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The new software development center will open somewhere in the Vancouver, British Columbia, area and will be "home to software developers from around the world," Microsoft said in a statement on Thursday.
"The Vancouver area is a global gateway with a diverse population, is close to Microsoft's corporate offices in Redmond, and allows the company to recruit and retain highly skilled people affected by immigration issues in the U.S.," Microsoft said.
The announcement of Microsoft's Canadian plans follows the failure of an immigration bill that would have expanded the number of foreign high-tech workers that could have come to the country each year under so-called H1-B visas.
High-tech companies have been pushing hard to get Congress to increase the number of visas they are allotted. In separate Capitol Hill appearances, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates made a strong plea for unlimited H-1B visas, while a Google executive credited the company's success to foreigners and called for expanded ability to hire them.
But so far, a broader feud has killed two attempts by the U.S. Senate to overhaul the immigration system, including a bump in the H-1B quota from a base level of 60,000 to at least 115,000. Silicon Valley wasn't pleased with all of the bill, but it was also counting on passage of amendments that would provide greater assurances that green cards for permanent residency come through and create new exemptions for foreigners with advanced degrees.
Now companies are left to hope that their congressional allies will pass standalone bills, severed from the larger immigration debate, to accomplish those tasks. Although a number of senators have indicated support for the tech industry's goals, others have taken an arguably more measured approach, proposing bills aimed at curbing H-1B abuse while upping the quota.
Microsoft spokesman Lou Gellos said that while the immigration issue was a factor, the company would be opening the center in Vancouver even if it were not for the immigration challenges. That said, Vancouver is particularly attractive since it is a short drive from Redmond, Wash., but not bound by U.S. immigration policies.
"It does help us address that challenge we have in the United States of hiring very qualified people, many of whom are graduating from schools in the U.S., but who cannot acquire the necessary documentation to work in the U.S.," Gellos said.
Microsoft plans to start with a couple hundred workers, but is looking for a spot "with room to grow," Gellos said. "We haven't finalized the actual facility or the site yet," he said. "Once we get an indication of where we can do the center, that will help us to clarify the numbers."
The software maker currently has just over 900 workers in Canada, most of whom are based in Toronto, where Microsoft has its local subsidiary as well as sales, marketing and some development staff. There is also a sales office in Vancouver.
Microsoft's move is hardly its first venture offshore. While the bulk of its workers are in the greater Seattle area, Microsoft has expanded its development efforts in recent years, adding efforts in Denmark, Israel, India, China and the United Kingdom, among other locales. Microsoft recently announced plans to expand operations in Bellevue, Wash., near its Redmond campus, and in Fargo, N.D. The company also has development efforts in North Carolina and Silicon Valley.
Microsoft Canada President Phil Sorgen said his unit had long pushed Canada as a great place for the software maker to do development work.
"We have burgeoning high-tech and software industries and a globally envied quality of life, and our cities represent exactly the kind of environment that leading information workers want to live in," he said in a statement. "This center will help Microsoft remain globally competitive while providing strong economic benefits to British Columbia and Canada."
See more CNET content tagged:
Vancouver, H-1B, worker, Redmond, software development
- You'll have to pay to insure every employee, frankly it's about time.
The fact that they are touting Canada, as their foreign destination, in retaliation for not giving unlimited h-1b, proves they can't relocate their business overseas.
Do you think Canadians are any easier on robber-barron corporations?
Feigning a knee-jerk reaction, is really quite humorous, the Mickey-soft comedy act is on tour. Actually changing you strategy because of an immigration issue, is actually quite dumb.
The writing is on the wall, the U.S. dollar is plummeting thanks to our deficit spending and a huge trade deficit. A few more years and gasoline will be 20$/gallon, and U.S. citizens will look cheap again.
Then formula-drinking-CEO's like Balmer will be able to see the "Road-Ahead".
2. Canadian companies aren't required to "insure" employees. Health insurance is funded via your tax dollars; (plus in the case of Ontario, employees have some additional amount deducted by law from their paycheck, I believe up to $800/yr now.)
3. Gasoline? Gasoline is much more expensive in Canada compared to the US. Whenever I'm near the border it's cheaper for me to cross the border to the US, fill-up there, then cross the border back to Canada. :-)
4. The BC government undoubtedly gave Microsoft a huge amount of tax-breaks to setup a major shop in Vancouver. So yes, Canadians can be "easier" on companies like Microsoft.
system. Or maybe the companies will start their own education
system. Count on this though... the pollies and the businessmen
who sent jobs overseas will expect the undereducated American to
get on the two way firing line for the next war.
