This is old news, but I don't see it diaried here yet. Microsoft will open a Software Engineering Office in Vancouver, Canada. What's the big deal about it? After all, Microsoft has many many engineering campuses across the world.
The big deal is this:
Microsoft Corp. will open a software development office in Vancouver, Canada, later this year, in part as a way to retain talented workers who can't stay in the U.S. because of immigration laws.
There are literally thousands of people in the world looking for the kinds of jobs that Microsoft has. Most of them would rather come and do those jobs in the US, and I'm sure that's probably what Microsoft would like as well. More than a majority of MS software development is concentrated in Redmond, and it is beneficial to not split projects across offices and timezones.
The restrictionist argument is that these people come in and take "American" jobs. The problem with the argument is that jobs are not "American" or "Canadian" or "Indian". The jobs will go where the people are.
The USA makes it especially hard to hire a foreigner. First employers have to clear the 65K H-1B quota. They have to pay steep fees for the visa; those fees are about to go up. Then employers typically have to sponsor their workers for a Green Card, the ones who don't start the GC process lose their employees. And to top it all, the GC process takes years for most employees, and decades for some.
Once an employee gets a Green Card, it takes 5 years to be able to apply for citizenship, starting another process that typically takes about a year. Many times, it is 10-20 years from the time an immigrant first enters the country until they are able to vote in the country they live in.
Contrast that with Canada, another first world country which a lot of third world employees will easily settle for. Canada makes it easy to immigrate. If you have a job offer, and/or enough qualifications, it takes less than a year in most cases to get permanent residency. After that, it only takes 3 years to apply for citizenship, and the process only takes a few months. Ergo, about 5 years, maximum, from the time an immigrant entered to voting.
Microsoft's new campus in Vancouver is a reaction to this difference. Employees who want to work in the US office, but can't - either because they can't get an H-1B due to the low quota, or because their spouse won't be able to work without a Green Card - or even those who could work in the US office, but decide not to wait that long - can work out of the Vancouver office. The offices are in the same timezone, and only 2.5 hours apart by car. Anytime there's a need for a meeting, just drive over (even easier once Canadian citizenship is obtained), otherwise the internet suffices.
Meanwhile, the employees that move there will not be buying food, toys, computers, phones, houses, books, clothes, cars, ... in the US. They will not be paying income tax in the US. They will not be paying Social Security or Medicare tax in the US - they will have moved to Canada. And when some of them inevitably decide that they have outgrown Microsoft, and decide to start their own businesses, they might be likely to not start those businesses in the US. They will start businesses, and create more jobs - not American jobs, not Canadian jobs, just jobs - in Canada.
USA's loss, Canada's gain.