3 ms·

I think what a lot of people that argue for this kind of thing ignore is that most people in the US are actually still being paid very well on a global scale, e

I think what a lot of people that argue for this kind of thing ignore is that most people in the US are actually still being paid very well on a global scale, even if they don't get a SV salary. If everyone works remotely and wages are equalised, wouldn't the natural conclusion be that wages should go down quite a lot in most Western countries?

eloisant 6y ago
It's not going to be completely equalized, even if everyone goes remote. - When working in a team, timezones matter - Labor laws also matter, and a company needs to do some paperwork before hiring workers in a new country - Companies are still going to hire workers with similar skills to their employees, so Big Tech and Silicon Valley companies are not going to suddenly hire people who only have experience working at outsourcing companies
- DangerousPie 6y ago
  Timezones matter, but parts of Latin America are in the same time zone as the US and parts of Africa are in the time zone as the EU. Paperwork and laws matter as well, but if you can save 75% of your salary spending you'll deal with that. Big tech and SV hire people straight out of university, don't they? What's the difference between hiring an MIT grad that stayed in the US and hiring an MIT grad that moved back to their home country?
  - eloisant 6y ago
    Except for the 2nd point (labor law), MIT grad that moved back to their home country would work, but most people in Latin America and Africa graduated from local university that are not as good as US or European universities (or at least not recognized as such). So this is not going to create a big equalizer.
n0tsurey4 6y ago
Most of these companies could already sponsor workers from outside the US, so they already tapped a pool of global workers. If they want highly skilled employees, which will constantly be in demand, then the cost to hire them will still be high. Salaries will drop in cost for less skilled roles, and will likely be outsourced to countries such as india, but quality will also drop. So if employers want to be competitive then they will have to pay well regardless of location. In Europe we see a lot of US applicants these days, some good some bad, but we pay equally for most part depending on skill set.
- DangerousPie 6y ago
  The whole point is that what makes a competitive salary will go down as the supply of workers increases.
  - n0tsurey4 6y ago
    Correct - but the supply of workers for high end jobs was already "high" - companies that needed such workers could just sponsor anyone from any country and move them over to the US. Now if the allow remote work, demand for such workers will be even higher as before, as suddenly the change in mindset will increase demand from smaller companies not just fortune companies.
    - DangerousPie 6y ago
      That would only be the case if there was zero friction and cost to sponsoring a visa and everyone in the world was willing to move to the Bay Area. Neither of those are true - just think about restrictions on H1B visas such as minimum salary levels and a limited total number. And think about how much more money someone would have to offer you before you'd consider moving to the other side of the world where you don't know anybody.

eloisant 6y ago

It's not going to be completely equalized, even if everyone goes remote. - When working in a team, timezones matter - Labor laws also matter, and a company needs to do some paperwork before hiring workers in a new country - Companies are still going to hire workers with similar skills to their employees, so Big Tech and Silicon Valley companies are not going to suddenly hire people who only have experience working at outsourcing companies

DangerousPie 6y ago
Timezones matter, but parts of Latin America are in the same time zone as the US and parts of Africa are in the time zone as the EU. Paperwork and laws matter as well, but if you can save 75% of your salary spending you'll deal with that. Big tech and SV hire people straight out of university, don't they? What's the difference between hiring an MIT grad that stayed in the US and hiring an MIT grad that moved back to their home country?
- eloisant 6y ago
  Except for the 2nd point (labor law), MIT grad that moved back to their home country would work, but most people in Latin America and Africa graduated from local university that are not as good as US or European universities (or at least not recognized as such). So this is not going to create a big equalizer.

n0tsurey4 6y ago

Most of these companies could already sponsor workers from outside the US, so they already tapped a pool of global workers. If they want highly skilled employees, which will constantly be in demand, then the cost to hire them will still be high. Salaries will drop in cost for less skilled roles, and will likely be outsourced to countries such as india, but quality will also drop. So if employers want to be competitive then they will have to pay well regardless of location. In Europe we see a lot of US applicants these days, some good some bad, but we pay equally for most part depending on skill set.

DangerousPie 6y ago
The whole point is that what makes a competitive salary will go down as the supply of workers increases.
- n0tsurey4 6y ago
  Correct - but the supply of workers for high end jobs was already "high" - companies that needed such workers could just sponsor anyone from any country and move them over to the US. Now if the allow remote work, demand for such workers will be even higher as before, as suddenly the change in mindset will increase demand from smaller companies not just fortune companies.
  - DangerousPie 6y ago
    That would only be the case if there was zero friction and cost to sponsoring a visa and everyone in the world was willing to move to the Bay Area. Neither of those are true - just think about restrictions on H1B visas such as minimum salary levels and a limited total number. And think about how much more money someone would have to offer you before you'd consider moving to the other side of the world where you don't know anybody.