Another blow to St. Louis
I just read that Wachovia is buying long-time St. Louis powerhouse A.G. Edwards. Even though this deal will leave the retail brokerage business based in St. Louis, it means that St. Louis has lost yet another world headquarters of a major corporation. They’re trying to put a positive spin on this but, considering all the other financial and commerce problems that St. Louis has fell upon in the past few decades, this is just one more nail in the coffin for St. Louis. I’m not saying it’s going to roll up the sidewalks and become a ghost town any time soon, but with automobile factories closing, global corporation either leaving St. Louis City (who can blame them with the continual punitive tax laws for businesses) or the St. Louis area altogether.
There are still some very lucrative reasons for companies to stay in the St. Louis area though. One of those which helps the most for them is what hurts the most for the residents. St. Louis salary surveys have consistently shown that salaries are among the lowest in the country for comparable jobs elsewhere. Luckily this is coupled with one of the lower costs of living, especially housing, but it still makes for some hard times in Missouri. This should be a draw for new companies though but it never seems to work that way.
I’ve also wondered if the low cost of living and matching local salaries also contribute to the fact that most people born in the St. Louis area never leave the St. Louis area. I know personally that our housing costs make looking at a relocation anywhere else in the world seem intimidating. Especially if you are looking at getting paid basically the same St. Louis based salary which is common in people getting transferred for their jobs. If I hadn’t gotten a significant portion of my housing paid for in my own relocation contract to move to Hong Kong, I couldn’t have done it. Granted, housing here is comparable to the prices in Manhattan but that scope is frightening to someone from the Midwest.
Before moving out of St. Louis and into Hong Kong I’d been looking for an escape for a long time. I wanted to move many times, but it’s that cost of living that kept me planted. Maybe someday some new big businesses will see the same thing and help to continue the cycle. It may not be a great cycle but it’s better than none at all.
June 1, 2007 7:31 am 1 Comment
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By Christy, June 5, 2007 @ 10:04 pm
Though one AG Edwards employee I spoke to on Friday is pretty certain of his job security, two others I know figure there is a 10% chance they could be relocated to Richmond and another 45% chance they may retain their job here. One is a broker, the others are 20 year vets of the company.
In any case, it seems that Wachovia is going to move it’s security division headquarters (currently in Richmond) to St. Louis.