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Question - now that Amazon is bringing "3000 jobs" to Vancouver, are they going to be paying wages consistent with their US employees, or with (or just above) the local market rate?
Salaries between Vancouver BC, and Seattle look to be comparable: https://www.glassdoor.ca/Salary/Amazon-Vancouver-Salaries-EI... https://www.glassdoor.ca/Salary/Amazon-Seattle-Salaries-EI_I...
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Was it the opportunities that are available in SV that make it possible to go on these adventures or something else like increased cash flow combined with more free time? Despite the higher salaries how are you coping with the high cost of living and high tax rates?
Right, it's a bit of everything. Kind of like "the world is your oyster" feeling. I'm not speaking for everyone, but when I was in my early 20s, I think as long as cash was a net positive (ie. have savings), it was enough so didn't think too much about cost of living and high tax rates. Ofc, we're talking about late 2000s, so living was a bit cheaper.
I've often wondered why Canada doesn't have way more entrepreneurs. With a strong social safety net, you can work on your startup and not have to worry about losing your health insurance.
Canada has lots of entrepreneurs: 15% of the general population, 20% of immigrants. That's higher than almost anywhere else in the world.
http://canadianentrepreneurtraining.com/six-statistics-about...
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> I've learned how to drive stick shift It's a well known fact that the amazing opportunity of learning to drive stick shift is something you can't do in Canada. Luckily the US are there for that!
You haven't driven stick shift until you have driven stick shift in Europe. Extra points if you change gears with the left hand.
If Canadian companies were willing to offer a competitive salary, maybe Canadian grads would stay. It doesn't even have to be 1:1 with the US, even 75% would be nice. As it is, there is little incentive to stay here. I know a new grad who was faced with the choice of staying in Canada to earn $40-50k CAD per year starting, or heading to the US where he had a job offer with one of the big five for $120k USD plus signi…
Lower salary could be acceptable if the cost of living was lower, unfortunately it's often the same as in the US. Vancouver might even be more expensive. Maybe if provincial/federal governments tackled that first more people would stay, as it would be a better environment to raise a family.
Definitely not my experience (Toronto -> SF). My rent for a 2-bed apartment in SF is twice as much as my mortgage for a 3-bed detached in Toronto (both with similar commute times)
With that said, signing bonuses are definitely something that you don't ever get in Canada, raises and yearly bonuses are also categorically lower, and housing prices have been outpacing salary increases significantly.
However, there are definitely very good reasons to be in Canada instead of the US/Bay area. Healthcare, for one thing, isn't an opaque insurance clusterfuck. It's also much safer (both macroscopically, in terms of things like shootings, and microscopically, in terms of side effects of widespread homelessness).
Another thing to consider is that work visas are far easier to get in Canada, and the path to citizenship is also much less draconian.
If Canadian companies were willing to offer a competitive salary, maybe Canadian grads would stay. It doesn't even have to be 1:1 with the US, even 75% would be nice. As it is, there is little incentive to stay here. I know a new grad who was faced with the choice of staying in Canada to earn $40-50k CAD per year starting, or heading to the US where he had a job offer with one of the big five for $120k USD plus signi…
If Canadian companies were willing to offer a competitive salary, maybe Canadian grads would stay. It doesn't even have to be 1:1 with the US, even 75% would be nice. As it is, there is little incentive to stay here. I know a new grad who was faced with the choice of staying in Canada to earn $40-50k CAD per year starting, or heading to the US where he had a job offer with one of the big five for $120k USD plus signi…
> Canadian tech companies love to complain about lack of talent, but they're not willing to pay for it [...] They most likely to a large extent can't. It's just a different model both as comapnies and country. In general you can rarely win by being a lesser version of something else. Canada can, hopefully, do a lot of things the US can't. Those are the things it should do to attract people.
Name one prominent Canadian VC firm - I can't think of any, and I'm Canadian. But ask me about US firms, and I can name firms like Sequioa, a16z, and BVP. We don't have that here.
The same is true of most of the rest of the world. Smart computer scientists go to silicon valley unless they're tied down with commitments they can't move. Doesn't bode well for the future of all other countries.
>Smart computer scientists go to silicon valley Is it really that easy though for the rest of the world? As an european developer AFIAK there a basically two visas * H-1B: Hard to get the quota as some big companies abuse it for cheap work * L-1: Requires 1 year of working at the european branch of the company H-1B seems really difficult to get, is the L1 easier? At the end of my studies at the moment and considered…
It's because of the pay and type of opportunities. You either take below market rate (like myself) or you work in something like one of the 300 ad-tech or we'll-build-your-website/app dev mills (more often than not it's both). There are a limited number of opportunities for truly interesting or innovative work if you don't want to work for "we're changing the world by creating the next uber/airbnb/cryptocurrency/coup…
> You either take below market rate (like myself) or you work in something like one of the 300 ad-tech or we'll-build-your-website/app dev mills (more often than not it's both). This is probably feeding the problem. You need good engineers to create high-value products in order to afford to pay high salaries for good engineers. Economies can't get ahead when they waste engineering talent developing trivial software t…
But otherwise, I'm trying to figure out how I can possibly save or make some more money on the side without running myself ragged or ruining my relationship—and feel human all the while.
I don't want to exaggerate but something is definitely off. I've seen companies resist hiring engineers at almost all cost (except for at 35-60k) but will pay "Technology Procurement Managers" 300k+. Don't get me started on some of the outcome of those practices...
If Canadian companies were willing to offer a competitive salary, maybe Canadian grads would stay. It doesn't even have to be 1:1 with the US, even 75% would be nice. As it is, there is little incentive to stay here. I know a new grad who was faced with the choice of staying in Canada to earn $40-50k CAD per year starting, or heading to the US where he had a job offer with one of the big five for $120k USD plus signi…
Big 5 new grad salary in the bay area (and Seattle for Amazon) is a microcosm. Those kinds of salaries aren't sustainable for most companies.