Vancouver’s Challenging Business Environment
Yesterday, I read a great post by Alex Samuel, “Even in a virtual world, where you live still matters“. Her thoughts were incredibly apropos because recently, I’ve been stewing about what the city of Vancouver has to offer business people like myself. As I stated almost two years ago, Vancouver has the potential to truly become a global business centre. I’m sitting on several municipal, regional, and industry Boards to play my part and what I hear over and over again is that Vancouver lacks the senior management talent and financing/investment ecosystems to reach its full potential. And, I couldn’t agree more!
I’m often referred to as one the “Exotic Birds” here in Vancouver. (I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not. 
) I have lots of senior management, operations, finance and investment experience and the city would like to court more people like me. So, why aren’t there more people like me in Vancouver? Well, based on my experience, I think there needs to be a realignment of what it “costs” to be a global business player.
Recently, I’ve been approached by several local companies and organizations to join their teams, and while the opportunities have been very exciting, the conversations have come to a screeching halt (a little exaggerated) once dollars start being discussed. Now, I do understand that Vancouver isn’t NY, San Francisco or Toronto, but why am I consistently presented with compensation packages that equate to what I earned 10 years ago?! (And, this is not to point the finger at any one Vancouver company; this has happened numerous times.) At the same time, I’m being heavily courted by companies in other cities that are offering packages that are 2-3 times higher.
I really want to stay in Vancouver! But, as a business person, I am trained to balance opportunities with maximizing revenues. And, that’s exactly what these companies want me to do, once hired. So, why would I act any differently when it comes to my own earning potential. Now, I am not completely mercenary. (Frankly, if I were, I would be much richer and definitely NOT living in Vancouver.)
So, where does that leave us… well, I would like to see a shift in valuing those very skills that seem to be lacking here. Right now, we aren’t raising the bar to make Vancouver business opportunities attractive on a global scale! (To this point, I have spoken with at least a dozen phenomenal/qualified/ambitious colleagues in the past two weeks and we all joke that we’ll meet at YVR on our way to companies that do value us.)
Vancouver did a fabulous job raising the bar for the Olympics and for two weeks it truly felt like a global city! Now, we need to take that same energy and investment to make it become a world-class business environment! I’m not leaving, yet…but, I am putting the city on notice!
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[...] Rochelle Grayson – Vancouver’s Challenging Business Environment [...]
I totally agree Rochelle! I think that Vancouver tries to be business savvy, especially when it comes to New Media, but fails. There is too much skepticism and traditionalism when it comes to really growing the business side of this industry. I think that New Media is a sexy topic so it is talked about in Vancouver, but there is a lot of hesitation in giving it the value it deserves because it is new. That is my two cents 
Hope you are having a great day!
Rochelle,
I really hope somebody in this city can make you an offer worth your time.
Your experience and insight are MASSIVELY valuable to the start up ecosystem here and I really hope we can find a way to make you a permanent fixture here in the rain forest.
The suck level will sky rocket if you end up having to leave.
hi Rochelle
Couldn’t agree with you more! My husband has been job hunting for six months now (he is a Finance Manager with 15 years post-qual. experience, CMA, great track record, etc. etc.). He networks a lot and knows a lot of folks here…
He has had a number of interviews, and it is common to go through 4-6 interviews only for the positions to be axed at the last moment (employers deciding to make do with existing staff, eliminating departments, need disappears etc. etc. ).
Where opportunities do exist, It seems that local companies want to employ far less experienced job seeker. They are not prepared to offer the level of compensation he was enjoying a couple of years ago. He has been told that he will have to take a 20-30% paycut by some recruiters!! He is constantly being told he is too experienced, will get bored, etc. etc. It’s a no-win situation.
Considering the ridiculous cost of living here and the lack of opportunities, we reluctantly came to the conclusion that we will have to leave – but will only be able to do so once we get back on our feet. Aside from the dire business situation here, we don’t want to leave. If things don’t change radically in Vancouver and we are to have any kind of future at all, it’s a dead cert. Vancouver is turning into a rich man’s resort, it seems.
Btw, someone lent us a book by Richard Florida, called ‘Who’s Your City’. You may have heard of it or even read it already. (There are US and Canadian versions). It certainly gave us a few things to think about.
I shall follow your blog to see how Vancouver pans out for you. Good luck!
Hi Jess,
I’ve been overwhelmed by the responses I’ve received on this post. Clearly, your husband’s and my experiences are more common that I may have initially thought. I guess this issues is the elephant in the room!
