I'm struggling to understand why this entrepreneur has any moral obligation to hire locally. It's a world economy; the people he is hiring probably need the jobs more than the Canadians he is not hiring. As he says, it is win/win.
The vitriol here on HN against the fact of a globalized free market is somewhat surprising, especially considering that the successful startups will inevitably be competing globally.
I mean no disrespect, but tell me that when you're employer sends your job abroad and all the companies that you apply to only outsource their positions or pay you below market salary how you would feel?
Not everything could be outsourced. But if you live in the place where there's no job I think you should move. I bet there's not so many programmers working in Monaco. Because cost of living there is too damn high. Much easier to get some french programmers.
Globalization is kinda hard to stop.
Good point. OP cannot just up and move to Argentina, where presumably HN followers would pat him on the back for hiring Argentinians. He is being as global as laws and logistics allow him to be.
Again, there is just no particular reason why anyone should expect him to hire Canadians simply because he presently lives in Canada. If he makes a profit on this venture, he will pay Canadian taxes, right?
Being emotional hurt doesn't mean you have a valid factual point.
I would feel "hurt" -- but that doesn't mean I have a right to the job. Anymore than if you are "hurt" when you boyfriend/girlfriend dumps you... it doesn't mean you get to keep dating, it just hurts.
I think of it like a casino. It's offers a service, sure, but financially operates like a black hole by in all likelyhood removing more value from the economy than it creates.
But it's not a black hole. It's profitable company that gathers money from global market (facebook) and sends it partly to Argentina and partly to Canada. Canada still gets positive money flow. Yes, OP didn't create developer jobs(some other jobs he did create) in Canada, but he most probably couldn't start the company if he didn't outsourced, so jobs wouldn't be created any way. And it's hard to judge what has more value, positive real money flow to the economy or several absent vacancies.
I think a lot of the negative reaction has to do with the sense that the employer did it for the wrong reasons and was excusing himself and the insult to his own business community and developer community. Specifically, he says he couldn't justify paying more than his own wage to his employees. Bulls-t. He brags that there was no shortage of talent. Bullsh-t. He could have changed the game, by offering more than a wage, to give just one example, but he chose simply to pay as little as possible and to strictly minimize his short-term expenses and income at the expense of a robust economy. Many business owners happily draw a minimal wage as their business grows, knowing they want long term value in ownership. He is operating his business like a casino.
I would actually place the local staffing at an order of magnitude more valuable to the local economy than the direct positive cash flow into the business coffers, but I'll admit it's subjective. To me, it's the difference between a ghost-town and a self-supporting economy that can thrive because it can stand short-term unemployment.
Sometimes that's the only choice (steal the loaf of bread or starve), but when everyone does it, the effect is not sustainable and he attempts to justify it for hollow reasons.
Furthermore, developers in Argentina are worth as much as their Canadian counterparts, but for whatever reason, they undervalue themselves to the tune of 1/5 and the employer's eagerness to jump on that reeks of exploitation as much as stinginess, adding insult to injury.
I don't know enough to claim he's breaking the law, but (spoken in reference to the recent RBC stuff): "'The rules are very clear. You cannot displace Canadians to hire people from abroad,' said Immigration Minister Jason Kenney." ( http://www.cbc.ca/hamilton/news/story/2013/04/05/bc-rbc-fore... )
The vitriol here on HN against the fact of a globalized free market is somewhat surprising, especially considering that the successful startups will inevitably be competing globally.