Boohoo MS. I agree their is a shortage of QUALIFIED tech workers in the US, but with your fortune, you could easily give thousands and thousand of scholarships every year to boost those numbers.
Of course, maybe the problem is that few people want to work at an immoral, inept, and irrelevant company.
Canada gives green card to qualified people even without sponsorship from hiring company. And there's no quote.
Microsoft does pay millions of dollors for scholarships.
While I agree that cheap labour is a driving factor behind outsourcing, the availability of skill labour is also important. If Microsoft feels they can't attract enough workers for its redmond office it makes sense to open in a country with more progressive immigration laws for their operations.
But one of IBM's largest software laboratory has been in Canada (Toronto) for many years now. All told IBM hires more than 20,000 people here.
So really Microsoft is simply late to join the party... though they have a large sales office near Toronto as well.
America's foreigner-phobia is Canada's gain.
-m
Take off you hoseheads! Go North, you knobs! :)
Michael Moore already offshored his web site to Canada, why don't everyone else do so as well? Michael Moore is the big pundit against offshoring, but he does it anyway.
I guess Offshoring to Canada is not as bad as Offshoring to India, eh?
Sucks to be in IT and Engineering these days, which is why I went back to college and earned a business management degree. All of the best jobs are going out the door to another country.
I have a web server located in Toronto, who cares? So a few hundred dollars( or in Moores case, a few thousand) of mine goes north. Whoop di freaking doo. What are you going to whine about next, American visitors to Canada? I bet you shop at Wal-Mart don't you?
Business management degree? I guess you can't make any sense with "credentials" like that.
Or you give a green card to the immigrants or the US companies will go abroad and they will be welcome. But , Americans will lose their job! To bad!Poor babies! One day, you have to pay for your stupidities. We ( I mean you) do not have your feet on earth.
This is the beginning of the fall of the Tiny Roman Empire that you call USA.
Great to make a movie:" The country who wanted to be an Empire" Laugh....Go Canada..Go Go Go! You will get the US very fast!They are already down!
Why do you think Bush wanted to give amnesty to all those illegal workers?
Democrats can't afford to lose support from Organized Labor (aka Unions), so they could never support immigration reform (whatever Kennedy says.)
Canada will "get" the US very fast?? That's a big laugh. Hint: currently we have a Conservative government here in Canada.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/964733.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/656339.stm
Clinton took campaign money from China.
http://www.fas.org/news/china/1998/980518-prc2.htm
http://www.fas.org/news/china/1998/980521-prc2.htm
http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/ie/daily/19980517/13750184.html
The fact is, American programmers see themselves as craftsmen and think about their career in terms of decades. H1Bs are here to make the whatever they can and go home exchange rate adjusted millionaires, retiring at 35.
I can only wish Gates would leave and take his little flotilla of junkware-producing opportunists and hacks and leave the American market to people who care about America and her long term well- being and the cooperative AND competitive advancement of computer science and technology. MS is a squatting sh*tting, filthy monopoly that holds on to market share by threatening competitors with lawsuits and strong-arming the competition through illegal practices, a charge they've been convicted of many times over by a court of law.
So get lost, Gates and take your H1Bs with you. Oh, by the way, Canada? Doesn't crap all over its citizens the way the US does, so you're going to have an even worse time importing cheap foreign labor up there than down here.
But don't let the door hit you in your (fat, sagging) a** on the way out.
Bush was for the amnesty, but not the republicans.
Almost all the democrats was foran amnesty. 2 days ago the immigration blocked 60.000 h1b visas and you call that an intelligent thing to do. I think that big companies will go overseas. The dollar is weak and we have lack of low and high skilled worker,
It's simple as that !
The US is going down like the Titanic did!
Republicans played with the immigration law.
Now, intelligent people like Bill Gates will leave the country because they do not have what they want here and a US visa is ridilous. Long waiting period, no family reunification etc.. Who do you think that you can have if you do not have a good immigration law. So far, the UShas a non immigration law. The proof is that the companies are leaving the county and now, you can be happy because you will do the job that you gave to Mexicans. Nice backfire. Bravo Bill Gates.
