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>To help do this he is working with the Australian government on how to best bring in more talent from overseas. He also wants to build a new technology precinc

>To help do this he is working with the Australian government on how to best bring in more talent from overseas. He also wants to build a new technology precinct in Sydney, a hub he hopes will act as "the lighthouse" to attract people to Australia There's probably enough talented workers in Australia, just not enough who want to live and work in Sydney.

TASTHIS 8y ago
True that. Hobart is where it's at.
femto 8y ago
It does seem a stretch to be bumping against the limits with a global head count of 3061 [1], with about 40% in Sydney [2]. To name two (of many) other tech heavy Australian employers, CSIRO has 5500 employees and DSTG has 2500, so it's not like Atlassian is some behemoth that has sucked up all the local talent. The Atlassian founders have come out against Australia's draconian refugee policy and are calling out xenophobia in local politics (for which I applaud them on both fronts), so maybe they are engaging in a bit of hyperbole to back these causes? [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlassian https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlassian [2] https://www.smh.com.au/business/small-business/mike-cannon-brookes-warns-atlassian-may-leave-australia-20180313-p4z44c.html https://www.smh.com.au/business/small-business/mike-cannon-b...
thundergolfer 8y ago
I've lived in Melbourne and Sydney, and Sydney is a pretty excellent place to work and live on an Atlassian salary, I'm not sure it's the city where I'd be focusing improvements. Sydney compensation could use a bump in compensation to justify moving from places like Melbourne and Brisbane. In my limited experience they sometimes don't pay enough to cover the increased cost of living, particularly rent. Otherwise I'd agree with Scott that Australia needs overseas talent. At Canva, where I work, the strong majority hired are overseas talent. Australia's software industry is too small for these companies' appetites, and its universities aren't producing a large enough supply of talented grads.
- voltagex_ 8y ago
  I'd argue both Canva and Atlassian need to look at remote work (at least within Australia) as well. I don't want to live in Sydney.
- lazyasciiart 8y ago
  On the other hand Atlassian (and everyone else) doesn't pay enough to stop a lot of those local talented grads moving straight to the US.
- BFLpL0QNek 8y ago
  I’d describe Atlassian’s Sydney pay as fair if you enjoy working there but on the lower to mid end of the market so you wouldn’t join on a purely financial decision. They have also stated they’ll never attempt to be one of the big payers. Australia’s problem, in general the Australian born devs are very good, Computer Science must be done right here (i’m not Australian). However the quantity of good interesting software jobs isn’t great compared to other countries, when you have easy migration to the US as an AU citizen, and jobs offering more money and more work opportunities it’s hard to overlook. Maybe catch 22, for good devs to stay you need good interesting jobs, for jobs you need devs.

TASTHIS 8y ago

True that. Hobart is where it's at.

femto 8y ago

It does seem a stretch to be bumping against the limits with a global head count of 3061 [1], with about 40% in Sydney [2]. To name two (of many) other tech heavy Australian employers, CSIRO has 5500 employees and DSTG has 2500, so it's not like Atlassian is some behemoth that has sucked up all the local talent. The Atlassian founders have come out against Australia's draconian refugee policy and are calling out xenophobia in local politics (for which I applaud them on both fronts), so maybe they are engaging in a bit of hyperbole to back these causes? [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlassian https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlassian [2] https://www.smh.com.au/business/small-business/mike-cannon-brookes-warns-atlassian-may-leave-australia-20180313-p4z44c.html https://www.smh.com.au/business/small-business/mike-cannon-b...

thundergolfer 8y ago

I've lived in Melbourne and Sydney, and Sydney is a pretty excellent place to work and live on an Atlassian salary, I'm not sure it's the city where I'd be focusing improvements. Sydney compensation could use a bump in compensation to justify moving from places like Melbourne and Brisbane. In my limited experience they sometimes don't pay enough to cover the increased cost of living, particularly rent. Otherwise I'd agree with Scott that Australia needs overseas talent. At Canva, where I work, the strong majority hired are overseas talent. Australia's software industry is too small for these companies' appetites, and its universities aren't producing a large enough supply of talented grads.

voltagex_ 8y ago
I'd argue both Canva and Atlassian need to look at remote work (at least within Australia) as well. I don't want to live in Sydney.
lazyasciiart 8y ago
On the other hand Atlassian (and everyone else) doesn't pay enough to stop a lot of those local talented grads moving straight to the US.
BFLpL0QNek 8y ago
I’d describe Atlassian’s Sydney pay as fair if you enjoy working there but on the lower to mid end of the market so you wouldn’t join on a purely financial decision. They have also stated they’ll never attempt to be one of the big payers. Australia’s problem, in general the Australian born devs are very good, Computer Science must be done right here (i’m not Australian). However the quantity of good interesting software jobs isn’t great compared to other countries, when you have easy migration to the US as an AU citizen, and jobs offering more money and more work opportunities it’s hard to overlook. Maybe catch 22, for good devs to stay you need good interesting jobs, for jobs you need devs.