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MS Moves R&D To Canada Due To Immigration Problem
telso writes "Microsoft will be opening a new software development center in Vancouver because of difficulties getting workers into the US. The company said the center will 'allow the company to continue to recruit and retain highly skilled people affected by the immigration issues in the US' It seems possible that shrinking immigration quotas have affected America's tax and knowledge base."
I remember when a local company, Boise Cascade, was blaming environmentalists for their inability to find wood to cut. This was announced on page one of the Idaho Statesman newspaper. On page 6 was an article about them selling sections of timberland to Georgia Pacific.
In short, it was politically motivated bullcrap. The corporate culture takes another swipe at the American working class, while they game the system.
Best regards.
Ask yourself, why are they moving to Canada and not India/China if low wages is all they are after?
Are you trying to tell me they are interested in something other than the immigration laws they are complaining about, or that the driver for that is getting cheap labor? I don't really see it in your Candada is a great place and has better immigration laws spiel.
M$ has already opened shop in India. Opening an office in Canada while complaining about immigration is pure bullshit. The only advantage an office in Canada has for hiring foreign workers is that it's in a closer timezone. They want cheap labor close and under their thumb, nothing more.
M$ cares only about owning the code you write. When you are finished writing it, they are finished with you. US citizens, perma-temps and others previously doing this work will be shown the door.
The real reason they are going this way? Because it's almost game over for M$. A key piece of the M$ success story was their ability to pay workers in stock options based on perpetual growth. To do this, the options must gain value and M$ must always beat Wall Street expectations. Their growth leveled off a while ago and Vista is going to pull it into negative territory. They will no longer be able to offer people decent compensation and that will be it for them. They have also long been out of software to steal as people have avoided new Windows based software companies. Non free code has never really been competitive from a development perspective. Vista has demonstrated just how expensive and slow non free really is. Slave labor and foreign workers are temporary measures that won't save them from collapse.
Good riddance.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
For my Canuck friends, it isn't worth going to the US. The government red tape is a pain in the butt. You pay extra for everything-- Air care in BC is not valid in the US even though the same company does the tests.
You get offers from many friends and acquaintances to work on this project or that project. Of course it is illegal to do so on an h1b. Many Americans like to blame foreigners for their home grown problems. (Not to mention the popular "wee here blame dem der Arabs" mentality) The US government (USCIS in particular) is just crappy--they can't seem to get their shit together. One day you can apply and the next day you can't. (After the FedEx arrives, of course. There is a class action law suit starting over that one.) You wait for years for a green card, and there are barriers to getting another job while market rates increase. The rules are complex and not always strictly followed so there are risks that you'll have ten days to sell your house and vamoose. Border crossings are iffy. Border people are a power unto themselves now....
If I knew then what I know now, I would not be here. It has been 6 years of seemingly endless visa issues, and I'm tired of it.
Me: nothing->l2->l2->H1b->h1b->Perm Residence?
Wife: L1b->H1b->h1b->TN->H1b->h1b->Perm Residence?
If google moves to Vancouver, now that changes everything!!!
You and your fellow ranters should approach Socialist Paradise Venture Fund and ask them to fund your Socialist Utopia startup, where you can do all the things you call for. Hire only US Citizens, Pay $200K to starters out of school, never outsource a single job. No "cheap labor", no foreigners, no H1Bs etc.
Why blame MS, Google, Intel et al? do your own thing! An example is worth a million rants.
p.s. people like you never take a single risk, sit on your fat asses all day and expect some entitlement. Don't like it here? move to North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela...all great places that you should love.
Thank you New World Order Anti-Christ. Where can I get my microchip?
@JimDaGeek
Your "successful career" is limited to making mcsandwiches at your local deli and your "consulting work" is for your right hand. If you have ever done anything even remotely entrepreneurial you wouldn't be spouting this bullshit.
Now get back to making that BLT for the next customer in line.
Why don't you do something useful like slitting your fucking wrists fucktard.
The problem with the American immigration system is that they have their priorities wrong. The American immigration system focuses on those that have family, unskilled or what have you. In contrast Canada favors skilled. Recently there was a study on immigration policies and they said systems like Canada are better for the country in the long run because skilled labor integrates better. Switzerland, Germany, UK, Australia all have skilled labor immigration programs and it works quite well for them.
And to think that people call Americans selfish. One would think that countries that claim to be more liberal than the US would want to help the poor, unskilled refugees of the world, give them a relatively safe place to live and better opportunities than they had back home. I guess not, eh? I guess in your country, if you had a Statue of Liberty, the inscription on the base would read "Your huddled masses? Your wretched refuse, yearning to breathe free? FUCK 'EM!! We don't want 'em here! We've got ours, and screw anyone who hasn't gotten theirs yet!"
Downmodding is the refuge of the weak. Don't downmod, make a better argument!