4 ms·

We have a saying here in India: "You pay peanuts, you hire donkeys". So a lot many comments in the thread is either generalization or a confirmation bias. The

We have a saying here in India: "You pay peanuts, you hire donkeys". So a lot many comments in the thread is either generalization or a confirmation bias. The India I know and software developers I know of are no less either in dream or dedication from peers in Silicon Valley or any other part of developed world. :)

cc-d 8y ago
>We have a saying here in India: "You pay peanuts, you hire donkeys". That is amazingly similar to the common english proverb: "You pay peanuts, you get monkeys." Did you translate the Indian (not sure which language) proverb using the english proverb as a base, or does it directly translate?
- RandomCSGeek 8y ago
  I have heard of another proverb, which translates to "If you throw peanuts, only monkeys will gather".
Clubber 8y ago
Yes, this is essentially what I've witnessed. I went to a very exclusive private high school in the US and the students from India there were top notch. Same in college. This was in the 90s. In the 2000s, our 2nd DBA at a very well known company was from India and he was top notch as well. I think what happened is some not so ethical business people in India decided to make money off the good reputations of the Indians already working for US companies and built their companies off that. Instead of finding good Indian developers, they hired whomever they could find to take the job and presented them as top talent. US MBA's not knowing any better (what's new) couldn't resist the low cost and jumped all over it. Of course not being able or willing to admit a mistake, this ruse went on for two decades. The aftermath is the good Indian talent now has a tarnished (severely) reputation, and businesses now have no strong internal systems development teams; nor have no idea how to recreate one. Greedy capitalism is a global phenomenon. The greedy US companies got duped by the greedy Indian companies, and everyone lost. Good US teams lost by getting severely thinned out. Good Indian developers lost their reputation. US businesses lost their ability to develop even basic quality internal software. Indian companies seem to be losing out on the market as well.
- koolhead17 8y ago
  Indeed. With a bias and FUD, it is too easy to generalize anything.
koala_man 8y ago
Yep. I'm astonished that otherwise capable engineers accept the reasoning that since so many of the $4/hour lowest bid Indian devs they've worked with are subpar, it must be that Indian devs are just generally bad.

cc-d 8y ago

>We have a saying here in India: "You pay peanuts, you hire donkeys". That is amazingly similar to the common english proverb: "You pay peanuts, you get monkeys." Did you translate the Indian (not sure which language) proverb using the english proverb as a base, or does it directly translate?

RandomCSGeek 8y ago
I have heard of another proverb, which translates to "If you throw peanuts, only monkeys will gather".

Clubber 8y ago

Yes, this is essentially what I've witnessed. I went to a very exclusive private high school in the US and the students from India there were top notch. Same in college. This was in the 90s. In the 2000s, our 2nd DBA at a very well known company was from India and he was top notch as well. I think what happened is some not so ethical business people in India decided to make money off the good reputations of the Indians already working for US companies and built their companies off that. Instead of finding good Indian developers, they hired whomever they could find to take the job and presented them as top talent. US MBA's not knowing any better (what's new) couldn't resist the low cost and jumped all over it. Of course not being able or willing to admit a mistake, this ruse went on for two decades. The aftermath is the good Indian talent now has a tarnished (severely) reputation, and businesses now have no strong internal systems development teams; nor have no idea how to recreate one. Greedy capitalism is a global phenomenon. The greedy US companies got duped by the greedy Indian companies, and everyone lost. Good US teams lost by getting severely thinned out. Good Indian developers lost their reputation. US businesses lost their ability to develop even basic quality internal software. Indian companies seem to be losing out on the market as well.

koolhead17 8y ago
Indeed. With a bias and FUD, it is too easy to generalize anything.

koala_man 8y ago

Yep. I'm astonished that otherwise capable engineers accept the reasoning that since so many of the $4/hour lowest bid Indian devs they've worked with are subpar, it must be that Indian devs are just generally bad.