I have read lots of Richard Florida’s books and articles and have even being speaking at economic development summits about the Creative Class and how we need to “incubate” and develop cities of the future. It’s largely my activities in this realm that make it so much more frustrating when I do not see the dots being connected across the board.
Thanks for your comment! And, I will definitely keep everyone posted!
Mack,
So do I! As I said, I really do want to stay in Vancouver and perhaps blaze a trail for others! That said, one can only hit one’s head against the wall for so long before realizing the wall is not going to move
I never know what the future will bring and I’ve been pleasantly surprised many times in my life! I will definitely continue my work here as long as it makes sense. But, much like startups, I, too, need to be supported by a network of phenomenal, driven, dynamic, and truly talented peers. (This exotic bird would love to find, even a small, flock ) And, the more people I see leaving Vancouver, the harder it becomes to stay. That said, I’ll keep everyone posted and updated!
Thanks so much for your support and kind words!
Hi Ferma,
I agree that there is a skewed risk-reward culture here in Vancouver and there are many reasons for this. My goal is not to merely complain about it because I really want to do my part in changing that culture and to make the city better, but I cannot do it alone. So, the “battle cry” goes out and I do hope to find others who are willing to join me to make Vancouver a much more global business centre! That would bring me such joy!!
Thanks for your comments!
So great to see you telling this like it is! But I suspect the compensation packages here have a lot to do with the size of local companies, the size of the local market, and to some extent, the local business culture (though sadly, not with the cost of real estate). There just aren’t that many big companies with deep pockets here — and the few big companies that ARE here get to command the market for all those folks who’d like to work for blue chip employers.
And it’s hard to pay top dollar for people in Vancouver when our location by definition puts us a little off the beaten path for the major sales markets. I’d be curious to hear what Vancouver-based companies pay for talent in cities with larger B2B (or consumer) markets; presumably it’s got to be the going rate in those cities. But place a professional, sales person, engineer, whatever here and you’re not going to get the same business benefit you get from them being in a larger market with more potential customers — or even if they’re not in a sales role, access to the networks and relationships that often DO yield leads for a sales team.
Finally, and I’m going to say something heretical here that I know doesn’t apply to you personally, but people in Vancouver do not put in the kind of hours that people put in in other cities. My friends in Toronto, New York, Boston, San Francisco etc. work really really crazy long workweeks that I don’t envy. True, I am writing this at 11:46 pm, after an evening of work — but as you and I have discussed, we are outliers. Part of the reason I love living in Vancouver is that it mitigates my Type A tendency to work all the damn time, because people here DO believe in work-life balance. And what work-life balance looks like may be closer to a 40 hour week than the 60, 70 or 80-hour workweek that (for better or worse) has become the norm in other places.
So if you’re going to compare compensation across cities, start by comparing the ACTUAL work hours of professionals in those cities. Many companies pay more for employees who are prepared to shelve their personal lives. We can talk about working smarter, not harder; about work-life balance; about the impact you can have when you’re more effective. But when it comes time to setting salaries, those long hours have a big impact.
Thanks for your comments, Alex! I hear your lifestyle argument loud and clear. In fact, I heard from several recruiters that Vancouver is more about lifestyle than money. (If that’s true, could someone please let the real estate industry know
That said, I am truly speaking of senior executives who have the skills to build those big companies (with deep pockets) here in Vancouver. (And, I know many senior execs elsewhere that are working hard, but not putting in 80-100 hour weeks either.) I seem to be on several Boards that are complaining about the lack of senior talent here in Vancouver and I’m just pointing out one reason that such talent may not be here. I’m also concerned that by accepting lower salaries, a precedent is being set and will further perpetuate the cycle/culture. It becomes quite difficult to argue the value of senior talent when lower salaries become the norm.
Based on the feedback I’ve been getting, it very well may be that Vancouver has no interest in becoming a global business centre. And, if that’s the case, I’m probably wasting my time and energy trying to change the direction of the ship. That’s fine!
What I do know is that I really want to live and work in a place that is striving for global excellence! I now need to decide where that might be!
The inflated cost of living and massively overvalued real estate makes Vancouver very unattractive to large enterprises who need to attract the best talent. It astounds me what people pay to live here, given that wages are so low and it is overcast most of the time.
