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So for us, hiring domestically (either 1099 or FTE) vs internationally, wasn't a mutually exclusive decision. Finding good people was a real risk to our growth.

So for us, hiring domestically (either 1099 or FTE) vs internationally, wasn't a mutually exclusive decision. Finding good people was a real risk to our growth. So we expanded the top of our funnel to more locations simultaneously. However, we weren't just interested in salary arbitrage, we really did need to attract good people with premium benefits. Good international teammates aren't going to leave their team only to risk being a second class contractor on a foreign team. So we found that by offering our teammates a premium experience: health insurance, gym perks, education resources, Macbooks, and other apple products, career paths and salary reviews, we expanded the pool of people that were interested in working with us beyond the pool of people on Toptal/Turing and other platforms with no fulfillment on the ground. Not all teams are interested in that philosophy in hiring but we've had the most success with it.

causality0 4y ago
That's nice but would you mind actually answering his question? Why should he pay comparable rates to someone residing where the cost of living is a fraction of the US? There are concrete benefits to having dev teams composed of people who share a common culture. What's on the other end of the scales to balance out losing that if it isn't money?
- 0xffff2 4y ago
  I'm not in this space at all, but my reading of OP's comment was that the _total_ cost of a dev from their service is comparable to just the _salary_ (excluding benefits and other overhead) of a US developer.
- FrankLicea 4y ago
  I believe I did answer the question, but let me try rephrase! First, the rates tend to be comparable to _just_ the salary component of a US teammate (Austin, Texas). The US salary component doesn't include insurance, taxes, and other perks, which could add another 30-50% to the cost of employment. With Astro all those items are included in the rate. Second, and hopefully I answer the question, the reason you would pay for those benefits for an international teammate (and not just an arbitrage play), is because we believe that it allows companies to recruit and retain a different pool of teammates not accessible on the other platforms like Toptal/Turing/Outsourcing, etc. I hope that's better! Let me know.
- Rebelgecko 4y ago
  The cost of employing someone in the US can easily be 2x their actual salary.

causality0 4y ago

That's nice but would you mind actually answering his question? Why should he pay comparable rates to someone residing where the cost of living is a fraction of the US? There are concrete benefits to having dev teams composed of people who share a common culture. What's on the other end of the scales to balance out losing that if it isn't money?

0xffff2 4y ago
I'm not in this space at all, but my reading of OP's comment was that the _total_ cost of a dev from their service is comparable to just the _salary_ (excluding benefits and other overhead) of a US developer.
FrankLicea 4y ago
I believe I did answer the question, but let me try rephrase! First, the rates tend to be comparable to _just_ the salary component of a US teammate (Austin, Texas). The US salary component doesn't include insurance, taxes, and other perks, which could add another 30-50% to the cost of employment. With Astro all those items are included in the rate. Second, and hopefully I answer the question, the reason you would pay for those benefits for an international teammate (and not just an arbitrage play), is because we believe that it allows companies to recruit and retain a different pool of teammates not accessible on the other platforms like Toptal/Turing/Outsourcing, etc. I hope that's better! Let me know.
Rebelgecko 4y ago
The cost of employing someone in the US can easily be 2x their actual salary.