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Geographic location is a rather arbitrary criteria for wage discrimination especially doing remote work [1]. I would not call the opportunity to be exploited a

by a_imho 9y ago

Geographic location is a rather arbitrary criteria for wage discrimination especially doing remote work [1]. I would not call the opportunity to be exploited a benefit exactly, even though I admit the alternatives can be worse. [1]https://elsajohansson.wordpress.com/2017/09/13/what-does-a-wage-gap-look-like/ https://elsajohansson.wordpress.com/2017/09/13/what-does-a-w...

GordonS 9y ago
There is nothing arbitrary about it - different geographical regions have different living costs and different market rates. I've worked with many Indian devs over the past 10 years or so, and have become good friends with a few. One of those is freelancing for US and EU clients - he is earning far more than he would be paid by a local company, and gets to choose which jobs he takes on, as well as his working hours. He is of course very happy with this, and very far from being 'exploited'.
- a_imho 9y ago
  Do you think the prices offered on freelancing sites are fair? Would you be willing to work for such prices? Why do you think freelancing is considered a race to the bottom? Why do you care which ISP someone uses when committing to a repository or login to VM? On the other end of things, would I move to a more expensive neighborhood if that meant I will get a bigger salary? While I don't know about you or your friend, my answer would be yes please. Fair is when equal work is equally compensated. When you earn significantly less than others in roughly the same position you are being exploited and it does not matter whether you can make ends meet.
  - GordonS 9y ago
    > would I move to a more expensive neighborhood if that meant I will get a bigger salary We're talking about different countries here. It's not quite so simple to just move to another country. > Fair is when equal work is equally compensated So it's unfair that an Indian dev working in India for an Indian company earns less than a US dev working in the US for a US company? Different countries have very different economies. I think we're going to have to agree to disagree on this one - local economy, market rates and living costs still seem extremely relevant to me.
    - a_imho 9y ago
      You are dodging the questions. You don't even have to move to another country, salaries vary wildly throughout a country and there are obvious outliers think NYC, SV or even London. And then we are talking about contracting/freelancing/remote work. If you want to have a job done, why do you care what is the purchasing power of the contract fee in a given country? By the way, if dev A and dev B works for the same company on the same project in the same position one in location A and the other in location B, they should be equally compensated.
      - GordonS 9y ago
        Sorry, I'll try and be more direct :) > Do you think the prices offered on freelancing sites are fair? Yes, I think they are 'fair'. This is how a free market works - clients are free to offer whatever price they like, devs are free to take on the jobs they feel make sense. > Would you be willing to work for such prices? It depends on the job but, taking $100 for 10 hours of work as an example - No. But just because such jobs don't make financial sense for me, doesn't mean the same for other economies. > Why do you care which ISP someone uses when committing to a repository or login to VM? I don't, nor did I claim to. What I care about is market rates.

by a_imho 9y ago

GordonS 9y ago

There is nothing arbitrary about it - different geographical regions have different living costs and different market rates. I've worked with many Indian devs over the past 10 years or so, and have become good friends with a few. One of those is freelancing for US and EU clients - he is earning far more than he would be paid by a local company, and gets to choose which jobs he takes on, as well as his working hours. He is of course very happy with this, and very far from being 'exploited'.

a_imho 9y ago
Do you think the prices offered on freelancing sites are fair? Would you be willing to work for such prices? Why do you think freelancing is considered a race to the bottom? Why do you care which ISP someone uses when committing to a repository or login to VM? On the other end of things, would I move to a more expensive neighborhood if that meant I will get a bigger salary? While I don't know about you or your friend, my answer would be yes please. Fair is when equal work is equally compensated. When you earn significantly less than others in roughly the same position you are being exploited and it does not matter whether you can make ends meet.
- GordonS 9y ago
  > would I move to a more expensive neighborhood if that meant I will get a bigger salary We're talking about different countries here. It's not quite so simple to just move to another country. > Fair is when equal work is equally compensated So it's unfair that an Indian dev working in India for an Indian company earns less than a US dev working in the US for a US company? Different countries have very different economies. I think we're going to have to agree to disagree on this one - local economy, market rates and living costs still seem extremely relevant to me.
  - a_imho 9y ago
    You are dodging the questions. You don't even have to move to another country, salaries vary wildly throughout a country and there are obvious outliers think NYC, SV or even London. And then we are talking about contracting/freelancing/remote work. If you want to have a job done, why do you care what is the purchasing power of the contract fee in a given country? By the way, if dev A and dev B works for the same company on the same project in the same position one in location A and the other in location B, they should be equally compensated.
    - GordonS 9y ago
      Sorry, I'll try and be more direct :) > Do you think the prices offered on freelancing sites are fair? Yes, I think they are 'fair'. This is how a free market works - clients are free to offer whatever price they like, devs are free to take on the jobs they feel make sense. > Would you be willing to work for such prices? It depends on the job but, taking $100 for 10 hours of work as an example - No. But just because such jobs don't make financial sense for me, doesn't mean the same for other economies. > Why do you care which ISP someone uses when committing to a repository or login to VM? I don't, nor did I claim to. What I care about is market rates.