Businesses leaving California... Duh!

Who's shocked that businesses restricted job growth in one of the most taxed and most regulated states in the union? These trends will be exacerbated in San Francisco which is even more hostile to industry, and if the country chooses protectionism against free trade and outsourcing, businesses will leave the country. From the SF Chronicle: Jobs moving out of state / Cost, complex regulations cited by firms. Excerpts:

Discouraged by high costs and strict regulations, just under 60 percent of California business leaders interviewed for a new study said they have policies to restrict job growth in the state or move jobs to other locations in the United States....

The consulting firm [Bain] interviewed chief executives or senior managers of about 50 small, medium and large companies with extensive operations in the state.

About 40 percent said their companies have an explicit policy to move jobs elsewhere in the United States, with Texas cited as the most frequent destination. Not counting those companies that must stay in California, such as retailers or health care providers, the proportion of businesses that said their policy is to move jobs rose to 55 percent.

Another group of executives, just under 20 percent of those interviewed, said their policy is to avoid adding jobs in California, except when absolutely necessary.

Businesses are clamping down on California job growth because of high costs and a burdensome regulatory environment, Bain concluded.

The cost of doing business in California is about 30 percent higher than in the average Western state, largely because of higher wages and benefits, according to the study.

Bain also attempted to measure the cost, uncertainty and complexity of California's environmental, labor and other regulations. It constructed what it called a regulatory hassle index that took into account such factors as compliance costs, the threat of lawsuits and delays in obtaining permits that hamper operations.

The index showed that "California is far worse than any other state in the union, by a very significant margin," said Jeff Melton, a partner in Bain's San Francisco office.