Instead to find an useless and crual invasion of Iraq, it would be better to take care of the US ! Now, it's too late.
Were do you want to do with a weak dollar, no healthcare etc...Just nothing !You do not even have long vacations like Europeans have. You need 2 jobs to pay your debts.You are done my friends and it's your fault.
You last chance it to make pressure on the government to pass an amnesty and no restriction on visas.If not, good luck!
But thats okay you don't care because you keep buying their products.
Remember Ross Perot?
Microsoft rakes in billions in profits and yet they can't afford American workers? There aren't any qualified Americans? What a bunch of liars! I'm sure some of the graduates from my school who didn't have a job when they graduated in May would take a job with Microsoft -- even if they were given the horrible task of fixing Vista.
I don't know about the Canada story. A friend of mine wanted to live in Canada and got some work up there, but he had to leave when a qualified Canadian was found. That story doesn't seem to agree with this idea of a liberal immigration policy in Canada.
I will say one thing though, the enrollment in CS seems to be going down, and that's a direct result of these companies being unwilling to hire U.S. citizens. Who would spend thousands of dollars and years of their life on a degree, only to be turned down for someone here on an H-1B or offshored work.
If Microsoft were to "stay" (they really aren't going anywhere just opening a new office) they would being hiring foreigners via the H1-B program, not US Developers.
If they go, they will be hiring non-US developers either organic to Canada or non-US/Canadian workers who have what is ever the equivalent of a Canadian Workers Visa.
If I lived in Canada I would be concerned about the ratio of Canadian workers to foreign national workers that Microsoft hires. It may have the same impact in Canada as it did in the US, where Canadian Software Developers will find that they are unemployable because foreign national workers are willing to do the job at a much lower salary than the average Canadian.
As a previous poster pointed out, who wants to go pay for school to get a degree in a field no one will hire you in because they are unwilling to pay you a fair price for a fair days worth of work. The other issue is Universities are willing to give foreigners free rides with the understanding that they are going to take the skills back to their country and better it. While US students are not given the same financial opportunities. Its automatically assumed because you live in the US you have the money to pay for your education.
Personally I had to get a full time job and go to school part time in order to pay for my education. My foreign classmates were able to attend school full time because of scholarships and free financial aid.
Can you provide basis for this comment? Apparently you're speaking for 'all universities' even though you fail to cite a single one. The truth is that international tuition at many universities is up to 4x that of other students (in state, US, etc). You paint a bleak picture but your limited anecdotal personal experience doesn't qualify you to describe all circumstances and all cases everywhere for everyone.
worker under the guise that we need talent. Well, why not look
for an American worker or assist in creating a program to train/
qualify them? It is not just Microsoft but many other companies
that do this. Some years ago I looked into teaching in Canada
and spoke to the Ministry of Ed. I was told that they had to hire
their national graduates first. Ironically a friend of mine in Spain
was told the same thing there. Somehow our companies and
apparently lawmakers have their heads on wrong. We cater to
everyone else but our own. Interestingly it is not just in work. in
the late 1700's the Supreme Court was challenged with a case
that demanded they find if the United States was a Christian
nation. They spent 10 YEARS researching the case and
concluded that we were a Christian nation based upon the
multitudes of documents. Yet, although this fact was concluded
compare that with recent issues we are all too familiar with
regarding religion. Any religion but Christianity has rights in our
country- someone always uses the nonconstitutional "separation
of church and state". I compare this to the way that any foreign
national is sought in the business world over the American
national. It is as if we scoff at our own people and beliefs. Sad.
worker under the guise that we need talent. Well, why not look
for an American worker or assist in creating a program to train/
qualify them? It is not just Microsoft but many other companies
that do this. Some years ago I looked into teaching in Canada
and spoke to the Ministry of Ed. I was told that they had to hire
their national graduates first. Ironically a friend of mine in Spain
was told the same thing there. Somehow our companies and
apparently lawmakers have their heads on wrong. We cater to
everyone else but our own. Interestingly it is not just in work. in
the late 1700's the Supreme Court was challenged with a case
that demanded they find if the United States was a Christian
nation. They spent 10 YEARS researching the case and
concluded that we were a Christian nation based upon the
multitudes of documents. Yet, although this fact was concluded
compare that with recent issues we are all too familiar with
regarding religion. Any religion but Christianity has rights in our
country- someone always uses the nonconstitutional "separation
of church and state". I compare this to the way that any foreign
national is sought in the business world over the American
national. It is as if we scoff at our own people and beliefs. Sad.
