Lack of pure Tech companies in Charlotte, NC
I’ve noticed that Charlotte, although being one of the biggest cities in the country lacks startups and tech companies as a whole. I look on Indeed often at most jobs are at Wells, BofA, Deloitte, Spectrum, Lowe’s, etc. All great companies, but they’re not tech companies, just Fortune 500s with a tech department. I’m already at a pretty well established company, so moving to any of these companies would be a lateral move instead of a move upward. Now to be fair, Charlotte does have a small Microsoft office here and they do have Credit Karma (which was a talent vacuum) and Red Ventures but Credit Karma recently relocated here. I know Charlotte is a banking city, and it’s not short of fintechs, but it just surprises me that there isn’t a Google, Amazon, Oracle, Datadog, Snap, Coinbase or many up and coming mid size tech companies. I’m waiting for one to set up an office here so i can jump aboard. Any Charlotteans that can relate? #Charlotte #techjobs
Tech and science is in RTP. Why would NC want two tech hubs?
Charlotte: one of the biggest cities in the country? Isn't it like 15th largest? Also, as someone with connections to NC and who will always love parts of the state, I have to say the politics and culture are not good. Yeah, you're better than SC and WV, and I guess TN and KY too but not by that much. Southern US culture is backwards and literally has never recovered from the Civil War. NC might be the least sucky part of The Old South now, but again it's all relative. Tl;dr people who have the freedom to live anywhere are often not fond of regressive culture and politics.
15th largest city in the US definitely qualifies as biggest in a country of 20,000 cities. NC might be a red state but Charlotte is solidly blue, as well as the Research triangle (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill), the triad (Greensboro, High Point, Winston Salem) and Asheville. And Raleigh has offices for Meta, Red Hat, Google, Amazon, etc. They obviously don’t feel the politics of the state is a deterrent from setting up shop. I don’t know what connections to NC you have but your arrogance and ignorance makes me think you don’t have any. Driving through a state doesn’t qualify as a connection.
Charlotte being solidly blue is not remotely the same insulation against regressive politics that e.g. bay area California offers - I moved here after spending 15 years in norcal, the differences are not subtle. That said, I grew up in Mississippi and feel the same “step backwards” type of vibe visiting home versus living in Charlotte. It’s all a balance in what you’re willing and able to accept and personal priorities / comfort.
NC has always been purple. Gerrymandering has done a real number on state-wide policies such that living in a blue bubble really doesn’t shield you. I don’t know why you think these policies hasn’t impacted business or revenue. Plenty of businesses shied away from NC because of the bathroom ban in 2016 resulting in an estimated 3.76 billion in lost revenue: https://apnews.com/article/e6c7a15d2e16452c8dcbc2756fd67b44 Was born and raised in NC (living in Chapel Hill, Durham, Farmville, Marshall, and Asheville for various periods) and now live in CH. I’ve also lived in Holland, California, rural NY, and MD for appreciable amounts of time. It’s worthwhile to listen to Amazon’s perspective because that’s what people all over the country actually think about the state. Being militant that a visitor can’t have an opinion because it causes cognitive dissonance for you is a bad look. If regressive policies continue, companies will be forced to reduce investment in offices where they can’t attract or develop talent. Frankly, it was easier to save on an L5 salary in SF Bay Area than it is on an L6 salary here with the same housing costs. Having good degree programs here won’t help when people do better financially elsewhere. The real reason large tech shops set up here is because labor in the southeast is cheap (hope nobody’s kidding themselves about why _that’s_ the case…) and they already saw the writing on the wall in 2021. Investments came during hiring boom because everybody knew money wasn’t cheap anymore. Examples like Red Hat don’t count because they were founded here in the 90s, and the political landscape was incredibly different.
I’m sorry to burst your bubble but most people don’t like left wing policies. Have you seen the cities in California?? There is a reason 500,000 people leave California every year. The reason charlotte doesn’t have tech companies is because it’s not a big enough city and tech companies usually set up shop in Raleigh.
Yes, I’ve seen California’s cities, and that would’ve been clear if you actually read and tried to understand the post you’re replying to. I’ve lived in a lot of places. I also posted elsewhere that RTP already serves the tech niche in the state, so you didn’t add anything there. Politics isn’t part of this and you’re a rube for suggesting it is. Charlotte’s population (and population of metro area) has been larger than Raleigh’s effectively forever; it’s plenty big enough. The reason tech sets up in RTP is because of proximity to numerous research universities. I really don’t know what you were trying to add to this discussion.
Moved from SEA to NC….love the weather and COL here, hate the job market.
If a company was going to set something up in nc they’d do it in Raleigh. Access to talent is a big deal
There’s talent in Charlotte too
This is the reason as I see it. RTP has 3 really good universities from which to source talent. CLT has ?? Hiring from banking tech departments, where skills actually regress over time is a nonstarter. The quant departments at banks are more skilled than the tech folks IMO. Cost of living being the same, there are strong reasons to prefer other cities over Charlotte.