SFGATE | The Sunday reading newsletter
August 6, 2021Updated August 6, 2021 2:22 PM
Thirty percent of the jobs in San Francisco are in the technology sector.
Photo illustration: SFGATE / SirVectorr via Getty Images
In the summer of 2019, I moved from Austin to San Francisco to work as a journalist. Little did I know that almost everyone I met here would react in disbelief if I told them that I was not “working in technology”.
Thirty percent of jobs in San Francisco and the wider Silicon Valley are in the technology sector. As a mid-career professional in a creative industry, my salary just doesn’t compare to an entry-level coder and doesn’t offer any of the benefits of a potentially life-changing IPO. Depending on your perspective, my choice made me either curious about dinner parties or a financially irresponsible idiot.
Getting around town without the convenience of a tech job wasn’t easy, but I believe it’s possible as long as you’re willing to make a few sacrifices (including having your own clean bathroom). I consider myself proof of why I wanted to share my story what it’s like to move to San Francisco without a tech job.
– Dan Gentile
