> I know top-talent engineers and researchers that have moved out of the USA in the last 12 months due to the political climate

Are they working remotely for US companies? In Canada that’s very much still the case everywhere you look

> Even the big American companies have been opening offices in places like London to hire the top talent at high salaries.

I assumed this discussion was about rejecting working for US companies who would be susceptible to the executive branch’s bullying, not whether you can you make a US tier salary off American companies while not living in America. If you’re doing that you might as well live in America among among the other talent and maximize your opportunities.

No, it’s a counterpoint on salaries… “Even the American companies” ie they wouldn’t have to open offices here, nor would they have to pay high salaries, to compete for talent if everyone they wanted was in the US or could be so easily attracted to move to the US. The point is clearly things aren’t so one-sided as people seem to think.