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Facebook pays best in Silicon Valley: report

Jason Buckland — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:25:37 -0500

Employment at firms in Silicon Valley and other California locales are the stuff of legend.

If it’s not outrageous perks, like the lounge-style offices Google’s known for around the world, it’s an ultra secretive, privacy-obsessed business culture like the one that’s been reported at Apple.

But who pays the most?

We know that, for better or worse, California’s tech jobs are as coveted as they come, though which big name employers pay its employees best?

According to new data* from Glassdoor, it is the world’s largest social network that, with a company valuation somewhere near $100 billion, hands out the biggest cheques.

*Bing: How to find a better job

Using the base salary for a software engineer, far from a scientific survey but, hey, a fine baseline indicator, nonetheless, Facebook appears to pay its workers better than other Silicon Valley names (well, pays its software engineers better, at least).

See the chart here for the entire breakdown, though at an annual clip of about $110,000, Facebook’s software engineers earn more than those at Cisco ($105,000), Apple ($104,000), Google ($103,000) and Yahoo! ($102,000).

The average base salary (once again: base salary) for a software engineer at the ten best-paying Silicon Valley companies scores in at $104,000, according to Glassdoor.

Oracle, graphics firm NVIDIA, eBay, PayPal and HP round out Glassdoor’s top ten.

Speaking of Facebook, the Glassdoor report comes out the same day an ex-manager at the social network opened up about what it’s like to work for Mark Zuckerberg.

The verdict? “He’s a perfectly nice guy on a personal level; it’s just that professionally, he is focused on getting it done and has a limited tolerance for emotional fragility,” said Facebook’s former director of engineer of Zuckerberg, who allegedly refuses to provide his employees any “emotional coddling.”

*Salary data is self-reported, based on the previous three years income.

By Jason Buckland, MSN Money

Is it right to deny asylum seekers access to legal aid?

Gordon Powers — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:01:58 -0500

Mimicking a similar exodus from the Czech Republic a couple of years ago, Canada has been witnessing a sharp spike in applications for refugee status from Hungarian Roma families visiting Canada.

Until recently, legal aid used to regularly approve funding of around $3,000 to Roma claimants to hire lawyers to argue their cases at the Immigration and Refugee Board.

But, according to one immigration lawyer, that’s no longer the case. And he thinks that’s more than unfair.

The issue of Roma asylum seekers has become contentious in recent years, particularly after Immigration Minister Jason Kenney chose to label many of the claims "bogus", leading to a threat of class action suit from various Roma asylum seekers.

But just where people are from isn’t really the issue, is it? It’s simply the cost.

More than $18.5 million was spent last year by Legal Aid Ontario to help thousands of refugee claimants and immigrants fight their legal battles to stay in Canada, the Toronto Sun reports.

The documents show that more than $16 million of the amount spent on immigration went to the Refugee Protection Division, a body that determines whether a claimant is a refugee to be accepted in Canada.

That’s a big number when you consider that it’s tough for existing Canadians to qualify for legal aid to represent them in employment disputes or many other civil issues.

In fact, the whole system is a mess, says Martin Collacott, a spokesman for Canada’s Centre for Immigration Policy Reform. Here’s his take on where Canada’s immigration policy has gone horribly wrong.

Is he right? Are we off track when it comes to immigration policy? Should the public purse foot the bill for those banging on the door to get or stay in?

By Gordon Powers, MSN Money

Charity donations picked up in 2011: report

Jason Buckland — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 13:12:19 -0500

If you’re like me, who’s tasked with scouring financial headlines and articles all day, you really have no idea what shape the economy is in.

Well, you see the news. You know. Every story contradicts; one step forward, two steps back, another ahead to bring things even.

So what I’ve found is, since the recession’s outset in 2008, it takes a story that makes layman’s sense to put the economy in perspective.

Like this one: if you want proof things repaired last year, consider that people gave more to charity in 2011 than they did in 2010.

According to a report by watchdog group Atlas of Giving, Americans gave a total of some $347 billion to charities last year, a 7.5 per cent increase over what they donated in 2010.

