Amazon chooses Vancouver?
I'm really not surprised that Amazon chose Canada for their second headquarters, but I had thought that Vancouver had already been ruled out. So, I'll admit, I'm a little shocked.
I'm wondering if this is in response to threats from Trump. Because the odd thing about Vancouver is the distance to Seattle where, of course, Amazon is currently headquartered.
Distance is an interesting concern when it comes to businesses. Close proximity can be convenient for meetings. But, is bad for just about everything else. Ideally, you would want some serious distance between separate offices.
The point being, if I live in Vancouver already or as near as matters, and I'm offered a job at Amazon the move is about as simple as humanly possible. In fact, with the right visas, I might not even need to move. I could just commute. And, beyond that, more than likely, I'd choose Seattle over Vancouver even if that was an option.
Why? You might ask, as to why anyone living in Vancouver would prefer the Seattle office over a Vancouver one? Job security. Amazon is headquartered in Seattle. A second "headquarters" is not a true headquarters. It is really just a large remote office. A very expensive space. If things go south for Amazon, that super large extra office is a really shiny target.
Vancouver is also a VERY expensive place to live and hire talent. Even when compared with Seattle.
At the end of the day, the distance isn't going to attract many more people than it would have otherwise and the pay expectations are going to be as high or higher than they are where Amazon currently is.
But, if you really just want to hedge your bets against Trump... it is convenient in that sense. If employees are threatened with deportation, they can try their luck getting visas to work in Canada (or simply move to Canada if they are Canadian citizens). Similarly, if the amount of visas made available is cut back, they no longer need visas for Canadian employees combined with the fact that they can get other foreign workers in through Canada. Everyone will be close together, and on the same time zone. It is pretty convenient in that sense. But some of those perks aren't specific to Vancouver.
I still think it is a bit short sighted. An office like that in Toronto or Ottawa would expand their geographical influence. Toronto has as much tech talent as Vancouver, if not more and it is reasonably close to Ottawa and Montreal which are two other large tech hubs in Canada. The distance is also far enough away that they might win over talent they couldn't have attracted before with their west coast base of operations. Like most major Canadian cities, they are near the US borders and offer a great gateway to talent for US citizens on the East Coast.
The timezone separation also means an ability to expand operating hours without trying to hire into jobs with undesirable hours for the employees while not being too far apart in time to keep in daily communication with each other.
So maybe it isn't Trump specifically. But, it definitely seems to me like Bezos has changed his vision for this second headquarters from being a means to expand their reach to being an escape hatch.
I'm wondering if this is in response to threats from Trump. Because the odd thing about Vancouver is the distance to Seattle where, of course, Amazon is currently headquartered.
Distance is an interesting concern when it comes to businesses. Close proximity can be convenient for meetings. But, is bad for just about everything else. Ideally, you would want some serious distance between separate offices.
The point being, if I live in Vancouver already or as near as matters, and I'm offered a job at Amazon the move is about as simple as humanly possible. In fact, with the right visas, I might not even need to move. I could just commute. And, beyond that, more than likely, I'd choose Seattle over Vancouver even if that was an option.
Why? You might ask, as to why anyone living in Vancouver would prefer the Seattle office over a Vancouver one? Job security. Amazon is headquartered in Seattle. A second "headquarters" is not a true headquarters. It is really just a large remote office. A very expensive space. If things go south for Amazon, that super large extra office is a really shiny target.
Vancouver is also a VERY expensive place to live and hire talent. Even when compared with Seattle.
At the end of the day, the distance isn't going to attract many more people than it would have otherwise and the pay expectations are going to be as high or higher than they are where Amazon currently is.
But, if you really just want to hedge your bets against Trump... it is convenient in that sense. If employees are threatened with deportation, they can try their luck getting visas to work in Canada (or simply move to Canada if they are Canadian citizens). Similarly, if the amount of visas made available is cut back, they no longer need visas for Canadian employees combined with the fact that they can get other foreign workers in through Canada. Everyone will be close together, and on the same time zone. It is pretty convenient in that sense. But some of those perks aren't specific to Vancouver.
I still think it is a bit short sighted. An office like that in Toronto or Ottawa would expand their geographical influence. Toronto has as much tech talent as Vancouver, if not more and it is reasonably close to Ottawa and Montreal which are two other large tech hubs in Canada. The distance is also far enough away that they might win over talent they couldn't have attracted before with their west coast base of operations. Like most major Canadian cities, they are near the US borders and offer a great gateway to talent for US citizens on the East Coast.
The timezone separation also means an ability to expand operating hours without trying to hire into jobs with undesirable hours for the employees while not being too far apart in time to keep in daily communication with each other.
So maybe it isn't Trump specifically. But, it definitely seems to me like Bezos has changed his vision for this second headquarters from being a means to expand their reach to being an escape hatch.
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