[ModernMech]

Not any good data, but I've had recruiters tell me that they don't pay very well (in SV terms), instead opting to sell employees on large options packages that will be "worth millions one day". It's a typical SV story, but one I wouldn't expect from a company that's valued at billions of dollars. That kind of behavior seems shady to me, so I wouldn't even consider working there.

[walrus01]

not to excuse significantly lower pay from magic leap, but their compensation might be calculated based on their office location in Plantation, Florida which I presume has significantly lower real estate (rental or purchase) costs than the bay area.

actual take home after rent or mortgage each month might be greater than something in mountain view.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plantation,_Florida

spending 20 seconds looking at zillow for that city I see what looks like some fairly decent 3BD/2BA detached homes for $300,000. which would be a pipe dream in seattle, vancouver or bay area.

[mlevental]

their listed hq is in plantation but their offices are scattered around south florida (ft lauderdale and miami). i actually grew up right down the street from their plantation office and housing is very cheap but i guarantee most of their engineers live here in this neighborhood

https://www.zillow.com/plantation-fl/in-Jacaranda-Lakes_att/

[walrus01]

I am probably showing my anti-florida bias here. But if you google "jacaranda lakes gated community", real estate in Florida and other parts of the US southeast creep me out. In a civil society that is functioning properly it should not be necessary for people in the top 15% income earning bracket to isolate themselves off in burbclave-like gated communities (proto-snow-crash style). I have seen this also in Charleston, SC where as a random caucasian, real estate agents warned me away from even thinking about trying to live in certain parts of the city.

Seattle might have some expensive and exclusive areas but it is not like anyone has erected walls and gates around upper queen anne, magnolia, or alaska junction in west seattle.

[bergie]

> burbclave-like gated communities (proto-snow-crash style)

If we ever want to get to the cyberpunk dystopian future, somebody has to lead the way.

[maxxxxx]

A lot of people like gated communities. Not saying this is a good trend but there definitely is demand.

[mlevental]

jacaranda lakes is not gated. hawks landing down the road from jacaranda is though

http://www.hawkslandingrealty.net/

[meestaahjoshee]

also no state income tax in florida

[goshx]

and 6% sales tax

[walrus01]

but depending on your political views, you also have to tolerate living in florida, which can be a distasteful experience to people whose cultural, religious and political values more closely align with the residents of portland, OR.

[adl]

For someone who lives outside the US, but has visited Florida (Miami and Orlando), what do yo mean by tolerate? I understand that they may be more... conservative?. As a tourist, Miami seemed multicultural and fairly liberal, are state politics different?

[ryandrake]

Speaking as a former Floridian who lived both in south Florida and the panhandle: South Florida is a tiny blue outlier in an otherwise deep red southern state. State laws and politics are dominated by Tallahassee which is physically and culturally closer to Alabama. It would be a shock to someone moving from the Bay Area or Seattle.

That said, zero income taxes, low sales taxes, warm weather year round, and great beaches are all very compelling.

[kozak]

Could you please explain to a non-American what do you mean here? Sounds like something that is interesting to know :)

[walrus01]

in brief, and this is a highly anecdotal biased view, florida (in aggregate, not the more liberal cities) is a deep red state that generally agrees with Trump.

https://www.politico.com/2016-election/results/map/president...

as a random white person, caucasian floridians I have met are racist as hell. You would not believe the things that come out of their mouths when there are no ethnic/religious minorities within earshot and they believe you to be a person that might agree with their worldview.

it's a state that believes in cutting taxes to the level that they have the absolute bare minimum of social services, government services and other things that people in a western european nation (or canada, au, nz) take for granted.

florida is a state that regularly elects, at the state and county level, christian-religious politicians who will attempt to do things like make abortion illegal, introduce religious into public schools, and other policies generally supported by the evangelical religious right wing.

[matte_black]

Don’t listen to him, he’s never lived in Florida. It’s fine.

Half the people in Florida are liberals, it is in fact a swing state that can go either red or blue in any election. If you blanche at the thought of living anywhere that isn’t a liberal stronghold or you shiver at the idea of interacting with a conservative you won’t like it; if you’re a normal person you’ll be just fine.

[goshx]

I've been living in Florida for 6 years now. The only thing that bothers me here is the hurricane season.

[mlevental]

south florida isn't so bad. miami especially is very liberal (except for the cuban exiles)

[JumpCrisscross]

> opting to sell employees on large options packages that will be "worth millions one day"

They're also notorious for refusing to allow employees to sell their shares, even if nothing in the original agreement prohibits a compliant transfer.

[DavidHm]

Is the refusal legally valid, or just pressure?

[Holomakerbot]

Here’s some actual data: https://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Magic-Leap-Salaries-E799754...