I grew up in Michigan and live in Wisconsin, working for a F100. We're not going to get the people who want to strike it rich in California. That's not necessarily an attraction for everybody. We hire who we can, and still manage to get some great people.
Some of our recent hires have come from the west coast. We're pretty blunt, so we've asked people: Why the hell did you come here?
Some have family in the region. Some anticipate a more laid back work culture, better lifestyle, more outdoorsy, easier to get around, 15 minute commutes, available housing. Some have a spouse or partner who isn't a techie, and they may have their own career reasons to be in the area. Sometimes we hire older people.
The world that isn't the advertising business still needs to exist, and has less of a reason to locate around the tech hubs, especially if they anticipate making physical things. I develop measurement equipment. I opted out of a programming career sometime around 1983, because I thought it would be boring. Oops. ;-) There's technology in agriculture.
Many of the startups in my locale are health, biology, or agriculture related.
But in general, we get the people we get, and we do OK.
That goes both ways, thought. I grew up in Michigan. Most of my family, and my partner's family are still there. I travel there regularly and stay in contact with a number of friends who are there, and each passing year I my resolution to never go back is stronger and stronger. The entire state is deeply broken politically, and I would never want to raise a child in that environment. Even as a white man, it's remarkable to go back, sit around in a bar or just in public, and to see the blatant racism, homophobia, and hatred around. Let's not even get into the dysfunctional state government - and the gerrymandered voters who enable it.
All of my smartest and most competent friends from high school - in every field - moved out of state. So did all of my friends of any kind of minority group who could afford it. I don't see any reason that's going to change.
Any small-medium mostly white suburb or rural town - which is to say the entire state.
There are small pockets of comparative tolerance, usually centered around universities.
Take any smaller town, even outside the larger cities like Lansing and Grand Rapids: Charlotte, Eaton Rapids, DeWitt, Wyoming, and more. It gets worse as you go further north. I've been to potlucks in Traverse City (of friends of friends, not relatives, thankfully) with racial slurs being thrown around left and right. Let's not even talk about the Upper Peninsula.
Isn't this an issue with most states though? Big metropolitan areas tend to lean liberal, rural areas tend to lean conservative, and every state has a similar distribution?
I've always contemplated moving out of MI to the west coast, but I've heard it's just the same sort of dynamic. So I just stick to metro Detroit, Flint, Ann Arbor, etc
The Midwest is far more proud of it. Yes, it you go to Eastern Washington/Oregon or Northern California, voters are more conservative, but I've done road trips in the last couple years through all that territory and I can sit in a brewery or go to a hotel without having it all thrown in my face. In suburban Michigan the locals are proud of their bigotry in a manner I just don't encounter in blue states.
No one in Washington was overtly plotting to kidnap the governor. The Eastern counties hate Inside but they're not as maniacal.
I have family in Wisconsin and live in Michigan. You guys have sunnier weather but a bit colder winter. I love both states. CA is low on my list but I might be down for Texas.
I got a call from that Fruit company a few years back, which seemed really compelling, but the economic quality of life change to move to CA was alarming.
My apologies, I was trying to be sarcastic, but it fell flat. I'm an older person too, and I like the possibility of having a career of reasonable duration. This is as opposed to the impression I've formed of work in the tech hubs being a young man's game. Which could also be mistaken.
Some of our recent hires have come from the west coast. We're pretty blunt, so we've asked people: Why the hell did you come here?
Some have family in the region. Some anticipate a more laid back work culture, better lifestyle, more outdoorsy, easier to get around, 15 minute commutes, available housing. Some have a spouse or partner who isn't a techie, and they may have their own career reasons to be in the area. Sometimes we hire older people.
The world that isn't the advertising business still needs to exist, and has less of a reason to locate around the tech hubs, especially if they anticipate making physical things. I develop measurement equipment. I opted out of a programming career sometime around 1983, because I thought it would be boring. Oops. ;-) There's technology in agriculture.
Many of the startups in my locale are health, biology, or agriculture related.
But in general, we get the people we get, and we do OK.