As today my bed, house and food are gone,
I?d worked for all my life.
And I can't start again,
divorced by my children and my wife.
I?d thank my unlucky stars,
to be livin here today.
? Cause the flag now stands for greedom,
and my job has been taken away.
And It Sucks to be an American,
where at least I know, I?m nolonger free.
And I wont forget the politicians who lied,
who had taken that right from me.
And I sladly stand up,
next to you and defend her for big business today.
? Cause there ain?t no doubt THEY love this land,
God hates the USA.
Freedom gone from the polluted lakes of Minnesota,
to the deforested hills of Tennessee.
Across the litter strewn plains of Texas,
From sea to filthy sea.
From crime ridden Detroit down to drug ridden Houston,
and garbage strewn New York to gun slinging L.A.
Well there's greed in almost every American heart,
and its here and to stay.
That It sucks to be an American,
where at least I know, I?m no longer free.
And I wont forget the corporations who lied,
who taken that right from me.
And I sadly stand up,
next to you and defend her for the traitors today.
? Cause there ain?t no doubt THEY love this land,
God hates the USA.
And It sucks to be and American,
where at least I know I?m nolonger free.
And I wont forget the religions who lied,
who taken that right from me.
And I sadly stand up,
next to you and defend her for the wealthy today.
? Cause there ain?t no doubt THEY love this land,
God truly hates the USA!
As I told you several times the $US is very weak and we have to much debts and enemies all over the world.
We only think about making war in other countries of course to IMPOSE DEMOCRACY WITH BOMBS ! It's a weird way to preach democracy. Now, We are thinking to attack Iran. If we do not stop that circus we will all perish by our own stupidities.
You can thanks the Republicans for what they did to the US. They brought you war, debts and a full of lies. That way you were and still under their domination like sheeps!
About freedom, forget it. You cannot even argue with a police officer or you will go to jail. In Europe you can argue with them ( But always stay polite of course) But you are free to speak! Here, you are free to shut your big mouth.
About jobs, we are screwed by the other countries. On that point, we can say good bye forever.
We are just good to buy products from abroad. WE do not produce anything anymore.
Everything in the house is made in China, Japan and Mexico. Take a look and let me know if you can see a product in your house with Made in USA on it.
Yes, it was not an Amnesty...It's the problem. An Amnesty would be good for the US!
We cannot make business with the world if we close our doors to immigrants.
We are going to be weaker and weaker until that the USA will die from their own stupidities.
But a lot of Americans continue to beleive in miracles and they always think that they are the most powerfull country in the world.
I can see that. For example, all good movies come from Europe...Why? Is it cheaper..? I do not think so. The Euro is high, but Europeans work much better.And the US shuted the door to new doctors , engineers etc...
Now, that we are against Mexicans and we do not have any new "Brains" we are just good to pick up the fruits if we still have some.
To bad that they did not make an Amnesty and open the doors to the new "Brains" I am afraid that it's too late now. Corporatioons will move abroad and will work with people who want to work!
I approve them 100%.
Bill Gates did the right thing. It's a very good example to show us how the corporations are disgusted of that visa game
About lack of job for high skilled worker, it's normal. The corporations are abroad. We do not need those people anymore. And it will get worse.
Before to vote, think a little bit!
So, instead to play basket ball etc... I think that we have to learn more.
Do you speaq Iraqi? No of course ! But Iraqis can speak English. It's to tell you how low we are in education. You cannot get a good job without any knowledges.
I bet that the US president knows only how to speak (Barely English!)and no other languages
For several reasons.
One of them is: If an American citizen works abroad, he must pay his taxes in the country he lives and work and must still paying the IRS too!
What do you think about this one. It's freedom to rip you off!
- I am not sure about the insurance
- by bodart47 July 6, 2007 7:36 PM PDT
- I am not sure about the insurance. But in my opinion, and I am a businessman, you must agree with the laws and Unions of the country where you want to establish the company.
- Like this Reply to this comment
-
Showing 1 of 2 pages (78 Comments)In one word, you must follow the country's laws and hire people of that country. You can also hire foreigner for some special cases