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Microsoft Opens New HQ in Toronto

techbomb.ca

61–70 of 147 posts

Re: Microsoft Opens New HQ in Toronto

#61
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…

[deleted]

Re: Microsoft Opens New HQ in Toronto

#62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>you open an office in Canada because it’s cheaper. Or, to hire international tech workers who you can't bring to your US office for visa reasons.

Yes, this is right. Big Tech is mostly focused on Canada and EU because they can hire people from (chiefly) China and India without H1-Bs. According to a director I spoke with it’s because they can’t find enough qualified engineers, not to save money. Seems we should just be opening more offices in Hyderabad, I don’t know why that isn’t done more. Political security maybe?

Canada timezones are more desirable

Re: Microsoft Opens New HQ in Toronto

#63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>you open an office in Canada because it’s cheaper. Or, to hire international tech workers who you can't bring to your US office for visa reasons.

Yes, this is right. Big Tech is mostly focused on Canada and EU because they can hire people from (chiefly) China and India without H1-Bs. According to a director I spoke with it’s because they can’t find enough qualified engineers, not to save money. Seems we should just be opening more offices in Hyderabad, I don’t know why that isn’t done more. Political security maybe?

Because it’s even harder to hire good tech workers in india now? Europe and Canada have far more talent at far cheaper price right now.

Re: Microsoft Opens New HQ in Toronto

#64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>you open an office in Canada because it’s cheaper. Or, to hire international tech workers who you can't bring to your US office for visa reasons.

Yes, this is right. Big Tech is mostly focused on Canada and EU because they can hire people from (chiefly) China and India without H1-Bs. According to a director I spoke with it’s because they can’t find enough qualified engineers, not to save money. Seems we should just be opening more offices in Hyderabad, I don’t know why that isn’t done more. Political security maybe?

Google is currently building its largest non-US office in Hyderabad.

https://m.economictimes.com/news/company/corporate-trends/go...

Re: Microsoft Opens New HQ in Toronto

#66
post #16

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 I tried to raise a ~$300k seed round in Toronto in 2014. Most Canadian investors we met with wanted to see us have something like $10k/month in recurring revenue before considering an investment. We spent a week in SF and left with a $250k offer at a $4M valuation, when we were pre-revenue! (We declined, and eventually our business…

So after all they were right and didn't lose ~$300k?

Re: Microsoft Opens New HQ in Toronto

#67
post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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

The timezone issue is as much of a problem as you make it. The difference between the east coast and the UK is 5 hours - the difference between East and West coast is 3 hours. Both of those are very roughly in the ballpark of "half a workday overlapping".

Re: Microsoft Opens New HQ in Toronto

#68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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...

Yes, playing the lottery is easy. Winning the lottery, not so much.

Canada does not currently have a viable immigration model for non-dependents immigration. The Parents-Grandparents stream takes 30,000 applications a year through a lottery system because demand is so high. So it could take many years before you get to bring your parents.

Re: Microsoft Opens New HQ in Toronto

#69
post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I doubt it, London tech wages, especially in the City, beat everything else in the EU.

And are still lower than most places in the US.

Sure, but let's compare apples to apples (UK to EU) as US is unique in being the world leading economy.

Re: Microsoft Opens New HQ in Toronto

#70
post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I doubt it, London tech wages, especially in the City, beat everything else in the EU.

And are still lower than most places in the US.

I dont have enough karma to reply to my sibling comment:

> Sure, but let's compare apples to apples (UK to EU) as US is unique in being the world leading economy.

EU has a higher GDP than the US and is therefore the world leading economy.

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