The New Job Hot-Spots: Phoenix, Orlando and Albuquerque

livemint.com:

Opportunity in the U.S. has a new address. Four years ago, the West led other regions in terms of jobs growth, and salaries in major cities commanded a hefty premium over their smaller counterparts.

That has changed. Cities across the Sunbelt are now adding jobs at a chart-topping rate, while the traditional superstar cities such as San Francisco have had many companies pick up and move, with workers and their employers seeking better living and affordability elsewhere. At the same time, the pay bump that once accompanied a big-city posting has in many cases come down to earth, while salaries in other regions have risen.

“The influence of geography is diminishing," says Lauren Mason, a senior principal at consulting firm Mercer. Three years ago, for example, jobs in New York City commanded a 19% pay premium over the national median, an advantage that shrank to 14% last year, according to Mercer’s data. Similarly, while in 2021, workers in Lincoln, Neb., were paid salaries 6% lower than the U.S.

norm, by last year, that gap had shrunk to just 3%. Part of the phenomenon can be traced to the rise of remote work, with more highly paid workers picking up and moving their salaries elsewhere. At the same time, hiring has also risen more swiftly in many traditionally low-cost markets, driving up competition—and pay—for workers around the country, Mason and others say.

Priced out of the Bay Area When mobile-gaming company Skillz moved its headquarters from the Bay Area to Las Vegas, Nev., in January, it didn’t reduce salaries for staffers who moved to lower-cost Las Vegas. The company values its employees and had already saved money on the move, says CEO Andrew Paradise. The company, which previously had a small customer-support