[quote=sreeb]I am acutely aware of the job market for the types of people Qcom employs.
Can you name the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th employers of telcom engineers in the Sorrento Valley area? How many do they collectively employ compared to Qcom? How much of their business is dependant on Qcom?
Drive around Sorrento Valley. Most of the buildings have a sign saying “Qualcomm”. Most of the rest have a sign saying “Available”.
Once upon a time there was a large population of Linkabit spin offs, startups, and companies opening design centers. That is all history now.
I only suggest that there is merit in a little diversification no matter how stable your employer looks today. Buying a house is a long term commitment. Longer than anyones Qcom forecast.[/quote]
Again, why does it matter if QCOM is the biggest player in Sorrento Valley? It’s not surprising and they’re only going to get bigger as the smartphone market get bigger. Now that ARM is moving into tablets and Windows 8 supporting ARM, that’s a who new untapped market for QCOM. They’ve been around for 30 years. I can easily see them being around for at least another 10 if not 20 years.
A job center is a job center. If QCOM goes away, do you think all these office building will sit empty? If it does go away, it will go away slowly. In that transitioning time, there will be some other company that will replace it. As an engineer, you’ll adapt to whatever industry that’s thriving right now. 5-6 years ago, there’s no such thing as iOS development or Android development. I’m sure 10 years from now, it’ll be something else all together. But one thing is for sure, San Diego have zoned Sorrento Valley and UTC for offices and business building. It will only get more dense as San Diego grow and more jobs move into town.
Yes, buying is a long term commitment. But I don’t see how prognosticating that QCOM will go away some day will mean you should rent vs buy. I’ve worked at 5 different companies so far and they all are in Sorrento Valley, Carmel Valley, and Scripps Ranch. So even without QCOM, there will be others to take its place.
