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Everyone in the US or a wealthy country pushing for 'remote work' is outsourcing themselves, ultimately. In the short term we get 'remote work' which some see
by jollybean 5y ago
Everyone in the US or a wealthy country pushing for 'remote work' is outsourcing themselves, ultimately.
In the short term we get 'remote work' which some see as a benefit.
In the medium term, absent the apparent advantage/willingness of people to be 'on prem' (in the minds of employers), it's just as easy to hire someone at 3/4 price from Europe, 1/2 price from E. Europe, 1/4 the price from India.
While 'language and custom' do present real challenges, let's not kid ourselves: the CFO can use very, very powerful language to push for 'offshoring' because they will talk in terms of 'raw dollars'.
The 'advantage' of devs. from wealthier nations is abstract. Their costs are not.
In much the same way companies made a fairly narrow choice to jam everyone into 'open work spaces' - which drives a lot of people nuts and I think harms productivity, but is quantifiably cheaper ... companies may opt to 'cheap out'.
Many will.
I'm wary that the material realities of on/off prem, language, culture, time-zones, communications etc. will be lost in the mix.
- Barrin92 5y agoThis framing of "cheapening out" or "The US and other wealthy countries" is a little bit behind the curve. Tech talent physically moves frong HK to the mainland nowadays, The salaries in some Eastern European countries are higher than in Portugal or Spain. It's not cheapening out as much as it is diversification at this point, and give it another generation and it'll simply be people having the choice to work anywhere in the world. Companies don't just 'outsource' any more but primary want a presence and access to incredibly large markets with domestic talent.
- Apocryphon 5y agoYou're completely ignoring Canada and Latin America. Good luck dealing with timezones and language barriers.
- mihaigalos 5y agoSure, go ahead and do that. Meanwhile: https://medium.com/@dodiyadharmik/boeings-737-max-software-outsourcing-to-9-an-hour-engineers-7049c07b5ded https://medium.com/@dodiyadharmik/boeings-737-max-software-o...