Talent is the company's main resource, he noted, and recruiting and retaining people with the right technical and management skills is essential for growth. Demand for knowledge workers is growing globally and competition for talented people is intense, particularly in the US, where the financial rewards are substantial. The people we need are being forced out. They're highly paid and are faced with a huge gap between what their talents and skills can bring them in Canada versus what they command elsewhere. And salary has nothing to do with it.
Tax makes all the difference.
Roth added that Canada's quality of life used to help attract people from other countries to offset local talent shortfalls or losses, but that is no longer the case. Personal income tax rates, capital gains, and stock option rules make the premium for living in Canada too high for knowledge workers, who earn less and build up much less equity than their counterparts in other high-tech centers. While the country has a climate favorable for business, our people are going, driven out by a punitive tax system. And that is a serious issue for Canada. Nortel Networks' common shares are listed on the New York, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, and London stock exchanges.