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> DO seems to have gone with the "hire cheap overseas support that almost but doesn't quite understand English" strategy, whereas the tier 1 guys at Linode have

> DO seems to have gone with the "hire cheap overseas support that almost but doesn't quite understand English" strategy, whereas the tier 1 guys at Linode have on occasion demonstrated more Linux systems administration expertise than I've got. That's simply not true. There's support engineers hired around the world, and depending on when your ticket is posted, someone awake at that time will answer. DO is super remote friendly and as a result, has employees (and support folks) everywhere on the planet. Not "cheap oversea support" at all. There's a lot of support folks in the US, Canada, Europe, and in India where they have a datacenter. disclosure: ex-employee

eganist 7y ago
> That's simply not true. There's support engineers hired around the world, and depending on when your ticket is posted, someone awake at that time will answer. DO is super remote friendly and as a result, has employees (and support folks) everywhere on the planet. Not "cheap oversea support" at all. There's a lot of support folks in the US, Canada, Europe, and in India where they have a datacenter. Going to guess from this tweet https://twitter.com/AntoineGrondin/status/1130962818822393856 https://twitter.com/AntoineGrondin/status/113096281882239385... that you're currently staffed at DO. That's fine; I know two people who do great work on DO's security team. But it would be helpful if you could disclose this when you comment about your employer publicly so that readers don't have to dig up your keybase and then your twitter account to understand it.
- AYBABTME 7y ago
  I don't work at DO anymore, but you're right I should disclose that I used to do so. Will edit my original post.
  - eganist 7y ago
    Much appreciated, thanks!
Aeolun 7y ago
But, isn’t hiring all over the world exactly because it is cheaper for the same kind of talent. I’m sure the company doesn’t do it out of the goodness of their heart. Then of course, there is no guarantee these people speak and understand english perfectly.
- AYBABTME 7y ago
  I would say it's not. There's many advantages to hiring remote workers, they've been discussed at length elsewhere. One advantage is not having to pay office space, which indeed lowers cost. However DO has a nice office in Manhattan so really... they're not saving much money. And then on the term of compensation, for some reason DO pays it's remote employees really well. I don't know how this changed in recent years but people in NA and EU are all paid handsomely despite being remote. I don't know about other locales. The reality is that top talent, even if remote, is competitive whether they are in NYC/SFO/SEA or not. And DO has some pretty talented people on staff. And then, having people in all timezones is definitely an advantage for 24/7 support. I'd say it's not negligible, and not an after thought. Now about english fluency, it's only that important to english native locations. And really, most of tech does not necessarily have english as a first language - I certainly don't. So I'd say that encountering support engineers with imperfect english shouldn't be a problem to anyone, and definitely not a sign of cheap labor. In fact, I'd say bitching about someone's english proficiency in tech is kind of counterproductive and I find it discriminatory. Anyways. DO doesn't hire international employees to get cheap labor, that's a preposterous proposition. And with datacenters around the world and a large presence and customer base, it makes sense to have staff on board from many of these areas. And that staff might answer your tickets at night when they're on shift. Shouldn't they?
  - cannonedhamster 7y ago
    I can concur from a company that is not DO we hire workers in locations around the glove specifically to have people awake in their normal time zones, not because it's cheaper because it's not always cheaper. There are many countries that have a large portion of very intelligent and multi lingual people, especially when it comes to English. Just because someone isn't a native English speaker, or speaks in different dialect doesn't mean that they are any less capable.

eganist 7y ago

> That's simply not true. There's support engineers hired around the world, and depending on when your ticket is posted, someone awake at that time will answer. DO is super remote friendly and as a result, has employees (and support folks) everywhere on the planet. Not "cheap oversea support" at all. There's a lot of support folks in the US, Canada, Europe, and in India where they have a datacenter. Going to guess from this tweet https://twitter.com/AntoineGrondin/status/1130962818822393856 https://twitter.com/AntoineGrondin/status/113096281882239385... that you're currently staffed at DO. That's fine; I know two people who do great work on DO's security team. But it would be helpful if you could disclose this when you comment about your employer publicly so that readers don't have to dig up your keybase and then your twitter account to understand it.

AYBABTME 7y ago
I don't work at DO anymore, but you're right I should disclose that I used to do so. Will edit my original post.
- eganist 7y ago
  Much appreciated, thanks!

Aeolun 7y ago

But, isn’t hiring all over the world exactly because it is cheaper for the same kind of talent. I’m sure the company doesn’t do it out of the goodness of their heart. Then of course, there is no guarantee these people speak and understand english perfectly.

AYBABTME 7y ago
I would say it's not. There's many advantages to hiring remote workers, they've been discussed at length elsewhere. One advantage is not having to pay office space, which indeed lowers cost. However DO has a nice office in Manhattan so really... they're not saving much money. And then on the term of compensation, for some reason DO pays it's remote employees really well. I don't know how this changed in recent years but people in NA and EU are all paid handsomely despite being remote. I don't know about other locales. The reality is that top talent, even if remote, is competitive whether they are in NYC/SFO/SEA or not. And DO has some pretty talented people on staff. And then, having people in all timezones is definitely an advantage for 24/7 support. I'd say it's not negligible, and not an after thought. Now about english fluency, it's only that important to english native locations. And really, most of tech does not necessarily have english as a first language - I certainly don't. So I'd say that encountering support engineers with imperfect english shouldn't be a problem to anyone, and definitely not a sign of cheap labor. In fact, I'd say bitching about someone's english proficiency in tech is kind of counterproductive and I find it discriminatory. Anyways. DO doesn't hire international employees to get cheap labor, that's a preposterous proposition. And with datacenters around the world and a large presence and customer base, it makes sense to have staff on board from many of these areas. And that staff might answer your tickets at night when they're on shift. Shouldn't they?
- cannonedhamster 7y ago
  I can concur from a company that is not DO we hire workers in locations around the glove specifically to have people awake in their normal time zones, not because it's cheaper because it's not always cheaper. There are many countries that have a large portion of very intelligent and multi lingual people, especially when it comes to English. Just because someone isn't a native English speaker, or speaks in different dialect doesn't mean that they are any less capable.