolis (Naval technology), Miami (US-to-Latin America commerce), etc. People meet and interact not only at work, but in gyms, charity events, bars, churches and on the street.
5
I seriously doubt that there are many millennials who want to work in downtown Wilmington, DE. It's not a nice place at all. I doubt this is a selling point to new hires.
9
I grew up in a suburb of Wilmington, DE. My few friends who still work in Wilmington rush out of the city as soon as their jobs let out; they would never go back into the city at night. Real estate is expensive, even for dumpy houses nearly 100 years old. Finally, many of us moved out of state years ago because of the lack of jobs that pay a living wage. Delawareans of all races are moving to parts of the state that used to be rural, as the public schools in the Wilmington area decline. But I hear that drugs and street prostitution are big industries now. Some people may consider the latter a plus.
5
According to David Owen in his book Green Metropolis, “cities are inherently greener than less densely populated places because a higher percentage of their inhabitants walk, bike and use mass transit than drive; they share infrastructure and civic services more efficiently; they live in smaller spaces and use less energy to heat their homes (because those homes tend to share walls); and they’re less likely to accumulate a lot of large, energy-sucking appliances. People in cities use about half as much electricity as people who don’t.”
9
None of this sounds as good or promising as the article likes to make it. From the silly "not even a parking spot for the chief executive" thing [big whoop - probably has a company paid chauffeured car anyway to make up for that inconvenience so it makes no difference to him/her if there is no parking - the regular worker, tough luck] to the yearning for young workers [cheaper, coupled with our rampant ageism and bizarre youth obsession - older worker bad, younger worker good], this reverted trend perhaps benefits corporate bottom lines but really doesn't do much for established workers, those with families who cannot just pack up and move to an urban setting, and any improvement in the general prospects for employment. All rather depressing.
9
Deleware "reduced revenue by rewriting tax codes in a state already famous for its headquarters of credit card ripoff corporations, for instance. That wasn't good enough, however. "Must have more....for less, and want more now" the beast howls!! Like Kyclops, in Homer, asked who did this to them, their answer is rightly, "Nobody did this." They just greedily want everything....revenues to actually run the state be hanged, as well as the people! Corporations like Kyclops, just wondering when the next big feast (on us!) will come their way.
3
Freakin' millennials. But just wait until they have kids and need more room. And who wants their kids exposed to the higher rate of urban crime?
1
I know what "urban crime" really means. Don't insult my freakin' intelligence.
7
Calling Wilmington DE a metro area the same article as New York, Boston, Chicago is a bit of stretch. Though it rivals Chicago on violent crime (per capita)
11
Wilmington is a cultureless dump where rich folks from DC take the train to, enjoy route to the beach.
3
Top talent to the cities, cube farms to India.
8
Moving the c suite offices away from the work place has the added advantage of making the huge income disparity less visible. A modern version of the pirate captain burying his riches on a secluded island out of sight from his crew.
8
Leave it to the MBA/McKinsey led corporate geniuses to latch onto a trend just as it's getting stale. When the cities we're drying up in the 70s, they moved far off into exurbia, hastening urban decline and inconveniencing workers with long
Today, when city property prices are in a bubble -- forcing out small business and the middle class -- they choose to come back, pumping still more air into the bubble.
I especially like the part about not having any parking at GE's new Boston HQ/ We all know the top execs will have drivers, or be able to expense offsite parking - most likely they will have both.
It's their poor admins, bookkeepers, IT staff, etc. who will spend extra hours on Boston's notoriously unreliable "T" or suffer the off-street parking costs, already sky high, and likely to go even higher with the addition of the new HQ.
Today, when city property prices are in a bubble -- forcing out small business and the middle class -- they choose to come back, pumping still more air into the bubble.
I especially like the part about not having any parking at GE's new Boston HQ/ We all know the top execs will have drivers, or be able to expense offsite parking - most likely they will have both.
It's their poor admins, bookkeepers, IT staff, etc. who will spend extra hours on Boston's notoriously unreliable "T" or suffer the off-street parking costs, already sky high, and likely to go even higher with the addition of the new HQ.
3
Sounds more like they're looking for cheap labor.
12
Texas is a VERY business-friendly state; low taxes, PLENTY of space, blah, blah, blah.
