OAKLAND (KRON) — Recruiters tell KRON there are plenty of jobs in high tech, and in the Bay Area, not all of those positions are in the Silicon Valley anymore.
Several years ago, South Bay companies were relocating to San Francisco. And now, some are moving to the East Bay where office space is more affordable.
Case in point–Uber.
The ride-sharing company is taking over the old Sears building on Broadway Street in Oakland, and will employ some 3,000 people.
But the benefits of moving to the East Bay don’t stop there.
One of the first big startups in Oakland, Pandora has called the city home for a decade. The city was chosen for its charm.
“It’s that combination of rich cultural history and the affordability of the city,” Pandora spokeswoman Marta Riggins said.
With nearly 80 million active users a month in the United States, the employee base is growing as well. Walking to work allows Riggins some exercise and the chance to get home to her 4-year-old son within a couple of minutes.
“The fact that I can leave work and within 10 minutes go get him from preschool is really great,” Riggins said. “I don’t have to be commuting far away.”
Walkability is important to Marta, but there are thousands that depend on transportation to get to work.
More people are moving to the Bay Area, and this heavy demand on the transportation system is evidence the regional community is thriving.
“Clearly more congested freeways,” Metropolitan Transportation Commission spokesman John Goodwin said. “We also see record ridership on BART…Caltrain…and a growing number of people who are choosing the ferries for transbay trips.”
Goodwin said jobs are causing the uptick in commuters.
Jobs determine what the transportation system looks like. People will travel for work.
“We project that over the course of the next 25 years that San Jose, San Francisco, and Oakland will be leading the Bay Area in both population and jobs growth,” Goodwin said.
Goodwin believes with more tech jobs moving to the East Bay, eventually, traffic will ease a bit.
“If there are more jobs moving to Oakland or elsewhere in the East Bay, that can help reverse this long-standing jobs, housing imbalance,” Goodwin said.