I have watched over the past year or two how almost every fellow “super nerd” has moved from Utah Valley for jobs elsewhere. In fact, I found that there is a massive shortage of quality developers/engineers here and it isn’t getting better. Here are my thoughts on why this is, and I think it pertains well to any area trying to court the tech crowd.
1. Utah valley has not figured out how to value and treat engineers/programmers properly. Instead of putting them on a pedestal like Silicon Valley and the Seattle area has done, they are still way down on the totem pole here both in pay and stature. For the most part the system is still stuck in the managers/marketing are the top dawgs. I have tons of stories from my friends here who were treated like dirt and a blue collar employee by CEOs, managers, and investors. These guys control your companies destiny, and the way you treat them will directly affect your business.
2. Because of this lack of value put on good engineers, and the emphasis is on good, many of these engineers are going to areas where they can actually afford a home because the pay isn’t competitive. The housing market is so overpriced in Utah valley that I honestly cannot understand what people are thinking. At an average wage of 35-40k in Utah valley, the average home price is hovering around 220k, which will be burying most people up to their eyeballs in debt.
3. Outside of these two things, there is a lack of proven successful software companies currently alive in the area. I know there are the standard examples, but many of our old stalwarts either are struggling or have relocated. An increase in investing directly into the companies of engineers would help, instead of only those companies led by someone with an MBA or in some inner circle. Show the developer community some love and they will give back, otherwise we will continue to cycle a crop of 1-year-out-of-byu-or-uvsc developers.
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