"I was raised in a small village in Austria, but I always dreamed of living in Silicon Valley. As a child who was excited about tech, I wanted to be where innovation happened. My team was based in California, but I was working from London. Not even a year into my job, I was asking if I could be transferred. Two years after getting hired as a software engineer, Google transferred me to Silicon Valley. Then, a year after that, I quit. I packed up my bags and moved back to London in just two weeks to participate in a startup accelerator program. It was worth the risk, even in this difficult job market."
"I joined Google in 2022 as a software engineer on the Google Pixel audio team. I enjoyed my job, but being in London, the physical distance turned minor questions into major delays. If I hit a blocker with a specific subsystem, I'd send a message and wait 24 hours for a reply due to time zone differences, or spend many late nights in chats with colleagues to unblock myself."
Gregor Konzett, 27, grew up in a small Austrian village and joined Google in 2022 as a software engineer on the Google Pixel audio team. He initially worked from London and experienced delays caused by time-zone differences that turned minor questions into major blockers. After requesting relocation, Google transferred him to Mountain View in 2024, where he enjoyed the Bay Area environment and community. After a year in Silicon Valley he left Google, packed his bags and returned to London within two weeks to enter a startup accelerator to build his own startup, and judged giving up a stable job and US visa worth the risk despite a difficult job market.
Read at Business Insider
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