Houston accounts for half of the Fortune 500 companies in the state and is 2nd only to NYC in the number of FORTUNE 500 companies,
"...This is an incomplete list of major companies or subsidiaries headquartered in Houston, Texas and the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area. Houston is known for its oil and gas industry, and has the second highest number of Fortune 500 companies after New York City..." (wiki) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_companies_in_Houston
Living downtown/closer to downtown - once a foreign concept because of arrant impracticality - in recent years has become trendy yet large companies like HP, Fluor & Schlumberger are probably 25+ miles from downtown.
In 2012, Fort Bend County, (the County to the SW of Houston/Harris County) home to Schlumberger, Imperial Sugar & Minute Maid, was the 5th fastest growing County in the U.S. (Forbes, Sept. 26, '13); 9th fastest from 2010-15 according to Statistica.
We love our cars and are willing to sit in traffic to earn the money to pay for them.
Houston accounts for half of the Fortune 500 companies in the state and is 2nd only to NYC in the number of FORTUNE 500 companies,
"...This is an incomplete list of major companies or subsidiaries headquartered in Houston, Texas and the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area. Houston is known for its oil and gas industry, and has the second highest number of Fortune 500 companies after New York City..." (wiki) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_companies_in_Houston
Living downtown/closer to downtown - once a foreign concept because of arrant impracticality - in recent years has become trendy yet large companies like HP, Fluor & Schlumberger are probably 25+ miles from downtown.
In 2012, Fort Bend County, (the County to the SW of Houston/Harris County) home to Schlumberger, Imperial Sugar & Minute Maid, was the 5th fastest growing County in the U.S. (Forbes, Sept. 26, '13); 9th fastest from 2010-15 according to Statistica.
We love our cars and are willing to sit in traffic to earn the money to pay for them.
3
Something's missing - or maybe I'm not understanding this.
Companies are moving their headquarters and their executives to the cities because that's where the millenials are and where they want to work. But the jobs that the millenials are likely to be hired to do - in HR, in Finance, in IT - are still going to be located elsewhere?
Companies are moving their headquarters and their executives to the cities because that's where the millenials are and where they want to work. But the jobs that the millenials are likely to be hired to do - in HR, in Finance, in IT - are still going to be located elsewhere?
11
Corporations pay no taxes on their income. Now the corporations have figured out ways not to pay real-estate taxes. Move your head quarters every few years to a new city, milk the city for incentives and tax abatement. When the goodies run out, move to another city. There is an endless stream of politicians willing to play the game on the taxpayer dime who have short memories. The suburbs don't play this game. The real employees will still live and work in the suburbs until corporations compensate them for the extra wage taxes and commuting time and costs that it takes to work in the city.
5
There are no workers in the city?
1
Of course,with fewer workers in America because the work is now being done in cheap-wage countries, corporate giants can now pay even higher wages to senior level managers and highly skilled workers so they can now live in the newly gentrified neighborhoods, drive the price of housing through the stratosphere, and displaced the people who have lived there for years.
It is the new face of urban removal; oops, my bad, I meant urban renewal.
It is the new face of urban removal; oops, my bad, I meant urban renewal.
17
I'd like to add that Chemours is to be commended for remaining in Wilmington -- a somewhat blighted downtown that's not in a real estate boom like New York, Boston or San Francisco. If GE showed similar responsibility, they'd be moving facilities back into Bridgeport, CT -- a city whose long-term decline is partly traceable to GE's factory closings over the years.
26
If the executives think for one moment that they are getting rid of "security gates" they are being disingenuous. Move if you want but just don't spin some nonsensical junk because people aren't stupid. Office buildings in cities have as high a level of security, or even higher, than what you can find in most corporate parks.
7
Absolutely - I work in one that not only has (very pleasant, well mannered, non-threatening an unarmed) security guards and badge restrict d access in the lobby but also badge restricted access at each of the 18 floors from the stairs/elevate bank. Not only is this highly secure but it also enables the tracking of employee movement each time you enter a new floor.
1
This is a nominally positive development in that the moves described here now create a two or more tiered hierarchy based on employment level. Thus, if you are a middle office employee (like finance or HR) or back office employee (like customer service or operations) and you also want the vibrancy and diversity that comes with working in a city, well, you are just out of luck. So, in a way, corporate America is really not leaving the suburbs, only the bosses. More perks for the top of the house. Whoo-hoo.
