Cities with a major tech office “FAAMG”

[mhays]

Diamondpark, thanks for those numbers. Google's number is huge...mostly office presumably?

The Amazon number is office or also warehouses?

SF beats Seattle in this tally, no doubt. Amazon warehouses are the only thing I didn't count in my top-of-head numbers.

[JManc]

Originally Posted by pj3000

I always have to laugh when I hear people acting so impressed by someone who works for Google or Facebook... like it’s some prestigious role in society.

Most sit behind a computer all day and night and type code for online advertising.

I interviewed with Facebook at their Menlo Park office. Working for the company is prestigious, the job description was your average data analyst role. But having one of these big tech companies on your resume does open a lot of doors. I have a friend who works for Google in Austin as a contractor doing data work in online advertising and it's a ho hum job but it will benefit her in the long run.

It's equivalent to working for Shell, ExxonMobil, BP or Chevron (major producers) here in Houston.

[Obadno]

Originally Posted by Buckeye Native 001

So what? Just pointing out that yes, Apple has a presence in the Phoenix area but it's pretty far away from most of the Valley's major employment clusters.

Again.... so? Modern economies are inherently metro-regional. If its in the Phoenix metro its part of the system, Amazon warehouses are out in Goodyear, alphabet self driving cars are in Chandler and Microsoft's tech office is in Tempe. and but they are still for the metro.

Actually I dont think any of them have any office space within the city limits of Phoenix itself.

[Obadno]

Originally Posted by pj3000

I always have to laugh when I hear people acting so impressed by someone who works for Google or Facebook... like it’s some prestigious role in society.

Most sit behind a computer all day and night and type code for online advertising.

Tech is the current sexy industry. Before that it was bankers and stock traders, before that it was Advertising and Airlines.

Its just a cultural thing.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by JManc

I interviewed with Facebook at their Menlo Park office. Working for the company is prestigious, the job description was your average data analyst role. But having one of these big tech companies on your resume does open a lot of doors. I have a friend who works for Google in Austin as a contractor doing data work in online advertising and it's a ho hum job but it will benefit her in the long run.

It's equivalent to working for Shell, ExxonMobil, BP or Chevron (major producers) here in Houston.

The resumé risk with tech, that's not so much a risk with oil & gas, is that prestigious tech companies have a fairly short shelf life. I'm in my mid-30s and Microsoft was about the most prestigious tech company to work at while I was in college. Today it's not even the most prestigious tech company in Seattle, lol.

[dimondpark]

Originally Posted by mhays

Diamondpark, thanks for those numbers. Google's number is huge...mostly office presumably?

The Amazon number is office or also warehouses?

SF beats Seattle in this tally, no doubt. Amazon warehouses are the only thing I didn't count in my top-of-head numbers.

Nope, none of that is warehouse space.

Amazon has 7,000 white collar workers in the Bay Area and through a quick google search, I can account for 3.251 million sq ft of actual office space leased or owned by Amazon in the Bay Area, I suspect the half million sq ft I couldnt find is at their Palo Alto office, coincidentally I couldnt find the size of that lease.

Amazon Office Space in the Bay Area I was able to verify:
Sunnyvale 1,850,000 sqft
Santa Clara 700,000 sqft
San Francisco 319,000 sqft
East Palo Alto 294,000 sqft
Cupertino 85,000 sqft
Palo Alto ???
Total: 3,251,000 sq ft


https://www.sfchronicle.com/business...y-13796775.php

[tdawg]

I believe that Google is set to anchor the new 1105 West Peachtree tower in Midtown Atlanta.

[JManc]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

The resumé risk with tech, that's not so much a risk with oil & gas, is that prestigious tech companies have a fairly short shelf life. I'm in my mid-30s and Microsoft was about the most prestigious tech company to work at while I was in college. Today it's not even the most prestigious tech company in Seattle, lol.

Good point. I would think it would be a good piggy back to move onto a new job. I would have stayed in the Bay Area for a year or two and then moved back here.

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by pj3000

I always have to laugh when I hear people acting so impressed by someone who works for Google or Facebook... like it’s some prestigious role in society.

Most sit behind a computer all day and night and type code for online advertising.