Americans donated $24.2 billion more in 2011 than they did in 2010.

*Bing: How to tell if a charity is a scam

The largest donations were given toward religious institutions (education and disaster relief groups were also big recipients), though why charitable giving increased is the real story here.

“2011 giving growth was fueled by strong stock market performance through July, low interest rates, an improving economy, modest inflation and aggressive solicitation,” Rob Mitchell, Atlas of Giving CEO, said.

“However, the increase was not enjoyed by all nonprofits. Organizations that rely on many small gifts from many small donors are still greatly impacted by the effects of continuing high unemployment.”

Ah, unemployment. Still high in the U.S., at 8.5 per cent last check, and currently about one percentage point lower in Canada.

Stubborn joblessness is probably why Atlas of Giving projects overall giving will grow but only modestly, at a clip of 3.9 per cent this year, in the U.S., but what about here?

There are no concrete numbers on charitable donations in Canada for the year 2011, but Governor-General David Johnston nonetheless suggests we pick up the pace in 2012.

That food bank reliance is Canada is still 26 per cent higher than it was even before the recession should be all the urging we need.

By Jason Buckland, MSN Money

Why it's so tough to be a decent investor

Gordon Powers — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 08:51:00 -0500

How investors go about making decisions when the going gets rough can have long-lasting implications, especially with bias and emotion working overtime.

The field of behavioural finance has shown that most of us can’t be counted on to take the most logical, rational route when it comes to money.

We’re overconfident and short-sighted. We tend to overreact to information, sell too soon and hold on to losers too long. The list goes on and on.

Don't have time to really read up on the topic? Here's a good summary from Robert W. Baird & Co.’s Private Wealth Management that outlines a collection of psychological and social factors that affect how we make financial decisions.

Visual learner? Have a look at these very simple sketches, courtesy of Behaviour Gap. No one does this sort of snapshot better than Carl Richards, a Utah planner who's famous for his Sharpie drawings (like the one above).

They illustrate what he’s coined as "the behaviour gap" — the chasm between what we should do with our money and what we actually do, thanks to our emotions.

By Gordon Powers, MSN Money

Lower-income workers should join workplace pension plans: report

Gordon Powers — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 12:01:00 -0500

Economists frequently assume that employees “pay for” employer-provided fringe benefits, such as contributions to retirement plans, in the form of reduced wages.

Wages and fringe benefits are generally perfect substitutes, so that an additional dollar of wages should substitute for an additional dollar of fringe benefits and vice versa.

But that's not necessarily true, says tax analyst Eric Toder in a recent brief.

While higher-income workers clearly benefit from such programs -- they face higher tax rates than low earners during their working years, so the tax deferral is more valuable, and are more likely to drop into a lower tax bracket at retirement than low earners who are already there. That doesn't mean lower-income workers shouldn't sneer at such plans, however.

Because low-income employees receive little tax benefit from saving in employer-provided retirement plans and may prefer cash in hand to additional retirement savings, they could actually end up short changing themselves, he says.

Employer contributions may actually increase their total compensation and they would be better off signing up when there's a matching program in place.

If there's a plan at your work, do you participate? Does your employer match? Did your wage level affect your decision to join in any way?

By Gordon Powers, MSN Money

Starbucks to serve beer and wine at some U.S. stores

Jason Buckland — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 10:46:38 -0500

Let’s brainstorm together: if there is one place on earth where people linger too long, where is it?

Starbucks!

Indeed, there are few social meeting spots as cliché as the coffee chain, yet still it persists, Starbucks being the place you want to be if your desire is to be seen in public typing on your laptop, studying for an exam or wearing a cashmere scarf with glasses absent prescription frames.

Business-wise, having people spend incredible stretches of time in your outlets is a big money maker for Starbucks, though in the U.S. the franchise has found a way to lure customers in for even longer.

According to an announcement by the chain this week, Starbucks says it will begin selling beer and wine at some of its locations south of the border.

*Bing: Worldwide, are there more Starbucks locations or Tim Hortons’?

