Labour Arbitrage

[Verse 1]
Northern wants a future
More than paper mills and prayer
So we built some tech jobs
And kept our young folks there
Colleges kept teaching
Communities leaned in tight
We all sang the same old tune
Let’s make a good life right

[Pre-Chorus]
Train ’em up
Keep ’em home
Make the north worth staying for
Experience stacks up
Wages climb
Then somebody cracks the door

[Chorus]
Labour arbitrage
Labour arbitrage
That’s the name of the game
Labour arbitrage
Labour arbitrage
Different miles, same flame

We finally made the jobs worth keeping
(That’s when keeping them got dear)
Labour arbitrage
Labour arbitrage
Well, there it is right here

[Verse 2]
The shop grew past a handful
Into something folks could trust
Experienced engineers
With their sleeves rolled up in dust
Every hire made the case for it
Every year the proof came due
What we set out to create
Was exactly what came true

[Pre-Chorus]
Skills got sharp
Teams got strong
The payroll went up too
A local win
A tidy chart
And a bigger bill came through

[Chorus]
Labour arbitrage
Labour arbitrage
That’s the name of the game
Labour arbitrage
Labour arbitrage
Different miles, same flame

We finally made the jobs worth keeping
(That’s when keeping them got dear)
Labour arbitrage
Labour arbitrage
Well, there it is right here

[Verse 3]
Somebody opened Excel
And discovered Eastern Europe
The column lit up cheerful
Like a sunrise on a cooper
Now the math was plain as rain
And the jokes all wrote themselves
A workforce priced by success
In a spreadsheet on a shelf

[Pre-Chorus]
Not a crime
Not a spite
Just a balance sheet in flight
What we built
Made us dear
And that’s the punchline here

[Chorus]
Labour arbitrage
Labour arbitrage
That’s the name of the game
Labour arbitrage
Labour arbitrage
Different miles, same flame

We finally made the jobs worth keeping
(That’s when keeping them got dear)
Labour arbitrage
Labour arbitrage
Well, there it is right here

[Bridge]
So we’ll launch another program
To develop local skills
We’ll announce it at the college
By the highway near the mills
We’ll train another generation
Give the north another shot
And when they’re good enough to matter
We can optimize the lot

[Final Chorus]
Labour arbitrage
Labour arbitrage
Raise a glass and clap
Labour arbitrage
Labour arbitrage
Now the circle’s snapped

We finally made the jobs worth keeping
(That’s when keeping them got dear)
Labour arbitrage
Labour arbitrage
And the future’s crystal clear

Well, I guess that’s globalization
And I understand the math
It’s just funny seeing twenty years
Come driving down that path

[Outro]
Labour arbitrage
Labour arbitrage
Same old tune, new year
Labour arbitrage
Labour arbitrage
Now pass that spreadsheet here