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Google's expansion plans show why Canada's tech boom is here to stay

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131–140 of 266 posts

Re: Google's expansion plans show why Canada's tech boom is here to stay

#131
post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>real estate is still cheap, compared to the valley Everything in the world is cheap compared to the Valley, that any comparison is pretty much a meme at this point. You can't possibly tell me with a straight face that Munich real estate is cheap even when you account for local salaries. Munich is the embodiment of the Bay Area in Germany when accounting for living costs, except without the high paying jobs. I have m…

First off: I have lived & worked in Munich and done exactly what you describe (now live in the countryside working for a remote company) but it is still only a minority of people who [can] do that. It is certainly not the case that everybody is doing it. The ecosystem is alive and well. In my various data sources tracking job advertising, Munich has been and continues to be where almost all of the interesting jobs ar…

How is €80k an extremely high salary in Germany when a nice apartment in Munich is closing on €800k?

Fells like a place with Bay Area prices but without the pay.

Re: Google's expansion plans show why Canada's tech boom is here to stay

#132
post #107

As a Candian, it seems to me so very pathetically and predictably Canadian to literally herald the surrender of your own industries to foreign takeover. Canada is (often) to tech what Mexico is to cars. Mexican 'assembly' of cars is fine and good, but they don't exactly move up the value chain from there. Canada produces a lot of decent tech people, who will work for 2/3 the wages, unfortunately, this doesn't map to…

Having extra tech jobs in Canada will certainly, at least, keep some talent in the market. Having talent kept in the local market makes it easier for entrepreneurs to attract them. I don't agree with your assessment that this is peanuts.

Re: Google's expansion plans show why Canada's tech boom is here to stay

#133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Federal higher income bracket is not 50% but you have to factor the province as well so yeah well above 50% in Quebec for instance.

I mean, you are technically correct. If you earn more than approximately 800k in Quebec, you would pay about 50% of your income in taxes. But how many people earn remotely that much? Is this really a concern for us mere mortals?

Average tax of 50% is pretty hard to hit you are right but I was more pointing at marginal tax rate which is what most people refer to when they say Canadian income tax are high. Just check the CRA tax brackets and add in the Revenu Quebec tax bracket for instance.

Re: Google's expansion plans show why Canada's tech boom is here to stay

#134
post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First off: I have lived & worked in Munich and done exactly what you describe (now live in the countryside working for a remote company) but it is still only a minority of people who [can] do that. It is certainly not the case that everybody is doing it. The ecosystem is alive and well. In my various data sources tracking job advertising, Munich has been and continues to be where almost all of the interesting jobs ar…

How is €80k an extremely high salary in Germany when a nice apartment in Munich is closing on €800k? Fells like a place with Bay Area prices but without the pay.

I'm saying TAXES are extremely high. Getting paid €80k/yr before taxes in Munich is a bad joke, but is unfortunately where the market is. Many people are living that bad joke. -- Stop disagreeing with me, please, when there really is no disagreement here.

Re: Google's expansion plans show why Canada's tech boom is here to stay

#135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Software engineer salaries are significantly lower than in the US. > The median Canadian “Software Engineer” salary is CA$72,000. The median US salary is US$91,000.... The cost of living in Vancouver is about 4.8% higher than Austin. While the median Software Engineer salary in Austin is 40% higher than Vancouver when accounting for the exchange rate. https://medium.com/@sprice/more-canadian-software-engineers-...

That’s just less than astronomically expensive not cheap. If they were after cheap they’d go to Berlin or London - that’s cheaper than Canadian cities for cost of labour.

Each company faces different constraints, and in particular there can be downsides going to Europe that don't exist for Canada, e.g., language, timezone, regulations, travel costs, culture.) A sandwich in Ohio is reasonably called "cheap" when I've been living in NYC, and I don't feel the need to say "but it would be really cheap in rural India".

Re: Google's expansion plans show why Canada's tech boom is here to stay

#136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, Canada's bet on skilled immigration is really smart of them, and it's a neat way of side-stepping the usual social tensions that we hear about wrt. "anti-immigrant" sentiment from socially marginalized or low-income natives.

Why does Canada always get a pass on this but the US doesn’t? (This being points-based skilled immigration)

Canada also runs separate refugee immigration program. Also: the advantage of not having too many illegal immigrants coming through the border and having to make decisions when they and their children put roots in the country.

Re: Google's expansion plans show why Canada's tech boom is here to stay

#137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The above was referring to total comp. From what I have read, annual stock/RSU compensation is equivalent to salary. I have read that a $300,000 salary is not unheard of for a senior FAANG engineering role.

It's rather rare, from what I can tell. Esp. in the context of immigration, h1bdata can be useful. Google llc has precisely 1 software engineer certified at a salary above 300k. 250k, more achievable, with very senior status. What really happens though is RSU appreciation. GOOG has more than doubled in the past 4 years. You are awarded X dollars of stock on hire and every annual review period, but that is converted i…

Just to be clear, that salary is prevailing wage which is usually lower than the actual salary you're getting (does not include RSUs or stock on top of that). In my case the difference was about 30 to 40% lower.

Re: Google's expansion plans show why Canada's tech boom is here to stay

#138
post #110

It seems to me they’re doing it partially because it’s cheaper in Canada ( compared to the US dollar ) as far as salaries, etc go. Pretty soon, rent is going to be too high for someone making 100k Canadian ( if it isn’t already )

The dollar is likely a factor, as you mention. But from their list of cities only Toronto has a crisis of home affordability. Montreal is still within sane levels and Waterloo is not too much worse.

I live in the Waterloo region and affordability is questionable. Not terrible for most tech workers, but definitely not great for the "working class". All of Canada is in a serious housing bubble, but definitely worse in Toronto and Vancouver.

Re: Google's expansion plans show why Canada's tech boom is here to stay

#139
post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From a classically liberal perspective, it would seem like an argument for TN. i.e. you see the world in terms of 'how does this law help me now'. But from almost any other perspective it's not. TN visas are mostly 'one way' - to America. It's an opportunity to suck out the best talent (the fruit of public education) for no cost. Without real reciprocity, there's no benefit to Canadians who wouldn't use the opportuni…

I don't want to get into long discussion here, but I want to nitpick about this: > i.e. you see the world in terms of 'how does this law help me now'. Classically liberal perspective would be "how does this law help individuals now", not me specifically.

I understand what you're saying, but I believe that the nature of the liberal argument ultimately boils down to some kind of personal self-actualization.

The popularisation of almost any liberal policy usually takes the form appealing to the choice/freedom/egoism of the individual. Sometimes in a crude way.

I should have used the third person impersonal 'one sees' not 'you see' as I didn't mean 'you' of course.

Re: Google's expansion plans show why Canada's tech boom is here to stay

#140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Senior roles in SF/NY pay >600k in total comp. I was flat out told there are no such jobs in Canada two years back. Has that changed?

I know people who joined post IPO and make more than that at Shopify as Senior Developers. Is primarily equity though. Salaries do lag in Canada vs USA.

How much of that is because of the stock tripling in the last year? Or were their initial grants significantly higher than initial salary?
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