As many as 18 total restaurants in Atlanta, Chicago and southern California will debut the new boozed-up menu, which will also feature “premium” foods, including small plates and flatbread sandwiches. The alcohol adds and food upgrades will be rolled out by the end of the year.

Wine and beer lists will differ by region sold. Neither will be available before the afternoon.

In fact, Starbucks has tried this before – in 2010, in Seattle, it served beer and wine at a concept store and now offers the booze at five locations in its headquarter city and another in Portland – but never has it aired plans to expand its menu outside its home base in the pacific northwest.

Of course, the move is simple for Starbucks: offer beer and wine in the hopes you can better target that lucrative nighttime pub/bar crowd, and, above all else, try to keep patrons inside your doors longer.

According to USA Today, the move is a shoe-in to not only attract higher-end customers, but also community groups and book clubs looking for a place to meet.

No word yet on if Starbucks will try its alcohol pilot project in Canada, though don’t hold your breath. Liquor laws in most provinces, we imagine, would make the move a nightmare – and likely a profit-sapping one – for the coffee superchain.

By Jason Buckland, MSN Money

Walmart launches 'American Idol'-like contest for products to win placement in its stores

Jason Buckland — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 13:45:13 -0500

When a company gets as big as Walmart, how does it stay fresh?

From a consumer standpoint, Walmart is nothing coveted – even in the department store sector, it has zero of the cache a name like Target does – and from an activist viewpoint, the retailer is reviled, the corporate giant that ruins communities, not helps them.

Of course, Walmart can simply look down on its detractors from Mt. Dominance, but you get the sense the Ark.-based store wants more. It wants to be loved.

Well, here’s a way the retailer can get a little buzz. Walmart has just kicked off a contest called “Get on the Shelf,” an American Idol -like campaign where small-time products compete for placement on Walmart’s shelves.

From now until Feb. 22, aspiring pitchmen and women will get a chance to upload videos via YouTube, Dragons’ Den -style, to be considered to appear in Walmart’s stores.

*Bing: Does Walmart really have the lowest prices?

Three winners will be crowned by the public. All three will receive key advertisement on Walmart.com’s front page, which the retailer likes to note reaches some 50 million people.

One of those three winners, though, will receive consideration for prime placement in Walmart’s legion of real-world stores. Given the breadth of Walmart’s retail reach, we’re talking a grand prize that’s a legitimate brand maker here.

What’s unique to Walmart’s contest is that it’s not just a contest but a small business pick-me-up, too.

Certainly, whoever wins the chance to have their product featured in Walmart isn’t likely to be able to meet the kind of demand needed to satisfy 3,000-plus U.S. stores.

Instead, the retailer says it will help the contest’s winner scale up to mass produce its item.

Canadian entrepreneurs aren’t eligible for the Walmart contest, unfortunately, but Canucks can’t compete on American Idol, either. Its Walmart’s hope, we guess, that its “Get on the Shelf” contest can get the kind of international buzz going for it that the TV show does for Fox.

How to convince your brain to spend less

Gordon Powers — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 10:31:00 -0500

Stuck in a rut financially? Just can't seem to save a dime?

When it comes to money, it all about developing good habits, reports David Krueger, author of The Secret Language of Money.

To prove his point, he offers this example of how researchers at the University of Hertfordshire devised a study to get people to break their usual habits.

Each day the subjects chose a different option from poles of contrasting behaviors, e.g., lively/quiet, introvert/extrovert, reactive/proactive, and switched things around. An introverted person, for example, would switch around for an entire day.

Additionally, twice weekly, they had to stretch to behave in a way outside their usual life pattern to eat and read something they would never have otherwise chosen.

The remarkable finding was that after four months, the subjects lost an average of 11 pounds. Six months later, almost all had kept the weight off, and many continued to lose weight.

Requiring people to change routine behaviour makes them actually think about decisions rather than habitually choosing a default mode, Krueger says. This way, they get a chance to reflect on whether that choice was in their best interest.

Once you become aware of how actively making choices can work for you, you can then decide to make the most informed and strategic one possible, he argues.

