– By Cynthia Yoo –

If you want to understand why Microsoft is about to open a 700-employee software development centre in Richmond, B.C., it helps to talk with Steve Ha.

Ha runs TecAce, based in Bellevue, Washington. His firm develops software for Samsung mobile devices and requires Korean-speaking employees, experienced in Samsung technology.

But under the current visa system, “it’s impossible to bring Koreans into the U.S. now, so we decided to set-up an office in Richmond,” explained Ha.

“It’s difficult for Koreans to obtain a green-card even after five or six years of work in the U.S. and we heard that it’s much easier to get them into Canada for work,” Ha said.

“I’ve heard of other firms here gearing up to open offices in Richmond or Vancouver because of the U.S. visa problems.”

These firms are following the lead of the biggest software developer of all.

When, last summer, Microsoft announced their planned move, company president Phil Sorgen promised, “This centre will help Microsoft remain globally competitive while providing strong economic benefits to British Columbia and Canada.”

Across the border, however, some point out that Microsoft and other companies are using the Richmond centre to hire foreign workers they can’t otherwise for their U.S. operations. Others believe it’s a tactic to pressure the U.S. government to remove its cap on foreign worker visas.

In fact, Microsoft has admitted that it decided to open the Richmond centre in part because it couldn’t hire enough foreign workers for their U.S. facilities.

The H-1B visa

Microsoft and other tech industries in the U.S. hire foreign workers through the H-1B visa. Originally, these visas were established to attract skilled professionals to come to the U.S., work for five to six years and apply for citizenship.

However, in 2006, about three quarters of these visas were taken by Indian outsourcing firms such as Infosys.

These firms send Indian workers to U.S. firms for two to four year terms in order to study their operations and then outsource the work back to India-based companies.

This discovery led to a U.S. Senate investigation into allegations that Microsoft and other companies were using these visas to outsource U.S. jobs overseas, contrary to its mandate to attract skilled immigrants. In response, Microsoft and others argued that current immigration policies were antiquated and did not meet the needs of globalized economies.

“Microsoft, like many big U.S. high tech employers, was keen to push the recently failed U.S. immigration reform bill which upped the quotas for skilled migrants,” explained Mark Ellis, Professor of Geography at the University of Washington.

Ellis surmised whether the timing of Microsoft’s July announcement, so close at the heel of the failed U.S. immigration bill in June, might have been intended to signal that Microsoft would offshore its operations to Canada if it doesn’t get its way on immigration reform.

Canada’s welcome mat

Canada is welcoming these U.S. companies looking for more accommodating immigration policies. The country has a shortage of highly skilled workers. Earlier this spring, British Columbia reported a record low unemployment rate of four per cent and predicted a shortfall of 350,000 workers in key fields.

Canada has no caps on all classes of foreign worker visas. Last November, the Canadian government launched the Advantage Canada Plan under which three federal government ministries of Citizenship and Immigration, Human Resources and Service Canada recently began measures to improve its Temporary Foreign Worker Program.

“The Temporary Foreign Worker Program requires businesses to look for Canadian hires first and file a labour market opinion that there is a need for foreign workers,“ explains Lois Reimer of Citizenship and Immigration Canada. “Essentially it is a supply and demand issue.”

That market analysis process was relaxed for Microsoft. As reported earlier in last month’s Vancouver Sun article, Sharif Khan, vice-president of human resources at Microsoft Canada, stated that Microsoft enjoyed an expedited process of only two weeks to obtain their visas.

But Steve Ha’s firm has not enjoyed that privilege. TecAce has set-up a “virtual office” in Richmond, as he waits the six month long process to hire foreign workers from Korea. “Our branch is only a virtual-office for now because the process [in Canada] is much more complicated and time-consuming than we expected.”

Related: Outsourcing North America?

– By Leslie Young –

A group in downtown Vancouver has decided to bring wireless Internet to the masses, saying they can do it faster and better than the city.

“We don’t have to wait for the city to get their act together, or for a commercial service provider to finally bless us with some overpriced service,” said Boris Mann, a member of Free the Net, a Vancouver group whose website proclaims, “We’re connecting Vancouver, 1 block at a time.”

Free the Net is a volunteer organization that only began setting up wireless in downtown Vancouver in mid-September, but already has approximately 30 wireless transmitters in operation, each providing free Internet access to anyone within a 150-foot radius. Over 1000 people have connected so far.

The ultimate goal is to “blanket all of Vancouver in free wireless.” Mann envisions a future where tourists could walk down Water Street and access the Internet and local information through their cell phone or laptop, and where people who could not normally afford Internet access are able to get online.

Municipal wireless

Municipal programs to set up wireless public Internet access have a dismal track record in North America. Most fail after only a few years or never getting off the ground due to high setup costs or a lack of interest. Community groups are increasingly filling the gap, spreading their own wireless networks across downtown areas so that anyone within range can get on the net.

