Post-election, this Philly tech CEO is letting employees work from Canada

Sometimes it pays to have a Canada office.
So upsetting was the surprise victory of Republican candidate Donald Trump to WebLinc CEO Darren Hill that he has opened the door to his U.S.-based staff to work out of Vancouver, Canada, if they wish to relocate to a non-Trump country. (As you may recall, earlier this year WebLinc acquired Orderbot, a 20-person order management system based in Vancouver.)
“If any employee feels like they’re targeted by this administration, we’re happy to have them switch countries,” Hill told Technical.ly in an interview.
The day after the elections, Hill said 10 percent of the Old City-based staff had inquired about the possibility of relocating to British Columbia.
“We have a president-elect who has publicly stated he doesn’t believe in full rights for specific genders, religions and races,” Hill said. “Every insult he has said out in the campaign trail has insulted one individual or more at WebLinc, and I’m concerned about that.”
Hill, a registered Republican, said the result of the election had been a plus on the recruiting side, as U.S.-based technologists have already been inquiring about gigs at WebLinc’s Vancouver offices. For context, on the night of the election, Canada’s immigration services website crashed due to an excess volume of traffic.
So now that “President Trump” is an actual thing, is Hill himself considering a full-fledged move to Canada? For him, it all comes down to the threat Trump made of pulling federal funding from “sanctuary cities” like Philadelphia.
“That would mean a catastrophe and not only would we move out of the city, but we would strongly consider relocating out of the country,” he said.
However, for now the focus remains on keeping his staff comfortable. “We will do anything we can do to keep our people in a comfortable environment,” Hill said, “and if that has to be in Canada, then that’s where it has to be.”