Jon Swartz

USA TODAY

SAN FRANCISCO — The USA's neighbors to the north and south aren't the only ones making pitches for the world's tech workers who may feel stranded by President Trump's lingering immigration ban threat.

Add New Zealand to Canada and Mexico to the list of countries actively recruiting talent. The country's capital city just launched a new initiative, LookSee Wellington, that offers 100 IT professionals free airfare and accommodations for job interviews with prospective employers.

Wellington's global talent search, led by the Wellington Regional Economic Development Agency and Workhere New Zealand, is "about giving people who might be open to moving to this side of the world a chance to come and have a ‘look-see’ before deciding to relocate, and without having to pay to get here to inform their decision-making," Wellington Mayor Justin Lester said in a statement.

Wellington, home to a fledgling tech hub Down Under, is locked in fierce competition globally for talented tech professionals at a time when the policies of the Trump administration are giving some tech workers second thoughts.

New Zealand already has a strong voice in Peter Thiel, the billionaire investor and Trump confidante who was granted citizenship in 2011 after declaring he "found no other country that aligns more with my view of the future than New Zealand."

Thiel, a Facebook board member, has invested in New Zealand tech companies and donated $730,000 to the Christchurch earthquake relief fund.

An abortive immigration ban, as well as the threat of an executive order that would cleave H-1B work visas, has American tech companies and workers globally rethinking their long-term plans.

Mexico and Canada, two of the U.S.'s biggest trade partners, have accelerated current recruiting efforts by dangling more funding and facilities to skim talent from disaffected workers. Officials in Guadalajara and Toronto, in particular, are pressing their cases.

Add Wellington to the mix this week.

Canada seizes chance to skim talent from disaffected U.S. tech companies

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