Well, if you're in California and don't own a house, you move. It's not a great option if you were raised here, but a whole bunch of people can take a small pay cut (especially thinking about down equity and inflation) to move back to their hometowns right now. For me, a home (3/2, 1500sqft) in the neighborhood I'd move to in my hometown (US city; 1 mil metro area) is less than my household income, which we'll realistically keep 80+% of when we move. I'd wager a healthy segment of Bay Area mid-level, domestic-born engineers fit this profile. I'd wager that holds true in many metro areas, even those we don't consider tech hubs because it is all relative.

I wouldn't want to be a mid-level Bay Area manager in my 40's with a mortgage on the peninsula right now. Who is coming to buy that house? Who is going to train all the 22 year olds moving here?

EDIT: And I didn't even think about all the early retirees the major changes to the workplace will obviously prompt. Who wants to spend the last couple years of their career re-learning how to do a job you've done for decades and have been well-compensated for? I'd be at the beach.

Mid-level Bay Area manager in my 40s with a mortgage on the peninsula here. Why would I want to sell my house? We bought it because we have kids that we want to raise in the Bay Area.

There are plenty who would have chosen the Bay Area anyway, but for me who is younger and aware of how similar those suburbs are to any others in the country, I was dreading having to commit to the jobs a Bay Area mortgage require. I’m glad you’re already in your location of choice, but I’m sure you know most people move here for the jobs and would be elsewhere if the jobs moved.

I moved from the US to Canada, and got a new offer at a publicly-traded US company recently.

In the US, pay is around $215k total comp ($175k base, $40k RSUs). Because, I'm in the Toronto (which is more expensive than most of the US), they said my pay would get a circa $111k USD base ($145k CAD base).

Adjusted for inflation, I'm earning less than what I was making when I was 25 years old. Now, at age 32, I'm struggling to pay significant debts on this salary.

What am I to do?

>What am I to do?

Yes, you're getting paid less, but you've moved from a broken democracy to a functioning one. You also happen to be in one of the few nations on earth that will net benefit from climate change.

Actionable advice? Get a remote position and get the heck out of Toronto to a more LCOL Canadian location with decent internet

The old fashioned way: ask for a raise and go somewhere else if they don't pay?