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The Price Of Doing Business

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the they're-not-even-a-real-country-anyway dept.

8127972 writes: "It seems that a ton of high tech companies are leaving cities (like San Fran) with high costs of doing business for cheaper cities (Washington DC is mentioned due to new government spending) or even cities in Canada. Sounds like American high tech workers are going to have to learn to say the word "eh?" a lot."

8 of 768 comments (clear)

  1. Move to Oklahoma!!! by TurboRoot · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The cost of living here is SUPER low.. plus.. you can hire VBscript monkies to work on ASP sites for $8/hour.

    In Oklahoma, you put an add in the paper, and you will have billions of applications and you can pick who ever is willing to take the least amount of pay.

    That is why companies like AOL like to put call centers in Oklahoma cause they can pay a whole $9/hour and people shit themselves about how much money it is. :)

    Unfortuantly, actually SELLING a product in Oklahoma is kind of bleak.. but if your product is nation wide.. then this is the place.

    1. Re:Move to Oklahoma!!! by Amarok.Org · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I used to work for a company who did just that... transfered me from San Jose to OKC to work in a call center. That company (and it's call center) is still there. They've systematically eliminated most of the original CA transplants (and their associated CA salaries) after getting local "monkies" (as you call them) trained to do the work at less than half the cost.

      Oklahoma (and similar states) also tend to offer HUGE tax incentives to companies like AOL to open call centers, since it creates lots of jobs for the local populous that would not have otherwise exist.

      Luckily, I escaped the hell that is Oklahoma, and am now living in the hell that is Texas. *grin*

      --
      -- "Other than that, how was the play Mrs. Lincoln?"
  2. What th--?! by daeley · · Score: 4, Interesting

    from the they're-not-even-a-real-country-anyway dept.

    What is this? Editor-troll-and-flamebait day?

    In any case, the movie industry here in sunny SoCal has had this problem for a long time, which is why a lot of productions have been moving up to non-sunny Canada.

    --
    I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.
    1. Re:What th--?! by Glytch · · Score: 3, Interesting

      And even more specifically, it's a phrase spouted by a seperatist politician in Quebec, shortly before the South Park movie was finished. I think Matt and Trey did careful research.

  3. Interesting by quantaman · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Recently in Canada one of the hot topics of discussion is about the "brain drain" to the US, where IT grads were moving to California for employment due to low taxes and a stronger US dollar (although supposedly we're doing quite well with educated immigrants). Still it would be interesting to see how many of these workers (or even companies) are Canadian or have strong Canadian connections already.

    --
    I stole this Sig
  4. Must be that USD/CAD $ thing... by linux+slacker · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It's funny that the article mentions Toronto as a viable relocation for high-tech companies - Toronto is generally considered as the most expensive city in Canada, followed by Vancouver.

    Calgary is attractive to employees because unlike most of Canada, there is no provincial sales tax, only federal sales tax (so they end up paying only 7% on everything they buy, as opposed to 15% like Ontario and the eastern provinces).

    One major centre which is not mentioned in Montreal - which is incredibly cheap compared to the other major urban centres in Canada. It's generally cheaper Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa in almost every category for employees (rent, car insurance, food, beer...) Only problem is that Quebec has a high rate of provincial tax, so maybe it factors out a bit in the end.

    --
    "Error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it." -- Thomas Jefferson, 1801
  5. Well, except for one thing... by cswiii · · Score: 5, Interesting

    ...the fact that trying to actually get in to Canada "sucks".

    If all the high tech jobs move up that way, most Slashdot readers are gonna be working behind the counters at 7-11, unless Canada loosens its new immigration restrictions a bit.

  6. Re:Amazing. by buckeyeguy · · Score: 3, Interesting
    The article doesn't say that a bunch of companies are moving to Canada, only that the cost benefits might be there.

    As for the coasts vs. the world, I think it's more of a media bias, reflected in the graph shown in the article, where almost all the cities mentioned are on or near the East or West coasts. Plus, not *all* of a company has to move; example: Boeing moving their headquarters to Chicago while manufacturing stays in Washington State.

    I *should* stay out of that whole Oklahoma thread at the top, but it calls to mind what college football star (and failed actor) Brian Bosworth once said, that Big 12 towns like Norman, Oklahoma and Lincoln, Nebraska were akin to the worst of what the Soviet Union had to offer.

    --
    I'd have a personalized plate on my car, but "toxic bachelor" won't fit into 7 letters.