Microsoft Nearshoring in Vancouver
Just last week, Rob and I were discussing Google’s recruitment of individuals in the Vancouver area. He made a comment about the lack of presence that the major players, Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo!, had in the area, comparing them to eBay, which does have an office on Vancouver’s doorstep in Burnaby. My argument was, ‘Why Bother?’ The companies all have offices back East, typical of the attitude towards Canada and Vancouver/the West, and with Seattle being such an important hotbed in Tech, it made more sense to have a presense there. Those interested would be more than happy to relocate, although not East or to Washington State; most likely all the way to California - it rains the same amount in Seattle and Vancouver!
Ironically, Microsoft announced they would be opening up a software development office but a few days after we had the conversation. Such a small opening in such an overlooked region barely made any ripples in the water with the media, but it’s probably something worth looking at more closely. Why? Well, the first question Rob and I had was, is this a way of tapping into Vancouver’s talent, or is this a way to migrate talent from other regions to Vancouver. It will probably be a combination of both, but the major factor is the migration of foreign talent to the area, or nearshoring, as it is described in this article.
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.
In a move that will likely become more frequent, Microsoft, the savy business that it is, will be taking advantage of Canada’s more relaxed stance on immigration and avoid the negative aspects of off-shore outsourcing. They’ll simply meet in the middle, so to speak. While this will hopefully act as a positive driving force to improve the local software development community, That programming group Microsoft will set up in Vancouver won’t be staffed with many Canadians … you’ll find that the programmers in that group will be mainly people on work visas, not Canadian citizens or permanent residents.’
With relations between Canada and the United States strained on the issue of Canada’s immigration already, this is just another addition to the list of concerns that the United States has (or will have) with Canada’s current policies. And while I see the positive spin-off for the Industry, I also see the potential for local developers to find it more difficult to compete with their temporarily imported counterparts. Although the announcement was made quietly, this isn’t something we’ve heard the last of.