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Unlike Darren, I've always found that the STC Salary Surveys
considerably lower than my personal experience. Possibly, I've just been
lucky.
However, there's no denying that rates for full-timers appear to be much
lower in Vancouver than in some other places in North America. Part of
that appearance may be illusory; I certainly haven't noticed that
Americans or eastern Canadians have more disposable income than those in
British Columbia.
Still, even if the appearance is only partly illusory, the market is
much rosier for contractors than full-timers in Vancouver - between
65-120% more, if my experience is typical, which means an income more at
par with those elsewhere. Vancouver isn't Silcon Valley North, as some
people like to claim, but it does support a thriving array of small to
medium high-tech businesses, with a scattering of large companies and
branch plants. If this milieu never booms as much as high-tech centers,
neither does it go to bust as badly either. In fact, from my own list of
potential employers (now numbering just under 1300), there are as many
now as there were a couple of years ago. My guess is that the people who
fail at one small company go on to start another one; certainly, I see a
number of names reoccurring on boards and in executive positions. At any
rate, I really don't see why anyone would work full-time in Vancouver
when you can get steady contract work at a much higher rate.
--
Bruce Byfield 604.421.7177 bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com
"I respect kindness to human beings first of all, and kindness to
animals. I don't respect the law; I have a total irreverence for
anything connected with society except that which makes the roads safer,
the beer stronger, the food cheaper, and old men and old women warmer in
the winter and happier in the summer."
-Brendan Behan
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