Tech central Silicon Valley—the region around San Francisco and southward, into the Santa Clara Valley—is home to some of the world’s most prestigious technology companies, including the venerable Apple, Alphabet (the parent company of Google), and emerging AI giant Nvidia, a Santa Clara-based company that most recently became the world’s most valuable corporation, dethroning tech heavyweight Microsoft. In fact, 11 of the Fortune 100 companies and 53 of the Fortune 500 are headquartered in the state. As the influence of technology and innovation expands to virtually every sector of the state’s
Personal perspective Amy Laub works as privacy counsel for Airbnb, the online marketplace for short- and long-term homestays. Based in San Francisco, Laub’s role involves drafting policy and counseling product teams to aid them in conforming with privacy regulations across the entire spectrum of Airbnb’s global business. Her career, like that of so many other professionals of her generation, veered into technology as the market for jobs in the greater tech industry blossomed. And to say that her California tech exposure is well-
economy, there’s a growing awareness of the need to enable more Californians to actually participate in the innovation economy. In “The Future of Advanced Technology and Basic Research,” a report authored by a team of scientists and researchers working under the banner of the California 100, the authors note that regarding the California populace, returns on investment in skills are continuing to grow, deepening digital divides shaped by region, race, language, ability, gender and other systemic factors. “While the state has embraced diversity in many
rounded would be an understatement. Over the past several years, she’s done extensive legal work for Meta, the multi-national tech conglomerate based in Menlo Park that owns and operates Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp, among other products and services. She’s also performed legal work for Cisco, Amazon and Apple. “I began my legal career in New York, in real estate,” she recounts. “In 2006 or so, I got involved in working on a case for a technology entrepreneur who had owned and built a successful tech enterprise, and I found it much more interesting. It was new, very cutting edge and challenging for me. Ultimately, it became one of the reasons I moved to California. Even that relatively short time ago, California was the hub of tech enterprise that it continues to be today. It was where the jobs and all the excitement were.” Such focused experience has shown Laub how technology has impacted not only the current business climate in California, but also how much it’s affected the very culture and identity of the state. For one (although she offers the caveat that she isn’t an economist), she recognizes that the higher-paying jobs in technology are helping to infuse more money into the economy. “The ripple effect, if you will, is more of a trickle-down effect—it feeds on itself, allowing for more technology and innovation, helping to keep people in the state, and keeping the heartbeat of technology here by increasing wages,” Laub explains. “Of course, it stands to reason that people would have a desire to be where the good jobs are—that’s what, in part, lured me here. And that reinforces the challenge of keeping the talent locally in the state.”
“Because a lot of these companies in the tech field attract top talent with very diverse skillsets, the culture [in the state] has become global; it draws a lot of diversity, racially and culturally.” Amy Laub Privacy Counsel, Airbnb
ways… the ‘California Dream’ remains out of reach for millions in the state today—whether measured by health outcomes, unaffordable housing, or massive disparities in income and wealth.” To put it reductively, has the technology explosion been good for California and its people, or not?
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IN YOUR CORNER ISSUE 17 | 2024
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