How do you approach money decisions? By rote or through sustained analysis? Has your behaviour changed over the years?

By Gordon Powers, MSN Money

Will the iPad become the universal textbook of the future?

Jason Buckland — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 11:52:52 -0500

Late last year, we discussed an intriguing story about Apple, the company that was in the push toward a new, lucrative sector.

According to New York Times, Apple, under the reign of CEO Tim Cook, was to become the new name in corporate communication, supplanting RIM and turning businesses from using BlackBerries to using iPhones.

Certainly, if Apple could corner the corporate market, that’s a big win, though the Cupertino-based tech giant isn’t done yet.

The latest market Apple wants to dominate, as the company announced today, is the textbook biz.

At New York’s Guggenheim Museum this morning, Apple discussed its new plans for the iPad, which is to turn into the universal textbook of the next generation.

*Bing: Where to buy an iPad

You’ve seen the commercials, sure, which show off the tablet’s educational aspirations, but now Apple has created something called iBooks Author, a program that allows developers to design textbooks on the fly.

Much like the app store, we suppose, this should open things up big time for designers, and, budget-wise, it’s an interesting move for students, too.

At university or college, textbooks run something like $1,000 per year in Canada.

Let’s put the cost of an iPad at $600, taxes in, and for argument’s sake the cost of a textbook “app,” one created simply for digital use on the Apple touchscreen, at $50 each.

Over the course of four years, traditional textbooks (say ten per year) would cost around $4,000. With the one-time purchase of an iPad and ten e-textbooks per year, that’s a cost of about $2,600 over four years.

Now, of course, if these new so-called e-textbooks aren’t fifty bucks and really the same price as a conventional text, we’re not talking about a good deal anymore. But if they are less expensive, well …

Would you buy your kids an iPad for textbook use? Or, use one for your studies yourself?

By Jason Buckland, MSN Money

Inside the hostile, secretive work environment at Apple

Jason Buckland — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 11:17:46 -0500

As a company, few enjoy the kind of PR Apple does.

Well, okay, every once in a while there’s a terrible tale of suicides or employee mistreatment at the tech maker’s Chinese factories, but all in all it’s “Look how many people lined up for the iPad 2!” rather than “Oh, look how the iPad 2 is actually made.”

Though in the wake of the still-gushing news reports over Steve Jobs, here’s a bit of a drag on the good vibes at Apple.

According to a new book, working at Apple, which is being described as a house of “secrecy, stealth and discipline,” is a generally lousy affair, and several past and present workers at its California headquarters have had no qualms blasting their employer.

Hitting book shelves Jan. 22 will be Inside Apple: How America’s Most Admired – and Secretive – Company Really Works, the new tell-all from Adam Lashinsky, Fortune’s senior editor-at-large.

*Bing: How much does Apple's CEO earn each year?

Drawing from sources culled during years of reporting on Silicon Valley, Lashinsky paints a portrait of a hostile environment inside Apple, one where employees routinely fear the secretive atmosphere of the Cupertino company.

“Quite likely you have no idea what is going on, and it’s not like you’re going to ask,” Lashinsky writes. “If it hasn’t been disclosed to you, then it’s literally none of your business.”

In defence of Apple, of course, this is certainly the name of the game. For a brand that operates under such a shroud of anticipation, keeping products and initiatives quiet isn’t just a way of doing business, it’s good business. It’s why Apple has become the most dominant name in the consumer world.

Simply for workers, though, it’s no fun, and the depths Apple goes to maintain its culture of need-to-know are great. According to an excerpt from the book, carpenters often arrive at Apple and erect new rooms out of the blue, complete with frosted windows and full security protocols.

“If you’re a die-hard Apple geek, it’s magical,” one source told Lashinsky. “It’s also a really tough place to work.”

Surely, there will be a faction that maintains Apple’s alleged military atmosphere is why it succeeds, but it appears to fly right in the face of other successful tech companies like Google and Facebook, names that revel in employee perks and laid-back cultures that appear to attribute directly to each business’ triumph.

By Jason Buckland, MSN Money

*MetropolisMag.com photo