Remote work has allowed Silicon Valley to expand the talent pool
In order to compete for talent during the nationwide staffing shortage, West Coast-based tech companies, especially those in Silicon Valley, are increasingly seeking talent away from the West Coast.
The percentage of West Coast companies’ job postings throughout the United States jumped to 43% in 2021 from about 30% at the beginning of 2019, Bloomberg reported, citing data from The Conference Board.
Furthermore, it’s a growing trend amongst several industries.
By October 2021, nearly 50% of job postings under business and financial operations were for other cities, up from about 45% in April 2020 and just under 30% in October 2018, according to data from The Conference Board. The percentage of computer and mathematical job postings also increased to over 40% in October 2021 from more than 30% in April 2020 and around 35% in October 2018.
Legal (nearly 40% in October 2021, 30% in April 2020 and nearly 25% in October 2018) and management (around 35% in October 2021, just under 20% in April 2020 and around 15% in October 2018) job postings also showed the same trend.
Read more: ‘Sourcing talent has become much more of a science’
Texas had the biggest percentage of job postings from West Coast tech companies in 2020 to 2021 at 7.3%, according to the Bloomberg report. This was up from 4.6% before the pandemic. Other states attracting tech companies include Virginia, Georgia and North Carolina, according to the report.
A previous workforce survey from PwC found that 41% of respondents said their productivity increased in the remote work setup compared to before the pandemic. "Workers may be getting the hang of remote work, with fewer employees and employers reporting decreases in productivity now than in 2020," the report stated.
Apple, Microsoft, Shopify and Slack are amongst the well-known companies with fully remote or hybrid work setups, according to a previous report. And California-based Williams-Sonoma, TranscribeMe and Robert Half International are among the top 15 U.S. employers with remote jobs to watch in 2022, according to FlexJobs.
Although California is trailing behind the rest of the U.S. when it comes to recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, the cities of San Francisco and San Jose are ripe with opportunity for job seekers, according to WalletHub’s study of 182 U.S. cities based on job-market strength. Yet, in December 2021, California made up about 22% of the country’s unemployment claims, even though it has 11.7% of the nation’s workforce, the Labor Department reported. In October, the state shared the top spot with Nevada for having the highest unemployment rate of 7.3%, well above the national figure of 4.6%.
With millions of employees quitting their jobs during the Great Resignation, companies are relying upon alternative methods to fill positions and serve their customers. Throughout the U.S., staffing firms are answering the call, supplying temporary and contract workers during this tight labor market. Staffing companies employed an average of 2.7 million temporary and contract workers per week in the third quarter of 2021, according to recent data by the American Staffing Association (ASA) in Alexandria, VA.