I’m trying to decide if it makes financial sense to relocate to Seattle WA, from the south east. Current Situation: I work for Oracle in OCI. I am well compensated for the South. 165 in base and enough stock to push me to 220 for the next 4 years. I work entirely from home and my job is pretty low stress. Lots of freedom to come and go as I please. I have some young kids, and my wife works in tech too. The work itself is lack luster. I live in a fairly “techie” city, and I can get another job here...but may not pay quite as well. Seattle Situation: Amazon.com offer is in Seattle. The total is 290. Base is 150/bonus/stock. Basically 4 years at 290 and whatever appreciation of stock. After that....dunno. My wife can work from her company office in Seattle, and I expect she will be adjusted, probably slowly, to a more appropriate wage for the Seattle area. I have to go to the office. I have a full relocation package. I’m sad to give up WFH, but I currently have astoundingly little confidence in Oracle OCI leadership. I am not bullish on the long term perspective of my current job...but I could be wrong. I figure that Amazon experience will be good for my career. And I feel like the potential for professional growth is better at Amazon...at the very least by being in the office. On the other hand...that 70k raise barely covers the cost of living. What would you do? Are there other factors to consider? Edit: I was offered SDEII at Amazon Edit Again: yes, I am aware that TC is a lot for SDE II. Please just trust me.
Take the opportunity, what the worse that could happen, the south is not going anywhere
“The south is not going anywhere”. Boy, that’s true. No where in particular, not very fast. The summer is miserable here too.
Take it. AWS engineers are well sought out
This is Amazon.com, not AWS...but I think it’s still true.
Stay in the south. Amazon is the extreme end to your WFH life. The increase of TC is not justified and you won’t be able to afford a decent house here that is less than 45mins away. Plus the cost of parking. Public transportation is even longer. Find a better job there and you’ll be happier without the stress of a cross country move.
We have been looking at Mercer Island. The Amazon shuttles take about 35 minutes from there...or so I have read. The mortgage will be about 20k more per year for something decent....though not quite comparable.
Forgot you had double income so Mercer Island would work and it’s a nice family friendly area. The con is your moving for a house that’s more expensive but not comparable. Sounds like a downgrade. Plus, you could be buying at the peak of the market.
If you're single and don't know anyone in Seattle, don't go there. Social life in Seattle is plain horrible. Amazon is not as shitty as people make it sound but is not great either. If you got that offer you can probably find something better.
Not shitty yet not great, meaning long hours but no all-nighters?
I love this scale. What is the rumor about Oracle, I wonder? Do outside folks see Oracle as a sweatshop too? I’m not sure. I suspect my experience here runs counter to the norm.
Not worth it at all, financially. You will be worse off. If you hate where you live and like the PNW, do it. But know going in it doesn't make sense financially. EVERYTHING here is more expensive for lower quality, not just housing.
I have heard this before. How do you determine this? Do you have a source? From the research I have done, it seems like some things certainly are...but not everything. For example groceries seem to be cheaper in Seattle, as well as some utilities.
My source is living in the southeast and moving to Seattle. A crappy meal in a restaurant here will cost you $20 per person not including tip, and that's for bad food. There are also a million little taxes instead of one big income tax. So don't think your tax burden will actually be lower. Utilities aren't too bad here except water. Water is expensive. Probably depends on where exactly in the south you live. From Atlanta to Seattle it was a HUGE COL increase.
OCI leadership is strong
😂
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Young kids = wfh gives you more time to hang out with them. Remember that you cannot buy time and they won't be young forever.
Don't worry, you are likely to find equally young kids at work as well... In the OCI leadership team.
why not use that spare time to start a side hustle of your own?
I just gave up work from home and relocating to amazon.com seattle in a few weeks. The wfh job is the golden handcuffs. I was so bored so I’m taking this opportunity with amazon and if I hate it I will find something else in a few years making more money with the experience. I think you would regret not taking it.
This sounds a lot like me. I’m excited to try something different again. My hope is that there is more room to grow into larger TC there in Seattle.
That’s my thought. I’m taking the Amazon offer in hopes of growing long term. I am 30 and wfh last 6 years. Got an $80k bump. My thought is if I take another job where I am I would most likely have to commute 30 minutes or so anyway and not sure I could get $80k more where I am now. The work from home is a double edged sword. Any job I take will most likely not be 100% remote so can’t really compare. If you want to grow tc you have to keep moving
Seattle is a far cry from the south - the weather, people, politics, culture, etc... Are you sure it would be good??
I’m not worried about these things. I am not from the south originally and I have lived other places previously.
So you and your wife are going to live separately?