Apr 3, 2023
The global skilled labour shortage has been a concern for several years, and the competition for technology talent remains at an all-time high. In the US, companies face additional challenges as they are limited to a certain number of work visas issued annually, leaving hundreds of thousands of openings unfilled. The most popular visa, the H-1B, has a cap of 85,000 visas granted each year, and applicants are chosen randomly in a lottery system. The high demand for these visas led to a 74% rejection rate in 2022, leaving companies in a bind.
As a result, more and more US-based companies are looking for alternative options to fill positions and retain their best talent. With immigration obstacles in the US and the ongoing labour shortage, offshoring and the idea of having a ‘distributed workforce’ have become popular alternatives.
Working remotely and with teams across the globe has never been easier thanks to technology, but having talent offshore is not always the most productive or integrated way for a team to function. With varying time zones and limited in-person interaction, important factors such as culture and communication can start to break down. Intellectual property (IP) is also harder to protect in locations without strong IP enforcement laws, which is critically important for technology companies.
Instead, US-based companies are turning to Canadian nearshore talent solution providers like MobSquad to resettle their employees in Canada, where they can work remotely, support their team in the same time zone, and are less than a three-hour flight away.
This blog is a summary of a Business Reporter article: No H-1B? Canada could be the answer to keeping your global technology talent working with you, near you