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I think it's different than outsourcing that was trendy years ago. I also recall those days and the gloomy predictions. Canada doesn't have the problems you li

I think it's different than outsourcing that was trendy years ago. I also recall those days and the gloomy predictions. Canada doesn't have the problems you listed. Central America has the language barrier but good devs are likely to have good English. The reason I'm thinking it's different is that now I don't see that companies are looking for cheap labor. They are looking for talented engineers and willing to pay them well, but still far below what they would pay for a similar talent in the US, esp in expensive regions. Top talent will always be OK, no matter where they are. Everyone else might have a problem.

outsidetheparty 4y ago
You're right, it does look like Canadian salaries are a bit lower than in most of the US -- though not that much lower. (Nationwide averages are wildly skewed by Silicon Valley, but for example entry-level engineering jobs in Chicago pay less than in Montreal.) (Yes, I remembered to convert the currency ;) I can speak directly to "Central America has the language barrier but good devs are likely to have good English" -- my org recently acquired a small company in Brazil, and we've been trying to integrate the engineering teams. They're great guys, very skilled, and they have conversational English -- certainly better than my Portuguese! But it's still a huge, huge communication barrier that drains a whole lot of time and requires a whole lot of extra effort on both sides. (Was there a one-time cost savings from acquiring a Brazilian company instead of a comparable US one? Probably. I wasn't privy to that deal. And are their salaries lower than those of their co-workers in the US? Yes, a bit. But I can say for certain that the delays and miscommunications caused by the language barrier are expensive -- and we're shorter on time than we are on money. > They are looking for talented engineers and willing to pay them well, but still far below what they would pay for a similar talent in the US If you substitute "Silicon Valley" instead of "the US" in that sentence, I'd wholeheartedly agree with you. "Outsourcing" to Ohio or Albany or, well, most of the US is a real cost savings compared to SV or a couple of other high-dollar metro areas, without most of the problems you get from going international.

outsidetheparty 4y ago

You're right, it does look like Canadian salaries are a bit lower than in most of the US -- though not that much lower. (Nationwide averages are wildly skewed by Silicon Valley, but for example entry-level engineering jobs in Chicago pay less than in Montreal.) (Yes, I remembered to convert the currency ;) I can speak directly to "Central America has the language barrier but good devs are likely to have good English" -- my org recently acquired a small company in Brazil, and we've been trying to integrate the engineering teams. They're great guys, very skilled, and they have conversational English -- certainly better than my Portuguese! But it's still a huge, huge communication barrier that drains a whole lot of time and requires a whole lot of extra effort on both sides. (Was there a one-time cost savings from acquiring a Brazilian company instead of a comparable US one? Probably. I wasn't privy to that deal. And are their salaries lower than those of their co-workers in the US? Yes, a bit. But I can say for certain that the delays and miscommunications caused by the language barrier are expensive -- and we're shorter on time than we are on money. > They are looking for talented engineers and willing to pay them well, but still far below what they would pay for a similar talent in the US If you substitute "Silicon Valley" instead of "the US" in that sentence, I'd wholeheartedly agree with you. "Outsourcing" to Ohio or Albany or, well, most of the US is a real cost savings compared to SV or a couple of other high-dollar metro areas, without most of the problems you get from going international.