PrintTalia, leave your heart in San Francisco – your job is moving to Arizona
For the past few days, recently unemployed Talia ben Ora, otherwise known as Talia Jane, has been criticized and mocked as a perfect example of spoiled young ones who expect everything handed to them, including a job that pays well beyond their skill set, including here. Her blog complaint to her boss – that San Francisco's high cost of living left her with little money to spend for essentials, let alone discretionary delights – is valid, even though the posting resulted in her termination.
Even her boss Jeremy Stoppelman, chief executive of Yelp, agrees. And he is going to do something about it. No, not rehire her. No, not give every employee a raise. Instead, the job, support for Yelp's Eat24, will move to Phoenix, Arizona, which has a lower cost of living both for employees and employers.
Stoppelman tweeted:
"1/5 Late last night I read Talia's medium contribution and want to acknowledge her point that the cost of living in SF is far too high.
"2/5 I have been focused on this issue, backing anti-NIMBY group SFBARF and speaking out frequently about the need to lower cost of housing. (snip)
"4/5 Two sides to every HR story so Twitter army please put down the pitchforks. The reality of such a high Bay Area cost of living is ...
"5/5 entry level jobs migrate to where costs of living are lower. Have already announced we are growing EAT24 support in AZ for this reason."
Yelp said in a statement Monday that it does not comment on personnel matters. But the company echoed Stoppelman's sentiment.
"We did agree with many of the points in the Medium post and thought it served as an important example of Ms. Ben-Ora's freedom of speech," the company said in a statement to The Post. "We agree with her remarks about the high costs of living in San Francisco, which is why we announced in December that we are expanding our Eat24 customer support team into our Phoenix office where we will pay the same wage."
Earning $12.25 an hour in Phoenix, Talia Jane could rent a nicer apartment at a lower cost, closer to her job and the vibe of city life that she enjoys. She would have enough money left over to repair her car and even buy enough food so she wouldn't be hungry. But even if she were rehired, would she, and the other starving, stress-filled Eat24 underlings, pack up and move to Phoenix? Maybe a few would, but most won't, either joining the ranks of the unemployed in San Francisco or perhaps finding another low-paying job in the high-tech, high-cost area and still have the same complaints. Meanwhile, young entry-level employees in Phoenix will be happily snacking away as they offer help to Eat24 customers, marveling at their luck at getting such a fine position while they gain experience to move up in the professional world.
And the wealthy elitists in San Francisco, who fight every new building, every initiative to improve the standard of living for all, which forced out Eat24's support team and other companies, are indifferent to the plight of the Talias of their city. As long as thin plastic bags for groceries are banned, they're happy.
