This work examines the relationship between the rapid technological and economic growth characteristic of high technology districts and their distinct labor market institutions - short job tenures, rapid turnover, flat firm hierarchies, weak internal labor markets, high use of temporary labor, unusual uses of independent contracting, little unionization, unusual employee organization (e.g., chat groups, and ethnic organization), unequal income, minimal employment discrimination litigation, flexible compensation (especially stock options), and heavy use of immigrants on short-term visas. The...

During its boom phase, Silicon Valley was a center of attention for many reasons, but especially for its labor market arrangements. With the dot.com burst of 2000, many will be tempted to view the institutions that surrounded Silicon Valley as yesterday's news. But they would be wrong to do so, for a high-tech labor market adjusts to the ups and downs of the business cycle. Job market mobility - what Alan Hyde in this volume terms high velocity - was and is a key characteristic of Silicon Valley's labor market. As such, an understanding of Silicon Valley employment practices provides an...