Former Sun CEO On Jobs In Silicon Valley

02-13-2011 • GlobalEconomicAnalysis.blogspot.com

WSJ: When did you see Silicon Valley begin to recover from the recession, and how far along has it come? Mr. McNealy: It's not a terribly job-filled recovery. Productivity gains continue to push the need to hire out. I see a migration from the early days of the Valley. We aren't doing manufacturing; we aren't doing design; we aren't doing computers. It's all moving to Asia and other places where there are lots of technical engineers who are willing to work at a more reasonable salary because they don't have to spend $3.5 million on a home and pay half of it to taxes. I think every new transition has created less job opportunity as technology has become very leveraged. I don't think our education system, our regulations, our government policies have kept pace with the changes that technology is driving. Maybe I'm sounding like an old guy, but [Silicon Valley] ain't what it used to be. I, for one, don't think this is the best place in the world to start a company.