I'm rarely ever impressed with what anybody does for a living; in fact, I don't like to define people by what they do for an income--I like to define people by what they do on their free time.

When my widowed aunt remarried 10 or 15 years ago or so, she married a rocket scientist... LITERALLY (exaggeration; he's an engineer and worked for whatever the Silicon Valley equivalent of JPL is or something). I thought he'd have the most boring personality. But when I first met him and learned that he likes to restore antique furniture and is into photography, that's when I learned that he's actually a very interesting person, and I liked him immediately.

[mhays]

Originally Posted by dimondpark

Nope, none of that is warehouse space.

Amazon has 7,000 white collar workers in the Bay Area and through a quick google search, I can account for 3.251 million sq ft of actual office space leased or owned by Amazon in the Bay Area, I suspect the half million sq ft I couldnt find is at their Palo Alto office, coincidentally I couldnt find the size of that lease.

Amazon Office Space in the Bay Area I was able to verify:
Sunnyvale 1,850,000 sqft
Santa Clara 700,000 sqft
San Francisco 319,000 sqft
East Palo Alto 294,000 sqft
Cupertino 85,000 sqft
Palo Alto ???
Total: 3,251,000 sq ft

https://www.sfchronicle.com/business...y-13796775.php

They could fit 7,000 workers in 1/3 of that space.

[austlar1]

Originally Posted by LosAngelesSportsFan

Los Angeles
New York
San Francisco
San Jose
Seattle
Boston
Austin
Chicago
Charlotte
DC

Those are my guesses

Not so sure about Charlotte, but definitely add DFW. There are significant office operations for each company as well as data centers for some of them.

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by JManc

I interviewed with Facebook at their Menlo Park office. Working for the company is prestigious, the job description was your average data analyst role. But having one of these big tech companies on your resume does open a lot of doors. I have a friend who works for Google in Austin as a contractor doing data work in online advertising and it's a ho hum job but it will benefit her in the long run.

It's equivalent to working for Shell, ExxonMobil, BP or Chevron (major producers) here in Houston.

Sitting on your ass all day doing data entry to develop better algorithms to push consumer product advertising is very far from a prestigious position, as far as I'm concerned.

I'm just always kinda surprised that people seem to be impressed if someone works there, or as is usually the case, someone who works there is impressed with himself. I think it's just the perception people outside have that they must be solving some really important issue, when more than likely, they spend weeks at a time working on a tiny little portion of a project to get more ads for boner pills to the right dudes.

I totally get the big name, resume-builder aspect... just not what I was referring to.

Originally Posted by sopas ej

I'm rarely ever impressed with what anybody does for a living; in fact, I don't like to define people by what they do for an income--I like to define people by what they do on their free time.

When my widowed aunt remarried 10 or 15 years ago or so, she married a rocket scientist... LITERALLY (exaggeration; he's an engineer and worked for whatever the Silicon Valley equivalent of JPL is or something). I thought he'd have the most boring personality. But when I first met him and learned that he likes to restore antique furniture and is into photography, that's when I learned that he's actually a very interesting person, and I liked him immediately.

Generally (based on my experience working in a professional scientific/technical capacity for 20+ years), people who are ACTUAL engineers... like mechanical/civil/electric/chemical engineers... who work in those fields, and their related offshoots, are pretty interesting and creative people.

People who got an engineering degree because it looks good for job prospects, but never actually become an engineer, and go to work in tech, finance, etc. are some of the most boring, vapid, and often insufferable, sorts to be around.

[KevinFromTexas]

Austin has offices for Apple, Facebook, Google, and course, Dell, but that's in the suburbs. I'm sure there are others, but those are the big ones. Apple has some suburban offices in Northwest Austin.

Facebook has their Austin offices in the grey tower on the left with the greenish windows. The dark blue tower is the main Google office tower at the moment. Google will also occupy the 594 foot 35 story Block 185 Tower. It's under construction now. You can see the construction pit in the photo below.





Block 185 rendering.

[spoonman109]

That’s impressive for Austin. I just think having these companies in your metro is a really good thing. High paying jobs. Growth companies. Offshoot companies can be generated out of it. Talent breeds talent etc.