9
Perhaps Americans need to learn about the British Labour Party's Jeremy Corbyn and the nationalization of the commanding heights of the economy. English workers are flooding into the movement, while the Tony Blairite party hacks are getting ready to leave. At long last a Socialist movement with teeth! The world can no longer afford the uber-rich.
4
I love how major corporations with enormous profits still get tax abatements and grants. $7.9 million for 800 employees? Roughly $10k per employee? What about the Main Street mom and pop stores, the ones who struggle to stay in the downtown and in the city who've been there forever when it wasn't so "fashionable" for the entitled millenials. What do they get?
19
I'll take my rural home over the city.
Let's hope this trend leads to improved infrastructure and commuting options near major urban areas–Chicago is a nightmare outside of the loop.
Let's also then expect companies to up their benefits and incentives for commuters and users of public transit.
Not everybody wants to live in a densely populated area.
Let's hope this trend leads to improved infrastructure and commuting options near major urban areas–Chicago is a nightmare outside of the loop.
Let's also then expect companies to up their benefits and incentives for commuters and users of public transit.
Not everybody wants to live in a densely populated area.
6
Corporate America does what is best for itself and that includes cost savings. Eddie Bauer is moving from the Seattle area to Texas. Probably because the state is less expensive rather than Washington which has that high minimum wage.
1
I doubt Eddie Bauer has many minimum wage employees - read between the lines of this story, companies now have fewer employees but each employee is paid more, less skilled work is commoditized and sent offshore or to a third party.
4
Not sure how many employees in the suburban HQs would be willing to trade their kids posh schools for the less than substandard urban education experience found all over America. The fact is, not everyone can afford toney private education. Only when urban, public schools are made 100% equal with their suburban counterparts, is when things will really change for American cities.
4
I work in WHite Plains, along 287, on Westchester Avenue, where their tons of fully empty and half empty corporate parks dating from the 70s and 80s. What's to be done with those behemoths? Luckily Memorial Sloan Kettering and Fordham University have both recently come to Westchester Avenue but you need a car to get to both. Although there is a bus, it would take forever to get to the center of West. Ave. and it's a 14 dollar cab ride from downtown White PLains. Could those buildings be converted to housing, or elder housing? And believe me, there's no where to go for lunch.
7
Nowhere to go for lunch/ That's perfect. That means people will be forced to make their own lunches more often, and have more control over what and how much they eat, since most restaurants of all shapes and sizes serve unhealthy food.
2
Many are getting tax breaks, and the states instead of organizing and not offering such handouts, are caving in. If a corporate leaded can get a handout , they will take it. that is part of the process of why they back certain politicians. The politicians that they back later gov ether sweet heart deals. They couldn't care less about their locations, it is about the power of the dollar.
2
Finally corporate boards have heard Gertrude Stein's famous aperçu about the suburbs, "There's no there there."
6
I'm not sure if this is smart move based on my experience in Chicago. Almost everyone I know, everyone I meet, wants to leave the city, despite the 'vibrancy.' It is a crush of people, people are often edgy and drained, complain of the poor public transportation system and exorbitant parking rates and impossible to find street parking (call out to Uber) and traffic often at a crawl or standstill; in the more established neighborhoods, rents or the cost of housing is a significant drag on finances, and then add the property and sales taxes, and the dysfunctional government, many are either packing up to leaving, or hoping to leave to states such as Tennessee or Arizona or Georgia, where there is more space, lower taxes, less congestion, and reduced housing costs, and in general, the sense the pace is slower and the people nicer. I find there is sense of exhaustion and irritability, as the encounters with the impatient or angry or insensitive or self-absorbed become more and more frequent.
19
I am guessing that you live in yuppie Wicker Park, or Lincoln Park, or Lakeview. Hmmm, maybe you should try one of the other neighborhoods, which are not overburdened with people in cars or high rents, many of which allow you to actually get a seat on the L or bus on the way downtown.
