Arguably since the first agricultural revolution 10,000+ years ago, work has been tied a fixed location. That location-based work – first a farm, then a manufacturing plant, then an office – created opportunity. Opportunity attracted workers (or new citizens).
Therefore, we always formed cities, countries, and societies primarily through location-based opportunity. Go where the work is, as they say. For the first time in thousands of years, that trend is reversing. With the internet (and remote work layered on top), you now have the ability to bring your work (your livelihood, really) with you to any location.
This remote work revolution is starting to drive astounding second- and third-order consequences.
- If you can bring your work wherever you want, where should you live?
- If you no longer need to live near the office, what happens to our cities?
- If a company no longer has a physical headquarters, could it reside in a state or country with a more favorable environment?
First, the employees start to work from home. Then, the companies go fully remote. Then, the company itself moves to a better jurisdiction.
In this article, we’re talking about the third-order effect of the remote work revolution: companies leaving states. In the United States, the biggest trend has been with companies leaving California.
Below, you’ll find all of the companies leaving California since 2020. Whenever a company announces its plans to leave the state, we’ll update the list.
Companies Leaving California: Every Announcement Since 2020
Here is the list of companies with over 100 employees:
Company | Destination | Jobs | Story |
Garcia Hand Picked | (Multiple locations) | January 29, 2023 | |
McAfee | Texas | January 20, 2023 | |
Bluevine | New Jersey | January 9, 2023 | |
Boingo Wireless | Texas |
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Lucas Oil Products | Indiana | November 1, 2022 Lucas Oil Products is also relocating its wholly owned MAVTV cable network from Corona, California to Indiana." | |
Allspring Global Investments | North Carolina | October 20, 2022 | |
Trimble | Colorado | October 6, 2022 | |
Virta Health Corp | Colorado | October 3, 2022 | |
Obagi | Texas | September 21, 2022 | |
American Airlines | (Multiple locations) | September 15, 2022 | |
Belong | Florida |
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Chevron | Texas | June 29, 2022 | |
Aviatrix | Texas | May 5, 2022 | |
Sendoso | Arizona | April 12, 2022 | |
Ovation Fertility | Tennessee | February 15, 2022 | |
Hyperion | Ohio | "Orange-based hydrogen fuel cell and transportation company Hyperion Companies said Tuesday it will move its global headquarters to Columbus, Ohio. Hyperion said in a news release that it will create 680 new jobs over six years and invest about $300 million in a headquarters, research and development center and manufacturing operations in the city." | |
Marrone Bio Innovations | North Carolina | January 6, 2022
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Review Wave | Texas | ||
Science 37 | North Carolina | December 22, 2021 | |
FICO | Montana | November 1, 2021 | |
Nexen Tire | Ohio | October 28, 2021 | |
Tesla | Texas | “To be clear we will be continuing to expand our activities in California,” Musk said. “Our intention is to increase output from Fremont and Giga Nevada by 50%. If you go to our Fremont factory it’s jammed.” But, he added, “It’s tough for people to afford houses, and people have to come in from far away....There’s a limit to how big you can scale in the Bay Area.” | |
First Foundation Bank | Texas | September 26, 2021 | |
GlobalFoundries | New York | August 26, 2021 | |
HomeLight | Arizona | August 24, 2021 | |
NinjaOne | Texas | August 17, 2021 | |
AECOM | Texas | August 17, 2021 | |
MD7 | Texas | August 11, 2021 | |
Kaiser Aluminum | Tennessee | July 29, 2021 | |
Smart Wires, Inc. | North Carolina | July 27, 2021 | |
Wiley X | Texas | June 29, 2021 | |
Edelbrock Group | Mississippi | June 15, 2021 | |
Landing | Alabama |
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Snowflake | Montana/ |
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Wedgewood LLC | Texas | May 18, 2021 | |
Green Dot Corporation | Texas |
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Education Media Foundation (EMF) | Tennessee | March 24, 2021 | |
Viavi Solutions | Arizona |
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Align Technology | Arizona | January 22, 2021 | |
Digital Realty | Texas |
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Lion Real Estate Group | Texas | January 7, 2021 | |
OPSWAT | Florida |
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Charles Schwab | Texas | Search Charles Schwab jobs | January 1, 2021 As part of the merger, the combined company’s headquarters would relocate from San Francisco to North Texas (Westlake)." |
Oracle | Texas |
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Tanium | Washington | "The CEO and co-founder of a billion-dollar cybersecurity company has moved its headquarters out of San Francisco because it's "not the city it was. | |
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) | Texas | December 1, 2020 | |
CBRE Group | Texas | October 29, 2020 | |
Arctic Wolf | Minnesota |
But the “most critical reason” for the relocation is access to the wide pool of tech talent in the Twin Cities area, Schneider said." | |
