I think he means that most tech workers there wouldn't be just fired. They would be offered relocation packages. It is better than being just fired, thus it would be well received.

(Don't forget that although you think that Moscow is in the middle of Siberia and the city is a one big communist radioactive dump that you saw in the movies, actually, the reality is far from it. People there are surprisingly happy, good looking and the city is quite beautiful, especially in the summer. Europe is just 3 hours on an airplane from there. And to be a tech worker there at Google, with middle-class salary is quite nice. On the other hand, the long-term outlook is a bit gloomy, so...)

>Europe is just 3 hours on an airplane from there.

I thought everything west of the Ural mountains/river (including Moscow) was considered Europe? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe#Definition

I might be wrong, but I think in the context of discussing Russia it is pretty standard to use the word Europe, assuming 'Europe, excluding Russia/USSR'. Specifically I was talking about a typical flight to a EU country for business/tourism.

It's interesting to note that that the Eurovision song contest includes Russia, Israel and central Asian states, including even Azerbaijan. Perhaps this is an example of soft power projection from the EU "project" of a political union and the creation of a supra-national state...

Azerbaijan is not in Central Asia, it's on Caucasus.

You may be right. It's often described as being at the cross roads of east and west. It's north of both Iraq and Iran which for most people would not be Europe.