One big issue is that engineers haven't seen cost of living increases in the last 10 years nearly on par with lawyer/finance/professional jobs. This was justified by the "tech crash" for many years, but it went on too long (only in the last few years are salaries going up again).
The only way to afford to live well in a California tech center as an engineer has been to have a big startup exit or a very senior job.
I managed a team at Google, and had 4 direct reports ask to work from home 50% of the time, or even to work 100% remotely, mostly so they could live somewhere cheaper.
This comes out in "work/life balance" - when your commute gets too long so you can afford a big enough house in your 30s, spouse gets mad, you get overtaxed, and it's not a good scene.
But to make this post more than just noise, much of the Google culture for a long time revolved around personal relationships and being in peoples cubes to get their attention. Not something you could do from home anyway. The Anybot experiment would have been interesting to see.
The only way to afford to live well in a California tech center as an engineer has been to have a big startup exit or a very senior job.
I managed a team at Google, and had 4 direct reports ask to work from home 50% of the time, or even to work 100% remotely, mostly so they could live somewhere cheaper.
This comes out in "work/life balance" - when your commute gets too long so you can afford a big enough house in your 30s, spouse gets mad, you get overtaxed, and it's not a good scene.