Friday, August 11, 2017

Vancouver a great city to set up a tech company

A report by Commercial Real Estate Research(CBRE) found that of 50 US and Canadian markets, Vancouver was the cheapest city to start up a new tech company.

CBRE has a full time staff of about 30 researchers spread across Canada. A typical tech company setting up in Vancouver would cost about $24 million a year US to cover both employee salaries and rent in Vancouver. In contrast the same company in the San Francisco Bay area, the most expensive area, would cost $67 million more than twice as much.
CBRE, Research Director, Colin Yasukochi said that the lower start up costs in Vancouver are due in part to the lower-priced Canadian dollar, but also more favourable immigration policies, and lower rental rates than many major US tech centers play a significant role. Yasukochi said: "I think there's a better supply demand balance in Canada with regard to the account workforce and the demand for it."
The average salary of a tech worker in Vancouver is $79,402 a year which is $34,000 to $44,000 less than they would receive for similar work in Seattle or San Francisco. However, some BC tech firms are aiming to lure workers to the province due to fears among workers in some foreign countries that Trump will impose strict visa restrictions on them. Allison Rutherford, Executive Director of HR Tech Group, that conducts a yearly salary survey of the BC tech industry said: "Yes our salaries are lower, so that's attracting big anchor companies to come here, because A we've got quality talent, and B, it's a reasonable place to set up shop."
However, Nils Anderson, a game designer in Vancouver said the lower Canadian wages might attract companies but they also drove senior workers to US sites where the pay was better creating a brain drain. Anderson said: "It's how markets work. The market pays what the market pays, and if nobody else in town is going to increase the wages ... then that's the offer you get here. As soon as you want to start a family here in Vancouver, it's like okay, can you do that on $30,000 to $40,000 a year less. When the cost of living here is basically the same as San Francisco, that's not really an option." Anderson also pointed out that Vancouver had not yet attracted big anchor tech companies such as Microsoft, or Ubisoft. He said if they set up shop in Vancouver wages would improve.
However, both Yasukochi and Rutherford said they expect the low wages in Vancouver not to last and that as Vancouver's tech sector grew, salaries would also. Yasukochi said: "I believe that as more and more companies discover the high quality of tech talent in Vancouver, then the relative value of the wages will start to go up."
The US is moving to tighten policies for H1-B visas for skilled foreign workers. However, Canada is waiting for a new streamlined process for worker permits to come into effect. As a result some BC tech companies are taking advantage of the fear created by US policies to recruit workers to come to the province. Igor Fatelski, CEO of Mobify a tech company producing apps for retailers says: "This uncertainty is really dialing down enthusiasm, especially for travel to the U.S. for long-term career moves. We're seeing that change slowly happen. We're seeing more and more interest from around the world from potential employees that want to work in Canada because they're not certain what's going to happen in the U.S." US President Donald Trump has recently announced that his government plans to suspend expedited applications for the H1-B visas. Fatelski said that more interest was being shown in coming to BC. Fatelski himself is an immigrant from Russia coming when he was 15. He now employs more than 100 people and will need more.
Navdeep Bains, Canada's Minister of Innovation said the government would act quickly to fast track work permits in order to attract highly skilled workers from other countries."We're taking the processing time, which takes months, and reducing it to two weeks for immigration processing for individuals [who] need to come here to help companies grow and scale up. So this is a big deal. It's a game changer." The change is to come through the Global Talent Stream a new program.

Canadian company Bombardier considering options for its train business

The Quebec-based Canadian company Bombardier says that it is considering `multiple options` for its train business as the unit continues to provide strong profits and sales, enabling the company to break even in its latest quarterly results.

Overall, the Montreal-based company that makes mainly planes and trains used up $570 million US in the quarter that ended June 30. While the company lost $296 million or 13 cents per share this was an improvement over the same period last year when they lost $24 million or 24 cents a share. However, revenue fell 5 percent to $4.09 billion. However if special charges such as employee severance, and also benefits from a tax adjustment are considered, analysts had expected the company to post a one cent loss per share. Instead the company broke even.
Investors were actually buoyed by the results with shares up 5.4 percent on Friday AM to $2.54. This is a rise of 63 percent from its low of $1.56 last September. Alain Bellemare the CEO said of the train business:“We have multiple options that we are pursuing. We will do what is right to keep on growing the great franchise.” Bellemare is two years into a five-year turnaround plan that has seen many critics of government support and increases in executive pay as show on the appended video. Bellemare became CEO in a shakeup in 2015.
Bombardier is in the final stages of combining rail operations with Germany`s Siemens. Bellemare refused to talk of future partners or time-lines. The pension fund manager Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec owns 30 percent of the firm and the Quebec government has a 49.5 percent share in the C Series airliner program. The US Boeing Corp. wants the US government to subject the C Series planes to hefty tariffs. No doubt Trump will favor such a move.
Bombardier used to be a key Canadian defence contractor but as part of its restructuring it sold off its military-related work. As part of its restructuring program Bombardier announced in October of 2016 ``.. that, by the end of 2018, they will slash up to 7,500 jobs or more than 10 percent of 70,900 employees from 2015. About a half of job cuts will be done in railway technology unit.`` However, executives have seen their pay rates soar: "Bombardier's senior executives saw their compensation rise by nearly 50 per cent last year at a time when it laid off thousands of workers, ... Total compensation for the Montreal-based company's top five executives and board chairman Pierre Beaudoin was US$32.6 million in 2016, up from US$21.9 million the year before, according to a proxy circular ahead of its May 11 annual meeting." Top executives in power when disaster struck the company are financially rewarded while workers are laid off. The government approves the executive moves by providing more support for the company.