Live data from Hacker News

Microsoft Opens New HQ in Toronto

techbomb.ca

41–50 of 147 posts

Re: Microsoft Opens New HQ in Toronto

#41
post #29

Expect a lot of Indian and Chinese developers to move here from the U.S. as the prospect of having any stability in the US basically disappears. We’ve had about 4 developers move to Canada already. I wouldn’t be surprised if retaining these developers is one of Microsoft’s intended goals of this “HQ”.

It is true, not sure why there are downvotes. US immigration is a mess and Canada's is delightful even if it's pissing off the locals a bit these days. I've been saying for a while that US and Canada have been playing a zero sum game for Dev jobs. US' loss is Canada's gain.

>US immigration is a mess and Canada's is delightful

EU immigration for non-EU citizens is also very simple, basically just a rubber stamp nowadays in Countries like Germany for example.

Re: Microsoft Opens New HQ in Toronto

#42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I haven’t seen any other country that tries new things and willing to spent than the US. That includes Europe and Asia. It’s quite disappointing really because the world is so much bigger than the US alone.

>I haven’t seen any other country that tries new things and willing to spent than the US The US owns the money printer to the world trade currency (USD), and has the military force to defend this unique position, so of course it can afford to outspend everyone else.

I wish the legions who, in online discussions of the US dollar (or almost anything US foreign policy/military-related), always bring up how the US dollar/economy's strength is based on the "petrodollar" (you didn't say it, but that's what you were thinking of), how the US goes to war to preserve the dollar's role as a reserve currency, how Russia/China/Saudi Arabia can cause the dollar to crash by using another currency, etc., would actually think about what they're arguing about.

No, kids, if Saudi Arabia suddenly started selling all its oil in Euros or Yen on renminbi, the US would not send the Sixth Fleet off its shore, any more than it did so to force KSA to use the US dollar to price its wares in the first place. Saudis (and Russians, and Chinese, and everyone else) use the US dollar because they find that a) using it is more convenient than another hard currency like the Swiss franc or British pound, and b) no one else wants riyals, rubles, or renminbi.

Re: Microsoft Opens New HQ in Toronto

#43
post #28

'Bout f'n time! They've been dining on Waterloo grads for just about ever now. Waterloo is possibly the best CS school in the world, but we keep ignoring it. (Or talking about Hamilton or Toronto or whatever and not that obvious gem in the crown.) This, too, is hilariously Canadian.

What's so great about Waterloo? It is nowhere near Standard/Caltech/MIT in competition. The quality of students is also just above mediocre given the smaller talent pool of that exists in Canada.

>What's so great about Waterloo? It is nowhere near Standard/Caltech/MIT in competition.

Indeed.

Canada and California have about the same population. One might plausibly, if generously, posit Toronto and McGill as rough equivalents to Berkeley and UCLA. But Canada does not have a Stanford, Caltech, CalArts, UCSF, USC, UCSD, etc., etc. Waterloo? SJSU, maybe, and California has a dozen other colleges at about that level.

Re: Microsoft Opens New HQ in Toronto

#44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yea I’m surprised how little Microsoft pays in Vancouver according to levels.fyi. If an American company paid 80% of American salary to Canadians they would have their pick of Canada’s top talent. This slowly appears to be happening with Meta jobs in Canada. Canada has the same time zones, a similar culture, is geographically close, the same language, and excellent computer science/engineering programs. What Canada d…

>What Canada doesn’t have is a strong venture capital pool, a culture of risk taking, or a domestic market of 330 million people which stifles new businesses. Replace Canada with EU and it's the same.

I was going to say UK!

Re: Microsoft Opens New HQ in Toronto

#45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yea I’m surprised how little Microsoft pays in Vancouver according to levels.fyi. If an American company paid 80% of American salary to Canadians they would have their pick of Canada’s top talent. This slowly appears to be happening with Meta jobs in Canada. Canada has the same time zones, a similar culture, is geographically close, the same language, and excellent computer science/engineering programs. What Canada d…

>What Canada doesn’t have is a strong venture capital pool, a culture of risk taking, or a domestic market of 330 million people which stifles new businesses. Replace Canada with EU and it's the same.

You still have the timezone issue, which is a problem

Re: Microsoft Opens New HQ in Toronto

#46

Expect a lot of Indian and Chinese developers to move here from the U.S. as the prospect of having any stability in the US basically disappears. We’ve had about 4 developers move to Canada already. I wouldn’t be surprised if retaining these developers is one of Microsoft’s intended goals of this “HQ”.

First thing I thought: rents in Toronto are just going to go up even higher! When a big company opens a new office in your city, it's half good news, half worrying news...

Re: Microsoft Opens New HQ in Toronto

#47
post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is true, not sure why there are downvotes. US immigration is a mess and Canada's is delightful even if it's pissing off the locals a bit these days. I've been saying for a while that US and Canada have been playing a zero sum game for Dev jobs. US' loss is Canada's gain.

>US immigration is a mess and Canada's is delightful EU immigration for non-EU citizens is also very simple, basically just a rubber stamp nowadays in Countries like Germany for example.

Important for keeping salaries low and exporting cheaply, because the minimum salary requirement for non-EU citizens is lower for jobs in high demand.

Re: Microsoft Opens New HQ in Toronto

#48
post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is true, not sure why there are downvotes. US immigration is a mess and Canada's is delightful even if it's pissing off the locals a bit these days. I've been saying for a while that US and Canada have been playing a zero sum game for Dev jobs. US' loss is Canada's gain.

>US immigration is a mess and Canada's is delightful EU immigration for non-EU citizens is also very simple, basically just a rubber stamp nowadays in Countries like Germany for example.

Canada and Australia go further with easier immigration process for first degree relatives, which is important in Asian culture. In Germany, for example, you need to be a minor in order to bring your parents or prove "exceptional hardship" [0]

[0] - https://se-legal.de/immigration-lawyer-germany/family-reunif...

Re: Microsoft Opens New HQ in Toronto

#49
post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I haven’t seen any other country that tries new things and willing to spent than the US The US owns the money printer to the world trade currency (USD), and has the military force to defend this unique position, so of course it can afford to outspend everyone else.

I wish the legions who, in online discussions of the US dollar (or almost anything US foreign policy/military-related), always bring up how the US dollar/economy's strength is based on the "petrodollar" (you didn't say it, but that's what you were thinking of), how the US goes to war to preserve the dollar's role as a reserve currency, how Russia/China/Saudi Arabia can cause the dollar to crash by using another curre…

This is not necessarily some petro-dollar argument. Individuals in other countries and their central banks want to save or hold USD in reserve for a variety of reasons (local currency inflation, exchange rates, etc). They buy dollar denominated bonds. This essentially allows the US massive access to credit which can fund these sorts of ventures.

I can make the same argument without mentioning the military - we benefit from a virtuous cycle of having the most dynamic economy which allows us access to credit to improve it, making it even more dynamic, and we simply pay it back as a lesser share of % GDP later.

Post reply on HN