Pabst Brewing | Texas | "San Antonio is filled with opportunity and creativity, it has a great talent pool, high quality of life, and is experiencing a cultural boom that we’d really like to be a part of,” he said. “The affordability of the city does make it attractive to business(es) and employees.” | |
O. W. Lee | Texas | September 23, 2020 | |
Incora | Texas |
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Palantir | Colorado | August 19, 2020 | |
DZS (Dasan Zhone Solutions) | Texas | August 3, 2020 | |
Varo Bank | Utah | July 25, 2020 | |
XO (XO Jets) | Florida | January 27, 2020 | |
ASGN Incorporated | Virginia | January 26, 2020 | |
QuestionPro | Texas |
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NortonLifeLock (Symantec) | Arizona | "The tech company wants to find a buyer for 10 buildings in Mountain View that together total 707,000 square feet. |
Here is the list of companies with under 100 employees:
- SignEasy: Texas, 2020
- Finical: Texas, 2020
- Arcturus Aerospace: Arkansas, 2020
- KVP International: Texas, 2020
- FileTrail: Texas, 2020
- AgencyKPI: Texas, 2020
- The Joe Rogan Experience: Texas, 2020
- ShiftPixy: Florida, 2020
- The Daily Wire: Tennessee, 2020
- Titans of CNC, Inc.:Texas, 2020
- Saleen Performance Parts: Texas, 2020
- Amazing Magnets: Texas, 2021
- Alpha Paw: Texas, 2021
- Moov Technologies: Arizona, 2021
- Huckleberry Insurance: New York, 2021
- ProfitPay Technologies: Nevada, 2021
- Nissei America, Inc.: Texas, 2021
- Markaaz: Texas, 2021
- Flannery Trim: Texas, 2021
- SmartAction: Texas, 2021
- Darvis: Tennesse, 2021
- AHV Communities: Texas, 2021
- Andamiro USA Corp.: Texas, 2021
- AFC Finishing Systems, Inc.: Idaho, 2021
- Precision Swiss Products: North Carolina, 2021
- Ocean Aero Inc.: Mississippi, 2021
- Cangshan Cutlery Company: Texas, 2021
- OrangeGrid: Texas, 2021
- Old Gringo Boots: Texas, 2021
- The 360 Electrician, Inc.: Montana, 2021
- Gordon Ramsay North America: Texas, 2021
- The Rubin Report: Florida, 2021
- American Technologies Network, Corp. (ATN): Florida, 2022
- Noodoe: Texas, 2022
- Shelter Distilling: Colorado, 2022 (source)
- Sovereign Flavors: Texas, March 21, 2022 (source)
- HackEDU: Pennsylvania, April 18, 2022 (source)
- 828 Productions: New Mexico, August 19, 2022 (source)
- Cellipont Bioservices: Texas, August 30, 2022 (source)
- Runa Capital: Luxembourg, September 13, 2022 (source)
- Confer Inc: Texas, September 15, 2022 (source)
- Integrated Defense Products: September 19, 2022 (source)
- Pasta Piccinini: December 8, 2022 (source)
- Informative (formerly Credit Bureau Connection): January 19, 2023 (source)
- Autoslide: January 24, 2023 (source)
Sources:
- News stories linked to from within the table
- The California Book of Exoduses compiled by California Policy Center
- Hoover Institution at Stanford
Why are companies leaving California?
I’ve pulled out notable phrases that company leaders mentioned when explaining their decision to leave California. Here are some samples to give you an idea:
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Finding a place that is “easier to hire talent“
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In search of a “great talent pool” (in the new city and state)
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Seeking a “more sustainable place to do business“
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There is an “increasing intolerance and monoculture of Silicon Valley“
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Seeking “a strong economic climate with low taxes, reasonable regulations and a high-caliber workforce”
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Moving for “our business needs, opportunities for cost savings, and team members”
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There were “some symmetries in the way that the Bay Area works that just didn’t really work well for us”
- “Arizona provided the ideal conditions of being business-friendly, offering a high quality of life at reasonable cost”
- Employees can be homeowners in Texas, “which in the Bay Area is virtually impossible”
- “In California, local rules could dictate how the company chooses board members, for instance”
See Also: Every Major Company CEO Stepping Down | California’s 4-Day Work Week Bill
How many businesses are leaving California?
The Hoover Institution at Stanford published an analysis in 2022. According to the analysis…
352 companies moved their headquarters to other states just in the period from January 1, 2018, through December 31, 2021. In 2021, California business headquarters left the state at twice their rate in both 2020 and 2019, and at three times their rate in 2018.
Here are the company departures by year:
- 2021: 153
- 2020: 75
- 2019: 78
- 2018: 46
Where are they going? Primarily, Texas.
In my list current list, there are 54 companies leaving California between 2020 – 2022 with more than 100 employees. They’ve moved to 16 different states. Of those states, here are the biggest beneficiaries:
- Texas: 24 (44%)
- Arizona: 5 (9%)
- North Carolina: 4 (7%)
- Tennessee: 3 (6%)
- Florida: 3 (6%)
- Colorado: 3 (6%)
- Ohio: 2 (4%)
- 9 states: 1
- Multiple locations: 1
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Chevron is not moving its headquarters out of CA
The Chevron is just stupid