The idea that people are "nicer" in Tennessee (home of the "we don't sell cakes to gays") and Arizona (home of racial profiling of Hispanics) and Georgia (don't even get me started on the 'friendly' south) is biased in obvious ways. Some of the nicest, most helpful people I have ever met are in major urban centers like Chicago and New York. You just have to be unafraid to talk with people that may not look like you.
As to the person who complains that the "loyalty" of suburbanites to companies is being ignored, hmmm, now you know what it felt like for the city in the 70s and 80s when companies which had been in the city for generations left abruptly to save a few dollars or to be nearer the CEO's home.
Suburbanites talk endlessly about how 'dangerous' the city is (code for how 'black' the city is), and yet they have no problem crowding the highways to go to a Cubs game or one of the many events paid for with the taxes of the city dwellers. If you want to freeload on all the things I love about my city, then don't trash the problems that those of us who live in the city stayed here to try to fix, and don't complain when large corporations bring jobs that may help improve things.
The idea that people are "nicer" in Tennessee (home of the "we don't sell cakes to gays") and Arizona (home of racial profiling of Hispanics) and Georgia (don't even get me started on the 'friendly' south) is biased in obvious ways. Some of the nicest, most helpful people I have ever met are in major urban centers like Chicago and New York. You just have to be unafraid to talk with people that may not look like you.
As to the person who complains that the "loyalty" of suburbanites to companies is being ignored, hmmm, now you know what it felt like for the city in the 70s and 80s when companies which had been in the city for generations left abruptly to save a few dollars or to be nearer the CEO's home.
Suburbanites talk endlessly about how 'dangerous' the city is (code for how 'black' the city is), and yet they have no problem crowding the highways to go to a Cubs game or one of the many events paid for with the taxes of the city dwellers. If you want to freeload on all the things I love about my city, then don't trash the problems that those of us who live in the city stayed here to try to fix, and don't complain when large corporations bring jobs that may help improve things.
8
Living in Atlanta for 4 years and the only cheap housing is far away from the city and the traffic is terrible. My area Sandy Springs is urbanizing at a frightening rate with no changes in the road system or decent public transportation options. The local zoning always allows increased density with the tear downs and usually is tone deaf to the people already living in the community.
....and when these kids have a family, want a house, consider schools.....these HQ will be heading back to the burbs.
6
Look at fertility rates, people don't want families.
4
We all eventually do even if it one or two versus a bigger family. One kid cost half of million dollars in the suburbs and is significantly higher in the city.
2
tma1, could it be that they cannot afford them?
3
This trend is a result of the Internet of everything and the fact that the traditional office has been replaced by servers, laptops and iPads.
So top management can pick any place to camp out and so why not handsome downtown offices in Boston, Chicago or San Francisco.
But there is marginal business benefit except the cache of a prime business address and proximity to like minded professionals in similar business, read big business and financial services.
The rest of the world will be looking for cheaper alternatives where office space and more importantly housing prices are more affordable.
And we'll have great internet too!
So top management can pick any place to camp out and so why not handsome downtown offices in Boston, Chicago or San Francisco.
But there is marginal business benefit except the cache of a prime business address and proximity to like minded professionals in similar business, read big business and financial services.
The rest of the world will be looking for cheaper alternatives where office space and more importantly housing prices are more affordable.
And we'll have great internet too!
2
In the 1950's White America ran away from the cities and stayed away for almost fifty years, Kids growing up in the 1980's and 1990's saw suburban culture as sterile and often bigoted. So they left. The "New Urbanism" defined a reinvention of town and city center. Today low income workers are being forced out and are taking over near suburbs. The racial doughnut of the past is being reversed. Boston prudently preserved much of it's old sea port district and now it is paying off as an attractive alternative to glass and steel towers. Regrettably by the 2050's the old suburbs will possibly be places of poverty and segregation much like the city's once were.
26
"In an era of relentless cost-cutting, many corporate moves these days coincide with downsizing. Kraft Heinz, for example, had 2,200 workers when the company was based in Northfield; it has 1,500 now in downtown Chicago."
Yeah, note the "relentless cost-cutting" which is the real reason this is being done. Anyone who thinks this is a move to attract employees is really living in the 1980's.
Yeah, note the "relentless cost-cutting" which is the real reason this is being done. Anyone who thinks this is a move to attract employees is really living in the 1980's.
Will the top GE people really use public transportation? Or do they have chauffeurs? I think I know the answer.
