I have not read of any trend of companies leaving San Diego or California.
The Buck Knives story was interesting. In it, I found this:
“A 2005 report by the Public Policy Institute of California, a nonprofit research organization based in San Francisco, found that job losses from company relocations have never been more than a tenth of 1 percent of all of the state’s jobs.
“There has been no substantial business exodus from California, and there has been little if any change in the rate at which businesses are leaving California or avoiding California,” the study said. END QUOTE
During the power shortages a few years ago, I remember Buck Knives talk about leaving, to reduce electricity costs. The main reasons for them leaving cited in the article are high workers’ comp and utilities. No mention of housing cost. Workers’ comp insurance is 10X higher in CA than in Idaho, so for 200 employees they’ve saved $400 million. Idaho has no minimum wage law, so only the federal min. wage applies.
Did anyone see the U-T article (12/15/05) about the economy and loss of manufacturing jobs? They mentioned Qualcomm – they can’t fill about 500 positions, since the high cost of housing is keeping employees from moving here. Yet, there is not talk of Qualcomm leaving San Diego.
There has been a loss of manufacturing jobs (U-T article) due to plant closings, not relocation. For example, Sony just closed its Rancho Bernardo TV plant, since consumers are more interested in purchasing plasma TVs made in China.
