Eight Ways The Bay Area Can Attract And Retain Its Fleeting Tech Talent

In 2020, the Bay Area saw an exodus of tech talent. Professionals, VCs and entrepreneurs fled San Francisco for up-and-coming cities like Austin and Boulder. These cities offered a more affordable cost of living and plenty of opportunities, especially in today’s remote-first business world.

However, this leaves the Bay Area scrambling to keep tech talent. It’s up to the larger community to bring tech professionals back—and retain those still in the area. A panel of Forbes Technology Council members shares what is needed to do just that.

1. More Business-Friendly Policies

Housing, business-friendly policies and curbing additional taxes on high-income individuals will help curb the attrition. For San Francisco in particular, a focus on reducing crime is also key. - Sanish Mondkar, Legion Technologies

2. Greater Consideration Of Women And Minority Candidates

The best thing we can do to attract new talent is to open the lens we use to evaluate talent. Women and minorities represent such a small portion of the tech industry. As long as we continue to look for the typical candidate, with the typical skills from a particular background, we will continue to lose the talent race. We cannot continue to do and act as we have for decades. - MK Palmore, Palo Alto Networks

3. More Affordable Housing

Housing as a core need has proven to be a barrier for most entrepreneurs and talents to move or live in the San Francisco Bay Area. Judging by the real estate pricing and traffic, I have to assume that we are near saturation. Adding to the population in the Bay Area won't help the situation. Besides, it is positive to see more tech hubs growing in the country. - Arman Eshraghi, Qrvey

4. Increased Diversity Of Industry

Bay Area lacks diversity in industries so it attracts only a specific type of talent. Turns out that that talent can work from anywhere and be as productive. Improving the quality of life and reducing costs so that all types of industries flourish here is important. In general, I am happy other areas are growing, as I feel the size of the pie is increasing. - Ashish Bansal, Twitch

5. Reduced Taxes

The cost of living is high compared to the quality of life. Taxes can be reduced to help people save more and have the ability to reinvest in their lives and the community. - Elnaz Sarraf, ROYBI Robot

6. Greater Economic Balance

At the risk of being branded a heretic, in my opinion, the exodus is healthy for the SFO Bay Area and the U.S. The history of U.S. business is littered with excess: Pittsburgh (rail/steel), Detroit (automobile) and now Silicon Valley (tech). As excess is unhealthy to humans, so it is to economies. Policy should strive for balance. We are still too far out of balance and have some distance to go. - Arshad Noor, StrongKey

7. Spreading Bay Area Culture Virtually

What makes Bay Area special is its ability to recognize, compensate and put competency above everything. Bay Area is not just a location; it is culture. With COVID-19, there is an opportunity to spread the culture and create the virtual Silicon Valley that goes to more locations and a diverse set of groups. I see this as an opportunity for Bay Area thinkers, disrupters and builders. - Vipin Jain, Pensando Systems

8. Getting Covid-19 Under Control

Amid the most impactful pandemic of our time, many individuals have decided to move out of Silicon Valley. The local Bay Area community can retain and attract new talent by helping to control the spread of the coronavirus. Once Covid-19 is under control, businesses will boom again; people will return to their offices and enjoy the energy and culture unique only to Silicon Valley. - Bob Fabien Zinga, Directly, Inc/U.S. Navy Reserve

Successful CIOs, CTOs & executives from Forbes Technology Council offer firsthand insights on tech & business.

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2021/02/03/eight-ways-the-bay-area-can-attract-and-retain-its-fleeting-tech-talent/?sh=1c99684e2d9f