[jeffwilcox]

When I graduated in 2005, I was so happy to be moving somewhere (Seattle) with essentially my entire graduating class. That social network was comforting and fun, and it was great knowing people working at Amazon, at Microsoft, and other firms to compare and contrast experiences.

In hindsight... only a few ever moved back to Michigan, and wow, yeah, what a recruiting pipeline, and what brain drain.

I imagine that only accelerated the last decade as midwest total compensation likely trailed significantly.

For a while, it felt like the tech firms were strip-mining all the talented midwest engineers who were willing to relocate. I hope the more remote-friendly future helps people keep their local roots.