2
They'll be working next door to my office and I would expect most of them to simply walk (such as I do) or take public transit or taxi/car services - Boston is an extremely small land area, nothing is more than a 30 minute walk.
7
And they move in not just with their imposing headquarters, but also with some of the snubbiest job qualifications you can ever imagine!
Take a look at the language/English version and accent requirements below from an Amazon job:
http://www.indeed.com/m/viewjob?jk=4fefbcd7a710015d&from=serp
And then the funny thing is that one of these new firms actually asked for an Arabic and or a Russian speaker, now not only that I speak both, but in fact I have an experience with exactly the same job description, but still wasn't hired because (they said) I haven't yet finished my college degree !! I apologized to them deeply ..
Take a look at the language/English version and accent requirements below from an Amazon job:
http://www.indeed.com/m/viewjob?jk=4fefbcd7a710015d&from=serp
And then the funny thing is that one of these new firms actually asked for an Arabic and or a Russian speaker, now not only that I speak both, but in fact I have an experience with exactly the same job description, but still wasn't hired because (they said) I haven't yet finished my college degree !! I apologized to them deeply ..
3
When the now disgraced former Sect of the Treasury became the CEO of Burroughs Corporation he told the senior executives that he was eliminating the executive parking lot. The head of finance asked him where he was going to park. He said "my chauffeur will drop me off at the front door."
2
Replacing higher paid established employees with new hires - recent grads?
41
The headline misrepresents the actual key learning. That is that large multi-national corporations are breaking up their HQ's and dispersing the majority of the management functions & their direct reports around the country and globe.
What is left then are c-suit execs and their entry level support staff with the latter probably deeper or greater in number in the marketing function & one or two others than in supply chain ,R&D, finance or legal.
Hence the "stragglers" in HQ are those who are too rich or too young to care about the downsides of city center HQs. Remember a big reason for the flight from midtwon was that by the 1960's a middle manager was already struggling to purchase a large enough city apartment or lower westchester home for a family that was a reasonable commute from the city. Hence businesses, except for the high paying ( finance) or youth weighted ( marketing) disappeared to CT and NJ.
Now most of those folks are being moved further out, to another second tier city or abroad Hence this makes sense to revert "to the mean" of nice downtown locations.
But the trend alone is not the full story, the break-up of HQs is and the attendant further segregation of the C-suite and those with keys to said 0.1% golden kingdom ( young ivy league MBA grads and the like) from the D, VP, SVP "regular" occupants of HQ roles and their '00's of even more disbursed direct reports.
What is left then are c-suit execs and their entry level support staff with the latter probably deeper or greater in number in the marketing function & one or two others than in supply chain ,R&D, finance or legal.
Hence the "stragglers" in HQ are those who are too rich or too young to care about the downsides of city center HQs. Remember a big reason for the flight from midtwon was that by the 1960's a middle manager was already struggling to purchase a large enough city apartment or lower westchester home for a family that was a reasonable commute from the city. Hence businesses, except for the high paying ( finance) or youth weighted ( marketing) disappeared to CT and NJ.
Now most of those folks are being moved further out, to another second tier city or abroad Hence this makes sense to revert "to the mean" of nice downtown locations.
But the trend alone is not the full story, the break-up of HQs is and the attendant further segregation of the C-suite and those with keys to said 0.1% golden kingdom ( young ivy league MBA grads and the like) from the D, VP, SVP "regular" occupants of HQ roles and their '00's of even more disbursed direct reports.
88
I don't think rent wasn't the central issue in the 1960s—it was mostly a desire to live in a car-centric suburb away from non-white minorities, where your kids could go to the best schools, all your neighbors looked the same, and there was a green lawn in front of every building. Freedom to do the hour long commute on your own terms, in your own Cadillac. http://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/stuck-in-1950s-suburbia/
3
Why does one have to be young to not care about "the downsides of city center HQs"? Perhaps many of us in the past preferred city center locations but were forced into following our companies to their "corporate campuses" in inconvenient suburban locations. I worked at several suburban locations and very much missed being in the city. Where could you go for lunch? Could you do easily do errands at lunchtime or at the end of the day at nearby stores and shops? Did you you have to drive alone from the suburban location where you lived to another suburban location rather than being able to car pool or to use public transportation into the city. Or if you chose to live in the city, how easy was your commute to that suburban location? Did you need to own a car when city life makes it more practical not to? I'm sure there are some issues with this change, especially in those cities where housing costs are astronomical, but there's a lot more that's good about it.
