Re:Vancouver tech surges as U.S. immigration reform idles
by nostrademons on Monday August 11, 2014 @05:16PM
(#8165346)
It hurts startups - the small businesses that are specifically designed to grow quickly, in fast-changing markets.
A small business that's small because it's a niche can afford to have a dream employee work remotely. A small business that's small because it's not-yet-large in a fast-changing market will be slowed down dramatically by the timezone differences, and probably lose out to competitors that colocate all their people.
The big companies that need highly skilled employees can afford to pay en masse.
Now if you are a US based small business and you found a dream employee in say Australia. Either this employee is so valuable that you would be willing to shell out something like 50-100k to bring him/her over, or what is more likely you become flexible and let him/her work remotely.
I do not foresee many small businesses who would actually need to bring a foreign employee in for a constant presence in US. Does a barbershop really need to bring a foreign born barber. If it does then that barber would probably qualify as an alien of extraordinary ability...
My views is biased as a European who programs for a medium sized US business and sees no need to visit US more than once every year.