Msft and Amzn has decent presence in Vancouver. But their pay is signiciantly lower than Seattle counterpart while COL is similar. Why is this?
Canadian tech compensation is in line with the rest of the world. The US is an outlier but nobody really knows why. Economics is hard.
It’s very very simple. In US demand for workers is high. Supply is less. Canada doesn’t have that much
That doesn't explain anything. It's basically just a restatement of the question.
Canadian companies do not have to pay more than they currently do to attract the talent they need. Therefore, they don't.
This is the right answer
Correct.
Supply and demand
Because it is easier to import people into Canada than the US. 😂
Because they’re racist, Why do they have a border that keeps us out.? We should be able to go to Canada anytime we want to! No borders
Border is just a suggestion lol
How many loonies do you want?
Because of money. Cost of business. Taxes. What a company must pay an employee to get the job done.
Both companies mostly source talent from countries with considerable lower incomes in their Canadian subsidiaries. A software developer from Ukraine will be happy to make 100k CAD in Canada if he gets the chance. As long as the demand is there for tech companies and the supply accepts -50% when compared to Seattle, they will keep expanding in Canada. If the Canada-based tech workforce of US companies would go on strike for a raise of 40%, I'm sure it would work. But the odds are low that all guys on those temporary work permits will play Russian roulette, so they better stick to what they get. Vancouver-wise it is out of competition anyways, as the usual Vancouver tech companies pay around 20-30% less than what Amazon or Microsoft pays...
I cannot generalize for all it companies, but can say about Microsoft. I have lots of former and current teammates and couple of former interns hired as FTE, all from eastern Europe. The only reason they are hired for Vancouver is that MS hires them but they don't get H1 visa, because it's lottery. MS can always get work visa for them in Canada, so they work "remotely" for a team here. As soon as MS secures H1 visa, they are moved here. Nobody cares it's more expensive in salary. For company it seems cheaper anyway.
I think their pay is not proportional to the cost of living; it is proportional to the national median income or average local income
It isn't. At Amazon Seattle and Austin both have the same income guidances despite different COL. Pay level is related to market. If you want better income levels in your city then the market needs to go up.