Free the Net is not the first group to take wireless access into its own hands. Île sans fil (Wireless Island), an organization that has operated for four years in downtown Montreal, currently has about 140 “hotspots” or wireless access points, serves approximately 40,000 registered users and is still growing. Similar organizations exist in Toronto, Quebec City, Seattle, and other cities across North America.

Richard Lussier, a spokesperson for Île sans fil, believes that municipal wireless has not worked well in Canada because of the grand scale of the projects, which typically involve public-private partnerships and huge investments in infrastructure. Such projects, like Toronto’s frequently criticized OneZone project, often prove unsustainable or are contracted out to private companies who have to make a profit. They then begin charging user fees, which drive away consumers. Île sans fil’s projects, he said, are on a more human scale and are succeeding because of this.

Some municipalities have managed to stay in the wireless game. The city of Fredericton, New Brunswick, has built a free wireless network across its downtown, where anyone with a wireless-capable machine can access the Internet from anywhere within the wireless bubble. The Fred-eZone, as it is called, was built and is paid for by the City of Fredericton and is provided to citizens as a free public service.

Utility bills

Fredericton’s vision is in line with that of Free the Net. “We want to think of wireless Internet as a utility, like water,” said Mann.

This brings up the issue of payment. Internet access through Free the Net is currently free but might not stay that way. This is a point of contention within the Free the Net organization, with some members wanting to stay far away from any kind of pricing scheme, while others, including Mann, see the possibility of a sliding payment scale sometime in the future. In an interview, he was careful to emphasize that Free the Net does not necessarily mean free in the monetary sense, but is more about equitable access for everyone, or “free as in freedom.”

Currently, people who wish to host a Free the Net connection can buy a unit from the group for approximately $60, which they then hook into their existing Internet connection at home in order to spread the signal to anyone in their area. More units can be added in order to spread the signal even further. One Internet connection can serve 3 to 5 units, but the bandwidth must come from somewhere, meaning that ultimately, someone must pay for Internet access.

Experimentation

While these issues are important to Free the Net members, they do not seem to have diminished the enthusiasm of the admitted “techies” who form the group’s core membership. One member described his reasons for hosting a wireless connection as “more playing than anything,” and the group as a whole seems to enjoy the challenge and promise of a fairly new technology.

“Why did we do it?” asked Mann. “To see if we could.” So far they are on track, well ahead of any municipal or commercial scheme in Vancouver.

Find out how Free the Net’s model works, and learn about wireless Internet in Canada.

– By Shanshan Lu –

Software giant Microsoft has become the latest of the U.S. high-tech multinationals to open up in Vancouver, taking advantage of the city’s diverse talent pool.

Microsoft’s Canadian Software Development Centre, which opened in Richmond this September, will be driving to accommodate a couple of hundred employees, according to Cynthia Keeshan of Microsoft Canada.

Canada is known as an immigrant-friendly country, with considerably less strict immigration policies than those of its neighbour, the United States.

According to Citizenship and Immigration Canada, 113,442 skilled workers moved to Canada in 2004 – some 15 per cent of those to British Columbia.

Vancouver’s location and ranking as the world’s most livable city also helps attract talented immigrants from all over the world.

“The Greater Vancouver Area is a gateway to the world with a diverse population and international reach that aligns perfectly with Microsoft’s commitment to hire the best and brightest people available,” says Keeshan, Microsoft Canada’s corporate PR director.

Zhangbo Liu, a recent computer science graduate from the University of British Columbia, is excited about his prospects.

“I like Vancouver so much that I really want to stay after graduation. Before, EA (Electronic Arts) was my best option but now, I have applied to Microsoft as well,” said Zhang.

And Vancouver’s multicultural society is a factor in attracting people from abroad.

Pei Yin, a Chinese student who completed internships with three out of the five Microsoft Research Labs—Seattle, Cambridge and Beijing, is considering moving to Vancouver upon getting his doctoral degree next year.

“The proximity of a huge Chinese community is one of the bonuses of working on the West Coast, especially in Vancouver. A sense of community is as important as work itself,” said Yin.

Over the years, a few U.S. multinational companies spotted Vancouver’s advantage of accommodating tons of immigrant talents. Electronic Arts

EA, Nokia, ATI, Business Objects and IBM are some of the earlier movers that established technology development centres in Vancouver.

In 1991, EA established its two development centres in Vancouver—one in downtown Vancouver, one in Burnaby. Today, EA Vancouver has become the biggest EA studio, with 2000 plus employees.

Despite these continuous efforts, there is still a gap between talents of the city’s available workforce and the employment demand.

Michael Yu, who worked with IBM in Shanghai for twelve years, landed in Vancouver as a permanent resident 10 months ago. As a project manager, Yu used to host one of the biggest IBM projects in China—Pudong Airport Construction. But now he finds himself selling electronics in a local shop.

“With very limited job opportunities and lack of local work experience, I simply don’t stand a better chance,” said Yu.

