Updates on Cognizant’s growth in Halifax; aerospace manufacturing plans
from Lockheed Martin and Airbus in Alabama and Georgia; where people are
quitting their jobs the most and the least; a major canola complex
coming to Regina, Saskatchewan; and the curious move by the US Chess
Federation to move its HQ from Tennessee to St. Louis.
There’s a new breed of global tech talent: the digital nomad. According
to the global network Nomad List (where $100 grants you membership),
the growth or remote work means “millions of people who are now newly
working remotely from home, a cafe, or coworking space, will realize
they’ve become location independent and travel or move to new places.”
The network’s “2022 State of Digital Nomads” report says the
average digital nomad is a 33-year-old progressive, non-religious white
male from the United States who works as a software developer, pulls
down 80 grand a year, loves coffee, loves Tokyo, and stays in one place
for around 10 weeks.
The 2022 State of Remote Work report issued by
Buffer in partnership with Nomad List and Remote OK obtained responses
from 2,118 remote workers in 16 countries. Among the most striking, 97%
would recommend remote work to others and plan to work remotely at least
some of the time for the rest of their careers. Based on the graph
above, it appears their employers recognize and are accommodating this
long-term trend. But 45% say career growth within organizations is more
difficult as a remote worker.
The organization keeps track of the fastest growing remote work hubs. The best place
to be right now, according to the 53,321 digital nomads in the Nomad
List club? Ko Pha Ngan, Thailand, followed by Lisbon, Portugal; the
Canary Islands in Spain; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Porto, Portugal; Cape
Town, South Africa; Warsaw, Poland; Madeira, Portugal; Austin, Texas;
and Phuket, Thailand … with Istanbul, Turkey, on the outside looking in.
Below is a list of the digital nomads’ top 10 countries. Compare and
contrast these choices with Site Selection’s Global Best to Invest countries and metros. The
new edition of those rankings will be revealed in our May 2022 issue, whose advertising deadline is
not remote but very near. — Adam Bruns
Singapore
Slovenia
Bulgaria
Portugal
Curaçao
Hungary
Romania
Hong Kong
Estonia
Czech Republic
EVENTS
Site of
the Week
Click the image above to learn why the South Alabama Mega Site is the
Southeast’s premier industrial mega site!
Located in the 7th fastest-growing metro area in the country, The South
Alabama Mega Site is primed to be the next U.S. automotive OEM site.
With $12.5 million in site enhancements being completed in 2022, the
site has truly redefined the term “shovel-ready.” Now featuring a 1.5
million square foot building pad, on-site rail infrastructure, and easy
access to all utility infrastructure, the publicly owned site can meet
or exceed rapid project development timelines with ease, providing rapid
permitting, infrastructure improvements, and site development.
The key to businesses succeeding in Kentucky, Governor Andy Beshear
tells Site Selection Editor in Chief Mark Arend, is to treat capital
investors as teammates.
Maasvlakte 2, the expansion of the Port of Rotterdam, the Netherlands,
includes a major LNG import terminal.
July 2020 photo by Danny Cornelissen courtesy of Port of Rotterdam Authority
The White House in late March reached an agreement with the European Union
that would reduce dependence on Russian gas by increasing export of
liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the U.S. “If we happened to have a gas
pipeline that stretched from the Gulf Coast all the way across the
Atlantic, reported Marketplace’s Justin Ho, “making good
on our promise would be a lot easier. Shipping LNG on tankers is a
complicated business.”
On March 24, Northrop Grumman opened its newest building in Longbow Park
in Boulder to support the growth of its Overhead Persistent Infrared
Exploitation (OPIR) and Advanced Mission Systems (AMS) programs. The
expansion features a radio frequency research lab, includes green
initiatives and gives Northrop Grumman added flexibility for future
growth, said the company, which observed that it is “one of the leading
aerospace and defense companies in Colorado, with more than 2,200
employees across the state supporting key customers including the U.S.
Space Force, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Missile Defense Agency and the
intelligence community.”
Canada’s Konrad Group, which provides strategy, design and technology
services for global brands such as Kia, Spotify, McDonalds, Coca Cola,
PayPal, and Uber, in March opened its second Costa Rican office in San
José, located in Escazu’s Plaza Tempo Office Center. Its first office is
in Tres Ríos de La Unión at the Terra Campus Corporativo Office Center,
located on the other side of the metro area. “Over the past nine years,
we have witnessed tremendous growth in our Costa Rican operations and,
with the opening of this new office, we double down our efforts to build
a world-class technology team here in San José,” said Hooman Bahador,
president and co-founder of Konrad, in a release from CINDE, Costa
Rica’s investment promotion agency. The company is filling roles such as
computer science professionals, computer engineers, software developers
and programmers with advanced English.
Photo by Stéphane Brügger courtesy of
v2com newswire
The Îlot Balmoral is a 13-story mixed-use office building commissioned
by the Société d’Habitation de Montréal (SHDM), which architecture firm
Provencher_Roy says “rises as a testimony to Montréal’s creative
economy.” One of the final major developmental pieces of the Quartier
des Spectacles in downtown Montréal, the building is the new home of the
National Film Board of Canada (NFB) and UQAC’s École des arts
numériques, de l’animation et du design (NAD School).
