Toronto’s tech scene is hot – even hotter than San Francisco. Uber is being sued by London cab drivers for more than one billion pounds. And streaming services like Netflix and Spotify may soon be included in the U.S.’s emergency alert system.
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First up, from LinkedIn: Toronto’s tech market is soaring. In fact, it was the fastest growing tech job market in 2017. More than 28,900 new tech jobs were created in the past year…that’s more jobs than in San Francisco, Seattle and Washington D.C. combined! What led to the boom? Well, according to a study from CBRE, real estate had something to do with it. Finding a 75,000 square foot office space for about 500 workers can cost about $30.2 million a year here while the same space would cost almost double that price in San Francisco. Toronto was also ranked as the fourth-best market for technology talent in Canada and the U.S.
Next up from Reddit: Uber is in the news again today, this time because taxi drivers in London, England are suing the ridesharing company for £1.25 billion. The London black cab drivers say the way the ridesharing company was run caused them to lose wages. The members of the London Taxi Drivers Association bringing the legal suit against Uber claim that its drivers lost £10,000 each over a five year period. This legal suit comes after Uber won a battle allowing it to keep its license and operate in London. Apparently Uber has come under fire from a number of cities in the U.K. for ‘unfairly skewing competition’.
Finally, also from Reddit: The U.S. Senate wants emergency alerts to go through online streaming services like Netflix and Spotify. Senators in Hawaii and South Dakota have introduced a bill – part of the Reliable Emergency Alert Distribution Improvement Act, or READI – that would have emergency broadcasting alerts show up even when you’re in the middle of a Netflix binge. Some critics are concerned about possible false alarms, which Hawaii famously dealt with earlier this year. This move shouldn’t come as much of a surprise considering more and more people are moving away from traditional cable TV services. Who knows? Maybe Canada will see something like this soon too.