
LinkedIn data show the US is losing out on the immigrants it covets most - prostoalex
http://qz.com/302800/linkedin-data-show-the-us-is-losing-out-on-the-immigrants-it-covets-most/
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gumby
I saw a clear generational split in my family just this week (thanksgiving
dinner).

My parents came to the US with two kids in tow, stuck around, and are
enthusiastic US immigrants and boosters.

I came with them, went to high school and university in the US, and though I
have moved around a lot, have worked in the US for the majority of my working
life. Overall I'd rate it a "meh". Great place to work, not terrible place to
live (there are many worse alternatives).

My parents are shocked that their high school aged grandchild doesn't see the
point of sticking around the US, possibly not even for university (which would
be free, and good, in his mother's country).

For my parents, the US was so much better than their home countries (asian for
one, oceania for the other) in terms of work opportunities, racial equality,
and quality of life that they can't conceive of wanting to live anywhere else.
I know this vividly because I remember it from my own childhood. And their
were fewer alternatives in the 60s and 70s and even the 80s.

But nowadays many countries have not only moved faster, but farther,
surpassing the US in quality of life and economic prospects. My parents are
stuck in an old paradigm.

==

That paradigm isn't just that the "US is the rich land of opportunity" (which
was for a long time correct). But moving was a big deal -- you left your
friends and family and had to make a new life. But for my kid, he has friends
from other countries he's lived in _that he still stays in touch with online_.
They are moving around too, and his Facebook feed is a jumble of posts in
multiple languages.

And I think this is key: _Moving no longer has to cut you off from your family
and friends._ And because the internet is so cheap, this is true at most
economic levels: I saw a sign in Dubai a couple of years ago advertising a bed
in a shared house. The two features on the flyer were "room for a mattress"
and "internet".

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cldellow
As a Canadian tech worker who graduated in 2008, I've thought to myself that a
sizable chunk of my university cohort dipped our toes in the US and then
decided permanent immigration wasn't worth it. It's great to see an analysis
using a dataset the size of LinkedIn's.

I'd also like to see if net emigration has changed, i.e. are more people
staying in their native country. Google, Amazon and Microsoft are expanding
aggressively in Canada. The startup scene still lags, but is growing.

IMO, Canadians no longer have to leave home to have access to interesting tech
work. The main benefit the US offers me is its climate, which doesn't outweigh
the horrible immigration experience if you have a non-US spouse who wants to
pursue their own career. If you're single, I'd still consider the US very
competitive.

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zghst
I think this is the result of other places getting better rather than the U.S.
getting worse. Globalization has made opportunity obtainable almost wherever
you need it these days.