“Today, the employment rate in Vancouver is still quite low,” said John Ries, a UBC business and economics professor. This means there are still people who are unable to find jobs that match their expectations.

In this sense, it should not be hard for Microsoft to find qualified people who are willing to work for the company, according to Ries.

But not everyone is so excited about the type of job Microsoft will provide in Vancouver.

Shelby Xu, a doctoral student with computer science at UBC, said he would prefer a research lab before considering product development. “The development centre is for coding, not the best place for research,” said Xu.

Related: Strict Limits on U.S. work visas

– By Shanshan Lu –

In recent years, more and more high-tech multinational companies have chosen to come to Canada, deterred by strict U.S. immigration policies.

The U.S. sets a quota on work permits every year — the H1B visa, a visa that allows foreigners to work legally in the U.S.

This quota applies to every alien except those who have received Master’s Degrees and higher in the U.S. Like a lottery, the H1B visa is randomly processed.

UBC student Shuan Wang fell for such a quota. He thought he had secured a job when Oracle San Francisco made him an offer of employment in March, 2007. When he graduated in May from the Computer Science School, he learned that he was not lucky enough to have won the visa.

“Almost 50 per cent of the international students in our program this year who received offers from U.S. companies didn’t get the work visa,” said Wang.

His only available option would be to stay in company branches based outside the U.S. for at least one year and then transfers to the U.S. headquarters.

“When faced with the quota situation, some small companies are not even able to help their employees at all,” Wang said. “I am taking the risk of being left out as well.”

Wang would prefer to stay in Canada than move elsewhere. “I have been pushing the company to help me, but I realize that it is really not their responsibility, since it is your visa problem,” Wang added.

He is still in Vancouver, waiting for the company’s decision.

“I am not even sure about when I am supposed to start working. There is a chance that I might have to find another job,” said Wang.

By Leslie Young

Read the main story about Free the Net Vancouver

Fred Blog buys Internet access at home from Telus, for $35.95 a month. Fred hears about Free the Net from a friend and, thinking it’s a great idea, decides he wants to get on board. So, Fred pays Free the Net $60 for a Meraki Mini – a little antenna about the size of a deck of cards. Free the Net configures the device for him, and he takes home his little box.

When he gets home, he plugs in the device’s power cable, and plugs in an Ethernet cable that attaches to his home router and hooks the device to his Telus service. The device powers on and connects itself to the Free the Net network. A blip shows up on the Free the Net map, and now anyone within range of the device – inside a radius of about 150 feet – can connect to the Internet through the Free the Net network.

Cost to Fred: $60 for the Meraki Mini, plus $35.95 a month for his personal connection.
Benefits to Fred: Provides a public service, gets to enjoy a cool new technology

Wireless Internet Networks in Canada (a selection)

Vancouver – Free the Net Vancouver
Montreal – Île sans fil
Fredericton – Fred-eZone
Quebec City – ZAP Québec
Toronto – Wireless Toronto
Ottawa-Gatineau – Ottawa-Gatineau WiFi (ogWiFi)

For a detailed look at Canadian WiFi programs and why municipality-led projects might fail, read the report “Going Wi-Fi in Canada: Municipal and community initiatives” by Alison Powell and Leslie Regan Shade of Concordia University.

To see how wireless internet networks have been used in the developing world, read this press release from USAID that describes the American-funded program to provide wireless internet access to Macedonia.

– By Cynthia Yoo –

Fast fading is the assumption that North American high-tech workers are protected from outsourcing if they work in complex projects. The common belief was that it was too difficult to coordinate high-quality work over differing time-zones and cultural and language barriers.

“Absolutely not. It doesn’t matter anymore if you manufacture fruit-of-the-loom underwear or complex code,” stated Marcus Courtney of the Washington Alliance of Technology Workers.

“Companies want to find out…who can do the work cheapest and they move their facilities, products and services around the globe to do that. Boeing’s Dreamliner project in the Northwest is a perfect example of this. It’s simply a myth that white-collar jobs are simply too complex, too difficult for their companies to outsource,” said Courtney.

Nonetheless, others are not convinced that temporary foreign worker visas are used to outsource jobs. “Short-term visa programs are functional. They are trying to meet labour shortages without committing to having more foreigners permanently,” said Anthony D’Costa, Professor of Comparative International Development at the University of Washington.

“How many will come in the short term is difficult to say but I am certain not large enough to displace local workers wholesale. Besides, employers want good quality professionals and the world does not have an infinite supply of them,” said D’Costa.

D’Costa asked: “Which would you prefer? Foreign workers coming to Canada and working and spending their earnings in Canada or Canadian firms doing the work abroad using foreign workers and earning profits for the Canadian shareholders?”

Links:

Chinese-Canadians’ answers to questions we posted in a forum on a local Chinese-community website

Seattle journalist Todd Bishop’ informative blog on Microsoft