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Microsoft Opens New HQ in Toronto

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Re: Microsoft Opens New HQ in Toronto

#111

Post by Cthulhu_ »

tdrgabi wrote: post #45
ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #32

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

It's only a problem if the US and EU sides need to work closely together; most tech companies will have multiple products that can be built independently. IIRC Google Docs is mainly built and maintained in Germany.

Re: Microsoft Opens New HQ in Toronto

#112

Post by bin_bash »

mdm12 wrote: post #106
bin_bash wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I made about 650k last year and I'm not even staff-level. I don't think paying 750k is going to attract anyone new.

At that point, you would think there would be some introspection with respect to the hiring process and the possibility of an alarming number of false negatives occurring due to absurd leetcode gauntlets. But, naaah...

I completely agree

Re: Microsoft Opens New HQ in Toronto

#113

Post by ChuckNorris89 »

bin_bash wrote: post #82
stingraycharles wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course, if you offer more money, you’ll get a larger pool of candidates. I agree that there is scarcity on the market, but unless a company is really paying top salaries for their devs, they really cannot say that it’s not money.

I made about 650k last year and I'm not even staff-level. I don't think paying 750k is going to attract anyone new.

>I made about 650k last year and I'm not even staff-level

Holy cow, how is that possible?! In my European country staff level goes up to 85K. That's insane.

Re: Microsoft Opens New HQ in Toronto

#114

Post by rmellow »

bin_bash wrote: post #56
zaptheimpaler wrote: post #54

I hope we get more offices opening up in Vancouver soon as well. Toronto has more momentum as the tech centre but Vancouver has better weather and is a beautiful place to live.

How do homeless issues compare? I know when I was a kid there was a big problem in Vancouver, I imagine it’s only gotten worse.

It's more spread out than Vancouver, and might be a nuisance if you live in the downtown core.

You're not gonna personally get yelled at/followed every week, but confrontations are not rare. I know several people including myself who have experienced it a few times.

There's a huge, poorly addressed mental health issue in Ontario, and downtown Toronto concentrates a lot of that.

Tangent: Coming from a third world country, homelessness in North America has a huge contrast with South America: my own anecdata is that mental health issues among the homeless are more common in NA and they're very irate and confrontational. I often wonder why there's such a contrast.

Re: Microsoft Opens New HQ in Toronto

#115

Post by bin_bash »

ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #113
bin_bash wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I made about 650k last year and I'm not even staff-level. I don't think paying 750k is going to attract anyone new.

>I made about 650k last year and I'm not even staff-level Holy cow, how is that possible?! In my European country staff level goes up to 85K. That's insane.

Part of it is luck in how my RSUs got priced in and stock appreciation. I won't make anywhere near that this year because of how poor the market has done. It'll still be over 400k though.

Have a look at https://www.levels.fyi/?compare=Amazon,Facebook,Google&track...

Re: Microsoft Opens New HQ in Toronto

#116

Post by jen20 »

drewcoo wrote: 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.

> Waterloo is possibly the best CS school in the world

Possibly, but I suspect Cambridge would like a word ;-)

Re: Microsoft Opens New HQ in Toronto

#117

Post by 29athrowaway »

soperj wrote: post #31
29athrowaway wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And what does that salary get you in the bay area? Living in a tiny apartment with a homeless guy outside. No thanks.

Toronto and Vancouver has basically the equivalent priced real estate as the Bay Area.

If there's a large earthquake, what would happen to SF?

- old buildings that do not comply with seismic code because codes don't apply retroactively

- new buildings built on the liquefaction zone

- Millenium tower already has defects even without earthquakes

- some buildings are already sinking

Everything is going to get rekt. SF is a huge house of cards about to collapse.

But they will probably have it better than the guys at Hayward, CA... a town built on top of the Hayward fault line. Why would you do that?

That's not to mention the worsening crime rates, even at the more suburban places. Oh, and the traffic, having nowhere to park your car, having to spend 1 hour in traffic to move 1 mile at peak hours, and seeing the city collapse each time a major conference takes place. And public transport is full of hallucination-haunted junkies that get randomly triggered.

Sounds like exactly the right place to live, form a family and spend all my money. Or maybe not.

Re: Microsoft Opens New HQ in Toronto

#118

Post by cwaffles »

vostok wrote: post #109
bin_bash wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I made about 650k last year and I'm not even staff-level. I don't think paying 750k is going to attract anyone new.

It might attract me. I work in a non tech role because, at the time I thought that tech paid less than my chosen industry. If I had known that I could make $750k in tech then the gap is small enough that the improved work life balance and lower stress might have tipped me to tech.

What kind of career are you currently in?

Re: Microsoft Opens New HQ in Toronto

#119

Post by LegitShady »

heffer wrote: post #68
harpratap wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Canada has social healthcare that is already stretched to its limits in many areas. I'm not sure they can afford to take in every relative who wants to come but has never paid into healthcare.
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