I moved here from San Diego last year and I can’t believe how much more I pay for everything here. Compared to San Diego (which isn’t cheap by any standard) everything is more expensive…food, housing, taxes, parking and alcohol are all at least 30% more.
I moved up here for a good opportunity but when my contract is done, I’ll be moving back to San Diego. I work in Marketing and trying to sell marketing services to Vancouver companies is an endless headache. Businesses here try to do everything “on the cheap” and lack the risk-taking and competitive instincts found south of the border.
If you want the best talent and skills to dominate your niche, you need to pay well for it which is something American companies understand much better. My basic impression from living here is that people with money in Canada move here, but the environment for making money in business is poor (unless you’re in real estate speculation or the resource industry).
I want to echo Alex on the “lifestyle bonus” that’s built in to any Vancouver salary calculation. Companies know we love it here too much to leave, so they can afford to offer less. This was true a decade ago when I worked for Business in Vancouver, it was true thirty years ago when Peter C. Newman wrote The Acquisitors, and it’s still true now.
As well, we don’t have many global headquarters, do we? I think that’s because “global headquarters-types” think more in terms of money than lifestyle, so the lifestyle benefits of living here don’t really register in the decision to move. What does are things like tax breaks.
BC has literally three times the entrepreneurship rate of the US (I remember from my time with StatsCan) but once you’re out of the small-to-medium size and looking to commodify your company shares, Vancouver is not the place for you.
Maybe we need to re-think our expectations of the city; what it is seems to go very deep. Maybe we need to get okay with the idea of being mobile to maximize our career opportunities. It’s unfortunate we can’t have it all in one place, but then, we just can’t.
Thanks, Raincoaster!
I do not have an issue with Vancouver’s “lifestyle” culture and I do agree that it is quite strong here! My frustration stems somewhat from the fact that I’m sitting on Boards and talking to companies that tell me they really want to be globally competitive. Yet, their actions/activities do not quite back up such statements. It’s a bit of a mixed message.
Yes, there is definitely a tension with big businesses and the kinds of cultures they create. That said, I don’t think it’s nearly as black-and-white as that — not all large organizations are evil (although many are
I still believe we can have well-paid, top-notch people here who lead companies AND who can appreciate and even participate in the “lifestyle” culture. If the message is as simple as “lifestyle is the currency”, Vancouver should own this! And, I’m perfectly okay with making my career decisions (and investing my time) accordingly.
Rochelle, this is a GREAT post. I’ve been running into this exact issue. As you know I have recently repatriated from the States and am looking to build my next phase of my career here and have run into a few oft-repeated truths:
- our investment community is immature
- the pace of business is slow
- we build stuff but then don’t bother to market and sell it aggressively
I’m going to forge on ahead here because I’m tired of fighting the US visa issues (I’m Canadian with no US landed permanent status) but am now focused on working on something where I can mostly focus on marketing and selling into the States and elsewhere.
I’m also revisiting my “no more US clients” rule and have reopened that avenue again…
Thanks for the post. Keep looking and keep promoting yourself and we can promote you too. Send me the summary of what you’re looking for and let me tweet/blog/status update it where ever I can.
Troy
Great discussion here.
The only thing that I can really add to what has been said already is that people in Vancouver seem to care more about lifestyle than anything else. They start small companies so that they can work for themselves and live their life the way they want. Not to make $$ or grow something and sell it and make $$. Lifestyle seems to guide every choice made.
I used to go to networking events it would be all small 1 or 2 person shops selling their consulting services or something. I advertised for an opening at one point and had these same people/consultants calling asking for my work but didn’t want to commit to working for me as an employee.
On the subject of hours… sure people in other cities work longer hours BUT I will say they aren’t always as efficient and in Toronto, where I also worked, it seemed working long hours was like a badge of honour.
I live in Ottawa now and it’s not much better here but when I think about Vancouver, I feel a bit sad because it is such a great city to live in. I just wish it would get its act together and start paying people the proper $$.
Perhaps Vancouver needs to see some leadership from organizations like the Vancouver Board of Trade on this specific issue. If you get a good nucleus of people making the $$ they are work it will attract more and start some momentum. I really enjoyed WINBC events and thought that Vancouver was well poised to be a leader in the mobile space so perhaps organizations and groups like that can also work to help build some momentum towards change. New Media BC as well could get in there… I think it just takes coordination on a higher level than one or two people at a few firms….
I’m in my 18th year in Vancouver after 10 years of work in London and 1 in NY and I’ve heard this story more times than I can remember.