7
This is fairly accurate. At my company located in Manhattan, our HQ building is occupied by the senior execs, the marketing people, some sales people, some finance people and the design division. All other functions are either elsewhere in the country or at our campus outside the city.
1
Almost every college kid I ever knew who went to school in the Boston and Cambridge area wanted to remain there after graduating. That was true in 1970, and is still true today.
And with all the other high tech firms in the area, you are more attractive to job changers already living in the area. They don't have to move, or disrupt family life to take a GE position.
And with all the other high tech firms in the area, you are more attractive to job changers already living in the area. They don't have to move, or disrupt family life to take a GE position.
58
I'd rather live in the beautiful woods of Vermont any day.
32
Me too. But I went to school in Newark, NJ
8
So would I. Any ski resort executive jobs available or maple syrup companies for sale? :)
I would guess that among the reasons that GE moved to Massachusetts is that Mass. has wisely abolished lifetime permanent alimony. A situation that has afflicted many of that company's top executives.
Connecticut Governor Malloy are you listening?
Connecticut Governor Malloy are you listening?
36
Connecticut is a broken state. Unfunded pension liabilities that can never be paid and large cities that are a disaster. Everyone is looking to leave Connecticut. Gov. Malloy is working on his exit strategy to join the Clinton Administration. GE is much like the state of Connecticut a debt bloated company that has done nothing for years and no leadership at the top.
2
Massachusetts also, despite attempts to abolish, still retains the legality of non-compete clauses in employment contracts.
1
Companies don't need everybody in one place as they did at one time ... the corporate campus replaced the company owned (and named) skyscraper when most cities became dangerous and followed people to where they wanted to live.
Most of the now 30-40 year old campuses are too large and too old .... I'm surprised more are not moving back .. with all the incentives being thrown at them.
Most of the now 30-40 year old campuses are too large and too old .... I'm surprised more are not moving back .. with all the incentives being thrown at them.
18
I think there is some truth to this. Suburban buildings were never really built to last, and a campus constructed in the 1970s probably needs to be renovated or built from scratch.
Funny that many of those named skyscrapers are still holding up just fine, despite being built decades before these suburban campuses.
Funny that many of those named skyscrapers are still holding up just fine, despite being built decades before these suburban campuses.
5
“In a more perfect world, states would be competing on the quality of schools, infrastructure, work force and so forth,” said Gov. Jack A. Markell of Delaware. “We live in a world that’s not perfect, so if other states are competing on the basis of these dollar incentives, we need to be in the same arena.”
Oh, so Delaware is the victim here, forced by the race to the bottom to give "dollar incentives" aka tax breaks, to already-profitable corporations, whilst the true markers of civilization like schools, infrastructure and secure jobs are short-changed. No worries, Gov. Markell, I'm sure these struggling corporations are generous contributors to your re-election, and you can send your kids to private taxpayer-subsidized charter schools, and be chauffeur-driven to fund-raisers, waiving at the bread-lines of once-workers whose livlihoods and dignity have been outsourced to Mississippi or Mexico. And you wonder why Trump has so much inchoate support?
Oh, so Delaware is the victim here, forced by the race to the bottom to give "dollar incentives" aka tax breaks, to already-profitable corporations, whilst the true markers of civilization like schools, infrastructure and secure jobs are short-changed. No worries, Gov. Markell, I'm sure these struggling corporations are generous contributors to your re-election, and you can send your kids to private taxpayer-subsidized charter schools, and be chauffeur-driven to fund-raisers, waiving at the bread-lines of once-workers whose livlihoods and dignity have been outsourced to Mississippi or Mexico. And you wonder why Trump has so much inchoate support?
117
Maybe those in breadlines should start business and pay lots of taxes.
10
@reader in Wash DC, maybe those at the top should stop hoarding all the profits and share them with their overworked employees, and maybe even hire a few more to take on all that extra work driven by productivty gains.
103
And instead of bread, let them eat cake, right?
26