'Exit TX': Republicans' extreme politics send Texas-based tech companies into crisis mode

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/9/15/2052427/--Exit-TX-Republicans-extreme-politics-send-Texas-based-tech-companies-into-crisis-mode

'Exit TX': Republicans' extreme politics send Texas-based tech companies into crisis mode
Kerry Eleveld
Daily Kos Staff
Wednesday September 15, 2021 · 1:55 PM EDT


Earlier this month, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott took to bragging that—contrary to popular belief—the state's fringe right-wing politics were actually super popular with the business community.



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Just a week later, as Tomlinson suggested, we're starting to see that the GOP's extreme politics could effectively end the state's tech industry boomlet right as the region was turning into a bona fide tech hub.

Tech companies that have already relocated to Texas are now fretting over the possibility that the state's extreme politics will hamstring their ability to recruit top talent. As the Washington Post writes, "In August, Texas had 33,843 tech job openings — the second highest in the United States after California — according to a report from the Computing Technology Industry Association. That’s up 56 percent from a year earlier.

Vivek Bhaskaran, chief executive of an Austin-based software company that produces online surveys, told the Post the company was already finding it "extremely challenging" to attract tech workers to the state. The abortion ban, Bhaskaran said, "seems like an extremely unnecessary conversation we’re going to have to have."

In fact, just two days after the ban went into effect, Bhaskaran convened a virtual town hall for female employees of the company, QuestionPro, and told them the company would pick up the cost of any abortion services they sought out of state.

The company's director of marketing, Crystal Wiese, said the town hall was comforting on one level but disconcerting on another.

“There was a reassuring feeling, but it’s not the kind of conversation you expect to have with your CEO," she said.

Similar to Bhaskaran, the chief executive of the Dallas-based dating app Match is working to cover employee costs for anyone traveling out of state for abortion services. Chief executive Shar Dubey, who immigrated to America from India a quarter-century ago, circulated a company memo blasting the abortion ban.



The Texas abortion ban also prompted Salesforce chief executive Marc Benioff to send a Slack message to employees nationwide saying the company would help employees and their immediate families move to another state if they felt reproductive healthcare wasn't accessible enough where they lived. Benioff later explicitly invoked Texas in a tweet offering to help staff "exit TX."

The Post also talked to workers who have either moved to Texas or considered it. To say that GOP governance of the state isn’t exactly a draw would be an understatement.

Valerie Veteto, a freelance copywriter specializing in tech writing, relocated to Austin from San Francisco just last fall. Guess what? The hip vibe and lower cost of living aren't worth the tradeoff for the state's right-wing bent and governmental incompetence. Between the great power grid freeze earlier this year and fringe GOP politics, Veteto and her boyfriend are hightailing it to New York City.

San Diego-based David Panarelli, a user experience designer, had also considered making the move with his wife. But they balked at the Texas GOP's handling of the pandemic, immigration, and other issues. The abortion ban was the final nail in the coffin.



Seems like banning abortions, targeting voters of color, freezing your constituents to death, and ensuring the pandemic would flourish in your state isn't the hot seller Abbott says it is.