Vancouver is at the nexus of a variety of sociological, economic, geographic and political phenomena which make a mockery of the traditional calculus of how a city is supposed to function.
Even the most subtle multi-variate models fail to explain the stability of our crazy combination of dizzying property prices, feeble salaries, armies of under-employed MBAs, flaky companies and attendant bosses, and the fact that it is impossible to find a cab at 2:30pm on a Wednesday afternoon at Burrard and Georgia.
My two cents is that in this mixed-up calculus it is the sociological variable that is the controlling one: the others are just hapless dependents. This is a city of contingency not commitment. There’s a collective narcissism disorder at work. I include myself: hey I stayed didn’t I. It takes commitment to create a successful business, but that is not a common trait in Vancouver. Never trust a town where the rush hour starts at 3pm, people randomly no-show or cancel at the last minute, and dart across cross three lanes of traffic so they can turn left when it suddenly occurs to them that they might like to do so.
I hate to say it, but it’s not going to change. Salaries aren’t going to go up and BMW 335i’s are not going to be driven by people who bought them with money they earned at an actual job.
If you want an approximation of this lifestyle with a little more edge and commitment, try Portland. It’s like Vancouver was 30 yrs ago (I guess), a tad weird but also focussed and able to birth and grow Nike, Intel’s fabs and plenty of other great businesses.
Sasamat
Prescient data point # 109677654
Even the incubators have commitment problems. http://livejamie.com/
Not exactly sandhill road is it.
Sasamat
I understand fully well what you mean here Rochelle. Bravo for having the courage to post this.
I lived in Florida during my late teenage years. If you spend any time there, you’ll notice a lot of retirees with money move there and completely bid up the real estate market. Generally low paying service jobs follow which deflates income potential for everyone (not just service workers). The death spiral of low paying jobs and rising cost of living is hard to stop, and suffocates any startup culture which would otherwise take root. There’s a reason almost all startups stateside are in CA, TX, or MA. These are (generally) places with balanced communities, lots of families, good schools, home ownership potential, etc. These qualities tend to inflate earning potential, tax bases, etc.. generally leading to more entrepreneurial activity.
I’m curious if the financing machinery there creates downward wage pressures on any would be founders Rochelle. If that’s happening, I’d humbly suggest that dynamic is patient zero. That’s what needs fixing before any kind of virtuous cycle can take hold.
Thanks for comments and for providing another perspective, Sasamat! There definitely is an imbalance to the economic model of Vancouver. And, as real estate prices and the cost of living increase, it becomes much more difficult to reconcile that equation.
To be very clear, I do not think there is an easy answer and that’s why I’m sitting on Boards trying to work with both private and public sector organizations. As with any economy, it is a living, breathing organism, and just when we think we’ve got it figured out one or two critical variables change! Frankly, I find this an interesting challenge, but a challenge nonetheless!
Thanks again!
Thanks, Danny, for your comments and for providing another data point of what it looks/feels like in another Canadian city! I would definitely argue that Vancouver is not the only city struggling with these issues.
I do know that DigiBC (our new industry association formed by the merger of New Media BC and WIN BC) is looking into talent issues and I am sure they will add this to a very long list of other talent issues
Thanks again!
Thanks for your comments, Eric!
Yes, the level of investor/financial risk-taking here in Vancouver is definitely lower than many places in the States. That said, investors do invest in top notch teams/people. So, it’s a bit of a chicken-and-egg situation. I have seen lots of discussions about the lacking investment ecosystem in Vancouver and Bootups Labs’ unfortunate recent announcement only further highlights these challenges. However, I would also like to highlight the people/management side of the equation because it is indeed a cycle and we need to work both sides.
Thanks again for your thoughts/insights and for broadening the conversation!
Gotcha, so it is on both sides. Thanks again, made for interesting reading. We should catch up soon!
We have clients with the funding to pay the high US salaries, but:
1. Our house pricing is an issue. e.g. Offer Sr VP sales $350k plus bonus – no problem but he needs to unload a 5000 ft sq (sub $1M) US based house (which is likely under water) and replace it with a comparable one in a good Vancouver neighborhood – so that’s $2m – and thats a deal breaker for the hiring company.
2. The lack of other opportunities, just in case the job offered does not work out or is there a career path here. At present a move to Vancouver is a risky move for a highly qualified person.
