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Canadian immigration policy luring tech workers should be a warning to USA

14 points by cf100clunk 3y ago

yesco 3y ago
I re-read this a couple times but for some reason, I still can't seem to figure out what exactly this warning is supposed to be...
tamimio 3y ago
Is it?! With Canadian abysmal low wages, dollar value, and crazy expensive goods and housing, plus the sheer amount of opportunities and jobs! -this part is sarcasm-, I don’t think Canadian market is even looked at for business expansion let alone as an employee work, a couple months ago a retailer company -Nordsrtrom, left the Canadian market and closed all its stores after liquidation [1], I know it’s not tech, but in Canada, retailers usually do better than tech companies in here. [1] https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.6873356 https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.6873356
htss2013 3y ago
Every 2nd and 3rd tier place that stalls on economic development in certain industries plays this game. Texas, Florida, Estonia, Canada, etc. It doesn't matter. It's always the same playbook: - Announce government incentives to lure the types of workers and companies you lack. - Pretend that you don't need these incentives to lure people. No, you're just leaning into an existing organic trend. - Invest in PR that cites superficial stats arguing everyone is leaving X incumbent place and moving to you. - Get a tiny bit of mileage from these efforts which quickly stall out, but pretend it's going well. Fake it until you make it. - Never address the root causes of why your economy failed to develop in the first place and needed to try these gimmicks. - Wait a few years and try again after everyone forgets about the last time you tried and failed at this.
achates 3y ago
Sounds like a good sign for salaries in the US.
- rhaway84773 3y ago
  Which is ironic considering tech had the fastest growing salaries in the US at a time when the number of immigrants working in this sector was booming. An outflow of employees from the American tech sector will mot result in an explosion of salaries in Tech. It’s far more likely to result in a drop in salaries as a disproportionate number of jobs follow those workers, especially since anywhere those workers go will be cheaper for employers than the U.S. due to the aforementioned increase in tech salaries. US tech workers have benefitted drastically from the agglomeration effects of tech concentrating in certain US metro areas. The de-agglomeration the US is embarking on, both by policy (greatly discouraging tech immigrants) and by worker preference (WFH), will naturally work to stall and maybe even reverse those gains.

14 points by cf100clunk 3y ago

I re-read this a couple times but for some reason, I still can't seem to figure out what exactly this warning is supposed to be...

tamimio 3y ago

Is it?! With Canadian abysmal low wages, dollar value, and crazy expensive goods and housing, plus the sheer amount of opportunities and jobs! -this part is sarcasm-, I don’t think Canadian market is even looked at for business expansion let alone as an employee work, a couple months ago a retailer company -Nordsrtrom, left the Canadian market and closed all its stores after liquidation [1], I know it’s not tech, but in Canada, retailers usually do better than tech companies in here. [1] https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.6873356 https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.6873356

htss2013 3y ago

Every 2nd and 3rd tier place that stalls on economic development in certain industries plays this game. Texas, Florida, Estonia, Canada, etc. It doesn't matter. It's always the same playbook: - Announce government incentives to lure the types of workers and companies you lack. - Pretend that you don't need these incentives to lure people. No, you're just leaning into an existing organic trend. - Invest in PR that cites superficial stats arguing everyone is leaving X incumbent place and moving to you. - Get a tiny bit of mileage from these efforts which quickly stall out, but pretend it's going well. Fake it until you make it. - Never address the root causes of why your economy failed to develop in the first place and needed to try these gimmicks. - Wait a few years and try again after everyone forgets about the last time you tried and failed at this.

achates 3y ago

Sounds like a good sign for salaries in the US.

rhaway84773 3y ago
Which is ironic considering tech had the fastest growing salaries in the US at a time when the number of immigrants working in this sector was booming. An outflow of employees from the American tech sector will mot result in an explosion of salaries in Tech. It’s far more likely to result in a drop in salaries as a disproportionate number of jobs follow those workers, especially since anywhere those workers go will be cheaper for employers than the U.S. due to the aforementioned increase in tech salaries. US tech workers have benefitted drastically from the agglomeration effects of tech concentrating in certain US metro areas. The de-agglomeration the US is embarking on, both by policy (greatly discouraging tech immigrants) and by worker preference (WFH), will naturally work to stall and maybe even reverse those gains.