Quickly becoming one of the most appealing and popular relocation spots for tech talent during the pandemic, Austin, Texas is on the verge of being a tech powerhouse.
After the corporate office closures of Silicon Valley, Austin has emerged as one of the most popular relocation spots for tech talent and tech businesses alike.
From tech giant Oracle to venture capital firm 8VC, to the likes of Dropbox CEO Drew Houston and Tesla founder Elon Musk, relocation to Austin is increasingly common for those looking to benefit from a booming tech industry.
Let’s take a look at why Austin is such a powerful tech hub.
Apple has recently dropped $1 billion on a new campus in Austin, which is set to house an initial 5,000 employees with the potential to expand to a hefty 15,000 staff.
Apple is no stranger to Austin, having been a part of the community since 1992 and currently employing 7,000 staff in the area – yet now it coincides with the likes of Google, Facebook, Amazon, Oracle and Atlassian’s thousands of workers collectively in Austin.
This is in combination with Austin’s already established history with the likes of Dell Technologies, with a reported 13,000 Dell workers employed in the Central Texas region alone.
It’s not just the big names that are causing curiosity.
Newer tech startups, such as RigUp and DISCO, raised a collective $400 million in venture capital in January 2019, which is a promising sign for other local Austin tech startups.
Long story short, businesses far and wide, from established to up-and-coming, are flocking to Austin for new opportunities.
Diversity and inclusion have been on the agenda for businesses like never before, with many struggling to improve their existing policies.
When it comes to inclusivity, Austin has been listed as the third-best LGBTQ+ city in the US, and has frequently been cited as one of the most LGBTQ+ friendly cities in the country.
Additionally, specific businesses within Austin are making strides towards more diverse and inclusive practices.
Nuha Elkhiamy, company executive, describes Google’s future as ‘really bright’ in Austin, also describing a three-pronged approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion within the Austin site.
This included manager development, creating safe spaces, a focus on allyship, and building a more representative tech industry, coinciding at a time where existing Google employees are expressing interest in transferring to Austin.
This indicates that Austin is an environment in which diversity and inclusion can thrive, and that businesses looking to set up in Austin can be motivated to improve their existing approaches, benefitting from the multiple community programs and involvement.
Even a six-figure salary can only go so far in Silicon Valley, which is very emblematic of the hefty cost of living in the Bay Area.
With employees forking out up to 50% of their salary on rent, with a one-bedroom apartment in San Francisco costing almost $3,280, the appeal of paying only $1,475 for a one-bedroom apartment in Austin instead might be considerably more appealing.
Though the average cost of rent in Austin is expected to rise, a simple fact remains true – Austin’s cost of living is lower than other tech-oriented cities, which means relocating to Austin can result in your salary going much further than it could before.
This also has implications for the talent that can be found in the area, with millennials making up a large portion of Austin’s workforce, and the highly skilled talent pool available from the University of Texas also having appeal for tech companies.
In both cases, the business opportunities and the lower cost of living in comparison to other tech-oriented cities means that businesses can also expect a talent pool of young professionals to be available in Austin.
Even with the demand that is created by more tech companies and their employees relocating to Austin, housing and lease rates are still far more affordable than can be found elsewhere.
Did you know that Texas is one of only seven states in the U.S. with no corporate income tax?
This means that businesses and individuals can benefit from increased capital funds, which has a knock-on effect for investments and business expansion.
This also means higher purchasing power and profit for businesses, all with lower operating costs.
Executives also find Austin to have a light-touch regulatory environment and a pro-business state government.
Add in availability of labour, quality education and capital, and lower operating costs, and you have the perfect factors that contribute to how in-demand Austin currently is for tech businesses.
As the state capital, Austin has also benefited from being one of the country’s best-educated workforces, which pairs harmoniously with the competitive but diverse environment – the talent and prosperous environment are already there and waiting for tech businesses to thrive in.
Even with the challenges brought by the pandemic that caused employment to take a big hit, Austin has continued to experience an economic boom.
According to the Austin Chamber of Commerce, the city’s jobs recovery has been the third fastest of the country’s 50 largest metro areas, regaining 75% of last Spring’s pandemic-related job losses.
With an influx of new businesses and residents, all eyes might be on Austin waiting to see what happens next, yet developments have been quite promising.
Businesses have benefitted from a diverse, inclusive and innovative environment with a low cost of living and multiple entrepreneurial and business incentives.
At a time when many sectors are still reeling from the effects of the pandemic, Austin offers tech businesses the chance to thrive by offering access to top talent, a thriving tech ecosystem, and the chance to grow alongside some of the biggest current and up-and-coming names in tech.
As different types of technology continue to develop and flourish in Austin, it’s no stretch to say that Austin’s position as a tech hub is unlikely to change in the near future.