SecondJon @SecondJon@qoto.org

#Colorado's cost of living crisis feels entirely caused by the leftist government. My mortgage escrow is jumping $400 per month. Why? Higher taxes AND the cost of insurance is jumping because new regulations are increasing the cost of building in the state.

By the time I finish paying off my mortgage, my monthly cost may be the same as it was year 1, but just for taxes and insurance.

"PNC Bank to lay off 777 from Lakewood facility" - The FirstBank HQ.

#Firstbank is no longer the "#Colorado bank for you."

Policy changes, surcharges, proactively closing customers accounts by taking all their funds in new fees meant it wasn't the bank for you.

I closed all of my accounts there, which had been open for decades.

Ends up that was all to make the books longer better for the merger.

Now that the merger is done, they're laying off nearly eight hundred Colorado staff.

They're not a bank for you. They're not a bank for Colorado.

Despite initial projections of meager growth, #Colorado lost 11,700 jobs in 2025—the first decline since 2010, outside of pandemic losses—according to revised state data released last week.

Since 2000, Colorado had only reported job losses during recessionary periods: the early-2000s dot-com bust, the 2008 financial crisis, and at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Though Colorado’s job growth of minus 0.4% fell below the U.S. average of about 0.1%, 27 other states lost jobs in 2025, and nine lost more than Colorado.

Nationally, the slowdown has been linked to factors like federal government downsizing, tech industry contraction, and high tariffs. A Broomfield economist suggests unsustainable state spending may have contributed to Colorado’s downturn.

https://coloradosun.com/2026/04/09/colorado-lost-jobs-and-saw-its-labor-force-decline-last-year/

Bugs on established retail websites. Basic system functionality suddenly not working right on my android phone. I'm assuming it's AI slop that was UAT'd by more AI rather than by human testers. Production quality is dropping.

Is AI the new offshore?

I left a company after years of being a technical lead and manager because they doubled down on offshore. I don't care where anyone lives. That wasn't the problem. I couldn't stay because the arrangement was cost over quality. They found what they wanted in offshore firms where the turn around was so crazy, it felt like every sprint I was having to onboard and train a new developer who had no idea what they were doing for the job or with the tech. "But it's cheaper! Look how many people we can pay for one local salary"

When something other than excellence is the top priority, quality will necessarily decline. Too often cost was the higher priority with offshore.

Right now it feels like it's the entire software industry, prioritizing speed first, cost second, quality a distant third.

Want to file a complaint? You'll get to talk to an artificial agent and good luck.