Interesting article. I guess as long as Google continues making piles and piles of money, they will be able to offer great pay and awesome perks. What the article didn't mention was that people working similar jobs on the West Coast tend to work fewer hours than their counterparts on the East Coast. For example, I believe most investment bankers work 1-2 hours less per day if they are based in SF/LA rather than NY. Of course, SF is really tough to break into. Almost as popular in the poll as NY, but with only 1/8 the population (San Jose is listed separately).
Did you guys see the market reaction to the Microsoft-Yahoo merger this morning? Yahoo stock jumped 20% or something; that type of reaction might make this deal a reality. From a job-seeker's perspective, I think it would be great. Yahoo has fallen a bit from the top of the heap recently because they haven't been making as much money (as Google), and have been cutting costs all around. With Microsoft's cash, Yahoo (or whatever it will be called after the merger) would probably be an awesome place to work in the Bay Area.