Silicon Valley - The Tech Paradise

Portrayed in mainstream media as a Shangri-La of technology, Silicon Valley is an international centre for technology and innovation with easy access to venture capital. It is located in California’s San Francisco Bay Area in the United States. 

It is the mix of technology, people and funding that allowed Silicon Valley to grow as it did. As such, many countries around the world use Silicon Valley as a model to drive their own innovations.

As a result, STEM careers are becoming increasing popular due to their higher earning potential as these Silicon Valley companies with massive financial resources hire the best and brightest minds and reward success handsomely.

Residing in Silicon Valley is many of the top high-tech firms in the world. Many of whose products you most likely currently use. Some of these companies are:

• Alphabet (Google) 
• Apple 
• Cisco Systems
• eBay 
• Facebook 
• HP 
• Microsoft 
• Netflix 
• Tesla 
• Yahoo

I’m sure many of you might be wondering: why name it Silicon Valley? Well, it’s named after the silicon which is used to manufacture semiconductors that are used to create technological devices like computer motherboards, CPUs and RAM (I'll cover these terms in another post).

Silicon Valley has a dark side though, ranging from elitism to sexual harassment issues. First, elitism is rampant as employees believe their positions make them special. It is an elitist culture.

Next, sexism is embedded in the “locker room, bro” sub-culture, this fosters an environment much different from other non-sexist workplaces. Also, ageism and nepotism is pervasive. Silicon Valley tends to want young indebted workers who will think twice before asserting any healthy boundary, like not working long hours continuously.

Another is mental illness usually caused from the constant, high stress environment. The high stress leads to numerous physical and mental health concerns. It’s an issue that’s usually kept quiet but it does exist. Similar to the sexual harassment issues which seem to be fuelled by the sexism culture.  

Despite this, Silicon Valley is still worth experiencing as the companies there have recognised these challenges and have taken up the mantle to address them. 

The next time you visit California, check it out and let us know what you think of the life there. Which is your favorite company though and why?