Thanks, Reg, for providing some great points and for that additional context! Those are both incredibly valid and I must especially agree with you on #2!
(Regarding your first point, I may know of a few Sr. VP Sales people locally, who’d love to talk to those clients, especially since they’re already here In fact, I’m toying with the idea of creating a list/database of really senior people I know who do fit into this category. I’m not at all interested in entering the recruitment business and do not want to make money off my contacts. I simply want to find a way to keep these “gems” here and to build up the local network! In the long run, we all benefit!
Thanks again!
Rochelle,
As someone who prides himself in knowing how amazing your work is and how valuable your skill set and experience are, I am a bit embarrassed to have very little to add to the conversation, other than four things:
First, as Alex points out, the work hours in other cities are massive. But I’ll have to diverge from Alex here. If you want to succeed in Vancouver you have to work really long hours too. Because, unfortunately, the online world doesn’t allow us to distinguish what is good from what is GREAT. You (Rochelle), Alex, me, Rob, and a gazillion other people in this city put insane long hours. No, WE are not outliers. We are the norm!
Second, Vancouver is still a small city. Having lived in the largest cities worldwide (Paris, Madrid, London, Mexico City), I can tell you that the mentality in this city is “small town”. Sorry, it’s the truth. And I love Vancouver to the bottom of my heart. But as a small city, the salaries that are being paid here are small city. My best friend, from Mexico, who works in Mexico City, makes about three times what I make. He makes six figures in American dollars consistently, and not low six figures, but high. IN MEXICO. He is getting paid what the large cities will pay good talent. He was shocked when he heard what people pay in this city.
Third, Richard Florida’s writing is again, just pure popularization of a theory that we don’t have the empirical evidence to back up (and yes, this comes from someone who wrote a PhD dissertation on economic geography and used Florida’s early work on commodity chains). The “creative class” is a good concept, in theory, but really badly understood and applied, and with little theoretical grounding.
Fourth, there is a lifestyle reason why I live here, and I’m guessing that there is also a part of you who loves the life here. In my case, as an openly gay man who also happens to be a well-known researcher (in Mexico), I would have a REALLY hard time moving back there. Am I sacrificing a high six-figure income by not moving back to Mexico and working for a corporation or the Mexican government? Yes, I am. I have, for the past 10 years. But you know what, I am so happy I can be here and be openly gay, there’s not even a question.
I think companies here have milked the “you live in Vancouver, it’s an amazing place to live, so we are going to pay you a low salary, so deal with it” for long enough.
END RANT.
Also, please introduce me to Sasamat. I mean, seriously… throwing multivariate analysis, independent and dependent variables and economic sociology all in a blog comment just made me want to meet Sasamat (whether it’s a him or a her!)
This is a great post and a very interesting discussion! I wonder what the difference is between Vancouver and the Bay Area in California? The legacy / age of the industry and huge market are probably great drivers there, but lifestyle is also an important concern for people in Bay Area. So how does that work into the salary calculations?
Also, housing prices do have a real effect. In that vein, what role does Surrey and other suburbs have to play in this? Could companies be based in suburbs of Vancouver where development & housing is cheaper, & subsequently pass on the savings to exec management in compensation?
Hi Raul,
Thanks so much for your comment! I completely agree with all four points and it is a fine balance between work aspirations and lifestyle. Yes, I do work a lot, but as I’ve told several people recently, “What you’re now seeing IS the laid-back Rochelle!”. (You can’t even imagine what I was like when I lived in New York City.)
I’m am also hearing more and more that the lifestyle argument doesn’t quite match the lifestyle costs. So, there needs to be a readjustment. On the one hand, Vancouver offers small city salaries, but requests big city living costs… hmmm!
I have spoken a great deal about Richard Florida’s creative class and am hoping that we will soon have quantitative metrics and examples to point to. In the meantime, it is important to get people to think about this new class of professional and creative workers. I feel quite strongly that the regions that capitalize on their potential will, in fact, attract the leaders of tomorrow.
Thanks again for your great comments, and for continuing to be a pillar of the Vancouver community!
Hi Kulpreet,
Thanks so much for your comments!
There are many companies exploring moving out of Vancouver for cheaper real estate. In fact, it is quite difficult to find commercial real estate of any size for reasonable prices in the city. That said, companies do have difficulty attracting senior talent who love the urban residential environment of the Vancouver (of which I am one). I have spoken to several “suburban” municipalities about what it takes to attract these workers and often, a level of infrastructure beyond personal housing, such as coffee shops, cool gathering places, interesting office environments, etc., is needed for some to consider moving out of the city.
