The brain drain problem is very real. I graduated the University of Michigan in 2008 and the majority of my colleagues moved out of state. I can’t say I blame them. A good number have been successful at FAANG type companies or startups and seem relatively better than us who stayed in the state. The firms in Michigan just can’t compete with the total compensation you can get elsewhere. Most of the positions here are auto related still. The auto industry is cyclical and booms and busts.

Both Ann Arbor and Detroit have special events trying to lure back expatriates. Wish East Lansing did something similar but afraid we lack the startup jobs to make it worthwhile.

What Lansing does do is have social events trying to convince junior and seniors at MSU to stay locally and they've had some success with it.

I've personally tried to get several MSU alums Valley startups to outsource customer service jobs to East Lansing. The salaries they pay for those positions make it a struggle to live in SF but would be a fair wage in Michigan. I haven't had any success yet but I won't stop trying ;<).

I worked at two FAANGs then moved to Michigan about two years ago, just outside of Ann Arbor. I get contacted by a decent number of recruiters but I'd estimate only about 5-10% of them represent companies with a Michigan presence.

It's notable that the phrase "eliminated non-competes" isn't there: https://www.vox.com/new-money/2017/2/13/14580874/google-self...

This. I've worked in the New York metro area for my entire working career, and non-competes are one reason why California will always, always win when it comes to fostering startups. From what I can tell, no other state has made them illegal, and none ever will because they're in the interest of employers.

Washington has it, but Microsoft and Amazon were able to water it down so that it excludes higher compensated employees ($107k salary for 2022, which basically excludes people in tech/medicine/law/engineering). Foolish decision by WA legislators, especially when they are in prime position to poach business in the same time zone as CA with only a nominal state income tax.

https://lni.wa.gov/workers-rights/workplace-policies/Non-Com...

Out of curiosity, how do these non-competes work with remote work situations? Are they applicable to the state the business is in or the state the worker is in? Is this one of the reasons so many software companies are pushing to get coders back in the office, just to get rid of these little legal questions?

Good question. Seems like it could get hairy. I would have assumed the employee’s state of residence takes precedence, but then there is this case where CA courts upheld a non compete that was entered into in MI before the employee moved to CA:

https://www.mintz.com/insights-center/viewpoints/2015-07-17-...

Oklahoma and North Dakota. Various other states have restricted non-competes recently, particularly for low wage workers https://faircompetitionlaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/No... and more are working on it https://faircompetitionlaw.com/changing-landscape-of-trade-s...

I'd emphasize "one reason" and de-emphasize "always" :)

The site linked above likes to throw cold water on the idea that non-competes are bad for workers, startups, etc (e.g., ND and OK aren't famous for their tech industries), see blog posts at https://faircompetitionlaw.com/ ... my bias is the other way (particularly enjoying https://ssrn.com/abstract=2517604), but the evidence is complex. Fortunately the aforementioned changes should generate new evidence.

Workforce software? New world systems? Llamasoft? Barracuda? I think there's more out there than you give credit for.

Rest in piece Compuware.

Censys and Blumira are mostly ex Duo folks. Arbor Networks, Clinc, there are a ton of smaller companies that have exited too

I wouldn’t cite Compuware as an example of a successful Michigan based tech company. However, some products it created, such as Dynatrace, are still around and profitable.

Dynatrace was an European startup acquired by Compuware.

OneStream is already valued well above that mark and is one of the most successful tech companies in Michigan that no one has heard of.