[Shawn]

You guys can goof on Google and people who work there all you want; they pay double what other companies do, plus provide generous benefits. And most people who work at Google are not engineers, they're media or service reps assigned to direct client accounts. They pay $100k a year for what a Big Four agency pays $50-$60k a year. Getting hired by Google as a salaried permanent employee isn't unlike getting into MIT or Stanford - it's that competitive in terms of applicants vs openings, and selectivity. I'm not saying that means they're great human beings; I'm saying it's something few people can do. And it opens all the doors once "Google" is on your CV.

Now, Google also has lots of contract workers who don't get nearly as many benefits, who frequently do more rote analysis in back-office roles. They're not getting double the industry standard.

But I agree with the point made that all this is still about perception, and perceptions change. Depending on your role, Microsoft still is a prestige point for a CV. Contrast that with Facebook, who still has to pay near-Google salaries just to keep up with churn. Google, Apple, and MS have really low churn, Amazon a little higher because of the culture; Facebook used to have almost none as well. Not so anymore, and that's a big red flag. They're not drawing from the same pool of job-seekers as Google is anymore, like they were pre-Cambridge Analytica. Especially among the "affordable" new grad pool; it's shocking to see how little attention the Facebook booth gets at student job fairs. When you interview ex-FB employees who worked there 2015-2018, they to a person make pained efforts at assuring you they were not part of any of "those projects."

And Google has pleeeenty of "those projects", so . . .

[SIGSEGV]

Originally Posted by Shawn

You guys can goof on Google and people who work there all you want; they pay double what other companies do, plus provide generous benefits. And most people who work at Google are not engineers, they're media or service reps assigned to direct client accounts. They pay $100k a year for what a Big Four agency pays $50-$60k a year. Getting hired by Google as a salaried permanent employee isn't unlike getting into MIT or Stanford - it's that competitive in terms of applicants vs openings, and selectivity. I'm not saying that means they're great human beings; I'm saying it's something few people can do. And it opens all the doors once "Google" is on your CV.

Now, Google also has lots of contract workers who don't get nearly as many benefits, who frequently do more rote analysis in back-office roles. They're not getting double the industry standard.

But I agree with the point made that all this is still about perception, and perceptions change. Depending on your role, Microsoft still is a prestige point for a CV. Contrast that with Facebook, who still has to pay near-Google salaries just to keep up with churn. Google, Apple, and MS have really low churn, Amazon a little higher because of the culture; Facebook used to have almost none as well. Not so anymore, and that's a big red flag. They're not drawing from the same pool of job-seekers as Google is anymore, like they were pre-Cambridge Analytica. Especially among the "affordable" new grad pool; it's shocking to see how little attention the Facebook booth gets at student job fairs. When you interview ex-FB employees who worked there 2015-2018, they to a person make pained efforts at assuring you they were not part of any of "those projects."

And Google has pleeeenty of "those projects", so . . .

If I ever leave academia, Google would be one of the first places I'd look, even though I'm not a huge fan of a lot of their... technology, they do do some really cool things.

[chris08876]

I still think an investment banker is the most prestigious job or some sort of hedge fund manager.

One of those sky "potentially" could be the limit positions. Yeah tech positions make money, and if one develops a useful app, it could make one multi-millionaire or billionaire in theory, but I still think a lucrative Wall Street job is the creme-de-la creme of jobs.

Maybe not right now lol... in this present time... given whats going on, but man... Wall Street is the ultimate rush, almost a rampant addiction in some cases. Some lows, but also some extreme highs. And sometimes, it can all go to poop.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by chris08876

I still think an investment banker is the most prestigious job or some sort of hedge fund manager.

One of those sky "potentially" could be the limit positions. Yeah tech positions make money, and if one develops a useful app, it could make one multi-millionaire or billionaire in theory, but I still think a lucrative Wall Street job is the creme-de-la creme of jobs.

Maybe not right now lol... in this present time... given whats going on, but man... Wall Street is the ultimate rush, almost a rampant addiction in some cases. Some lows, but also some extreme highs. And sometimes, it can all go to poop.

Tech pays more.

[KevinFromTexas]

Tech is also less stressful than a banking job. There's also the issue of the masses not wanting to string you up by your toes after times get tough.

[JManc]

I have a friend who works in the Google building in Austin; good views overlooking lady Bird Park though she's quarantined for a while.