The funny thing is that it is a lifestyle choice! And, for me, lifestyle includes “work, play and live”. I’m just asking Vancouver to consider that work is still an important driver of my lifestyle and we need to make sure it’s in balance with the costs of “playing and living” here. It’s definitely not an easy task!
Thanks again!
[...] Vancouver-based social media exec Rochelle Grayson — an expat who’s lived in Germany and the U.S. as well as in Canada — recently blogged about what she called “Vancouver’s Challenging Business Environment.” [...]
Hi Rochelle,
First, thanks for speaking to the Vancouver Business, Marketing and Entrepreneur group last night . You gave an awesome talk. http://www.meetup.com/Vancouver-Business-Marketing-Entrepreneur/
Now about your post, I unfortunately have to agree with what you say as I see it time and time again and hear it in the stories relayed to be by other entrepreneurs. Vancouver businesses simply do not want to pay when they can hold back…. meanwhile Calgary is paying top dollar, as well as a multitude of cities in the U.S.
That is a personality of the city, and it’s not just regarding salaries, its widespread here, compared to other cities.
From my business and marketing coaching point of view, I consider myself to quote a little lower than I think it should be on contracts, yet entrepreneurs simply don’t want to pay if they think they can do it themselves for free. Sometimes the ‘cost’ of doing the latter greatly outweighs the former.
I even wrote a brief report on this, as Reason 9 of my Special Report on Why Vancouver Businesses Can’t Market or Sell.
It’s a short report, mean to be taken with the rest of the reasons as a whole (which anyone can get if they go to http://www.elevatedmarketing.ca and sign up for the report), but I’ll share Reason 9 here to morally support you in your lament above: http://www.elevatedmarketing.ca/reason-nine-too-cheap/
Best,
Ronald Lee
http://www.elevatedmarketing.ca
604-781-7093 info@elevatedmarketing.ca
…follow us on twitter! http://twitter.com/ElevatedMarket
Ooh, ooh two other things.
Raul, I regularly put in 60 to 80 hour weeks on a regular basis. I work my azz off right now, but I do so with a plan that what I’m developing now will pay off later. The real question on my mind is…when is “later”?
So yes, other people are putting in long hours, I hope its for an adequate payoff.
And about housing. Housing is just insane and ludicrous in this city. I’m working hard so I can afford an overpriced house in the future.
http://www.news1130.com/news/local/article/52803–b-c-has-one-of-the-hottest-housing-markets-in-canada
[...] thing to do when you are starting a new business is convincing people that you should actually get paid for your profession. It only seems logical that if we wanted to do business with someone that the traditional methods [...]
[...] My New Job: CEO of BookRiff It’s official! After my last post about the challenging business environment in Vancouver, I am thrilled to announce that I have taken on the role of CEO for a top-notch startup called [...]
I enjoyed this discussion immensely – quite frankly, there were quite a few international companies that I was working with at a sr executive level that left Vancouver for similar reasons discussed here. Yet another one, that hasn’t been mentioned yet, is lack of discipline, punctuality and work ethic in the workplace. I.e. one of the CEOs of local operations for a major Japanese multinational in Vancouver told me (when he was leaving and the company with him) he couldn’t stand the fact that people are never reachable on their phones and don’t return the phone calls – if they do, it often takes them a few days with some made-up sounding excuses. Very unprofessional and flaky. I’d second that opinion and I’m sure many (most) of you have experienced the same.
I just wanted to say that the blog and discussion afterwards was great information.
I’m in Vancouver for the week looking into possibly moving here from Alberta (looking for that next step up the corporate ladder and a change if scenery). But after meeting with recruiters yesterday, it’s become abundantly clear that to move to Vancouver I’d be looking at what would amount to being a $10 an hour pay cut.
In talking with the recruiters, the reason for the lower wage is all outlined above. They said employers don’t need to pay high wages, as people accept less money just to live in Vancouver.
I looked into the cost of living in Vancouver, so I know what I need to earn to live decently in this city. And I thought the minimum number I came up with should have been attainable, as it’s not outrageous… Or so I though.
I have great experience and education credentials to offer this city. However, it seems like I’m going to have to look elsewhere to achieve my goals. But I’ll see what happens over this week first.
April 10, 2010 @ 1:43 pm
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