“You say goodbye, and I say hello”
New Yorkers:
“Wall Street still runs through Manhattan, but you can’t ignore that more finance jobs are heading south.”
“It feels like New York raised finance, and Texas is reaping the benefits of lower costs and looser rules.”
“Maybe a handful of front-office roles are in Texas, but it's still just a cost savings play.”
“New York is expensive and crowded. Texas offers room to grow, literally and financially.”
"They'll be back here at some point."
Texans:
“It used to be you had to leave Texas to make it big in finance. Now the jobs are right here.”
“Finance jobs here aren’t just back-office anymore. We’ve got investment bankers, hedge fund managers, even family offices relocating.”
"Everyone talks about these jobs being related to cost savings elsewhere, but it's really about ease of doing business. Firms are tired of being abused."
“I know people moving here from both coasts. They want opportunity without the headaches.”
“We’re not trying to beat New York. We’re just creating a second hub, and it’s working.”
---- Quick background ----
Financial activities employment in the major Texas cities (Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Austin) compared to financial activities employment in New York, North Jersey and Long Island.
Thirty years ago...
New York: 720k jobs
Texas: 359k jobs
Twenty years ago...
New York: 728k jobs
Texas: 476k jobs
Ten years ago...
New York: 705k jobs
Texas: 567k jobs
Today...
New York: 776k jobs
Texas: 763k jobs
Side note: Financial activities employment in the big California cities is down 7% (50K jobs) over the last ten years.
Are these shifts reactive/temporary, purely cost motivated, all about regulation, a mix of factors?