Valley's Great Divide; Working class found to walk tightrope as disparities grow

Silicon Valley is known worldwide as a center of high-tech innovation, but a new report warns that a widening wage gap is putting pressure on middle-income earners and grinding down those at the bottom.

"Working people in Silicon Valley are walking an economic tightrope, and any unexpected medical bill or even a car breakdown can push them over the edge," said Louise Auerhahn of Working Partnerships USA, a San Jose nonprofit backed by foundations, labor and faith-based activist groups.

Auerhahn is the principal author of "Life in the Valley Economy," a 128-report that likens Silicon Valley's economy to a barbell or an hourglass - great jobs at the top for software engineers and biotech scientists, and lots of low-paying jobs at the bottom for janitors and home health aides. But it's tough times for those in the middle to bottom.

This basic thesis drew support from business-affiliated public policy groups including Joint Venture Silicon Valley, whose reports spanning both corporate and governmental perspectives have painted the region's economy similarly in the past.

"This report does an excellent job documenting what people outside the region have been slow to understand - that Silicon Valley is a fairly brutal environment," Joint Venture President Russell Hancock wrote in an e-mail. "Our performance on the global stage doesn't necessarily translate into regional prosperity, the kind that is widely shared. So you get this troubling picture where our companies are thriving but the region feels worse off."

Read the entire article by Tom Abate, San Francisco Chronicle Staff Writer, by clicking here.

Read the report referenced in this article, "Life in the Valley Economy" by clicking here.