Lululemon says it wants to keep its headquarters in Canada but is keen on continuing to recruit talent from elsewhere.
Driving the news: The athleticwear giant told Canadian officials it would consider backing out of plans to expand in Vancouver and move jobs to the U.S. if it wasn’t given an exemption to easily hire temporary foreign workers (TFWs), according to the Investigative Journalism Foundation.
- After asking for the exemption in 2022, Canadian and B.C. governments waived the requirement of trying to hire Canadian residents before turning to foreign workers.
Yes, but: While the TFW program has come under fire in recent months because of alleged abuses of low-wage employees, Lululemon has focused on hiring workers mostly in the “high-wage” stream, including designers, buyers, marketing managers, and engineers.
- Back in 2016, the company said its local talent pool did not have enough workers with the right skills and specialized experience needed for the company to grow.
Bottom line: Nobody likes to see big companies bend the rules, but if a corporate heavyweight like Lululemon has decided it can’t find the right talent in Canada before even posting a role, there’s a high likelihood other businesses are feeling the same way.—SB