Hawaii lures tech workers to silky shores

A group of Hawaii leaders have begun a campaign to promote the islands as an appealing location for a remote office with a view.

Now that many companies, especially in the tech industry, allow employees to work from anywhere during the pandemic, they hope Hawaii will be an alluring alternative.

They’re also throwing in roundtrip tickets to Honolulu for the first 50 approved applicants. They must pledge to respect Hawaii’s culture and natural resources, and participants must commit several hours a week to helping a local nonprofit.

Some say highpaid workers will bolster an economy decimated by dramatically fewer tourists. But others worry what those with Silicon Valley money will mean for housing, especially when there’s already a crunch for affordable places to live.

Many Hawaii neighborhoods are overrun with illegal shortterm vacation rentals, and having those properties occupied legally by longerterm tenants is appealing, said Ryan Ozawa, communications director for local tech company Hawaii Information Service.

“What I like about the idea of, say, a cabal of Twitter employees all moving to Kailua is that one, they bring their jobs with them, so you’re not talking about displacement in that regard,” he said. “But for all of the things that we want, which is local sales tax, groceries, electric bill, et cetera, you know, those paychecks from San Francisco get spent in Hawaii.”

Wissam AliAhmad, a software solution architect from San Jose, is renting a Kauai condo that’s normally marketed to vacationers. He has picked up side projects as a consultant for local food trucks and restaurants to help the small businesses improve their services.

“I feel like I’m a guest here, and I have to contribute as much as possible,” he said.