By Eric Frisch, 10x Management Writer
While we’re in the middle of the hockey playoffs, it might be a good time to talk about Canada. Recently, Donald Trump announced a series of measures intended to reduce the amount of foreign tech workers in the United States. The H1B Visa Program, popular in Silicon Valley, allows technology companies the opportunity to hire skilled immigrants over American workers, for less compensation. Donald Trump just signed an executive order that could lead to limitations on these workers.
The uncertainty over Trump’s policies has already led to a 16% drop in tech worker visa applications since last year. With the new policies, many foreign engineers are opting to leave the U.S. altogether, and either head home or move to Canada. But foreign workers aren’t the only ones leaving. Many companies are also opting to set up shop in cities like Vancouver, close enough to Silicon Valley, to get around the restrictions.
While Trump’s policies could potentially benefit American workers in the short-term, in the long run, the only way to make Americans competitive in the tech sector is through education. Trump needs to spend less time worrying about building fences and more time thinking about the long term future of this country. It doesn’t help that he has a Treasury Secretary who claims that AI is not on the radar of this government. When you have an administration that fails to foresee future trends, trouble is undoubtedly looming. The advantages of technology go to the countries who embrace it, work for it, and improve it. That’s one of the reasons that Canada is currently ahead in the field of Artificial Intelligence.
With all of Trump’s efforts to Make America Great Again, and his insistence that we need to keep only the “best people” in the United States, he is actually forcing the best people that want to come here to think twice. That’s what happens when you have a country that goes from welcoming immigrants with open arms to one that puts up walls.
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