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> And finally, I feel no one else is realizing that they are happily hacking away at the amazingly well-paid branch they're sitting on. As soon as a company's I

> And finally, I feel no one else is realizing that they are happily hacking away at the amazingly well-paid branch they're sitting on. As soon as a company's IT department is practically fully remote, why should they page a German wage for someone who is a face on a screen, when they can pay a fraction for that same face broadcasted from a few hundred kilometers further east or south? German is hardly used in business context here anyway and lower-wage countries within ±3 hours timezones abound. Any company that thinks this way is a company I don't want to work for because they are incredibly short sighted. Assuming "1 developer" = "1 developer" is so incredibly stupid. Developers (all humans for that matter) are not interchangeable cogs in /any/ industry (and yes, I'm including factory workers). Some jobs might be able to slot in a different person with less disruption but there is always disruption, for a developer this is massive. Even if bean counters think it doesn't matter, reality will slap them upside the head (or more realistically the company since these short sighted thinkers often hop away before the consequences come back to bite them). Shared language/culture/understanding/rapport is so important that I would hire a "1x" dev over a "2x" dev if I got along better with the "1x" dev. The argument that I'm replaceable by someone in a cheaper country has never held water for me, I've seen first-hand outsourcing fail miserably time after time. The top-tier talent in those "cheaper countries" demands top-tier rates but for businesses who think "1 developer" = "1 developer" will also hire the bottom of the barrel talent then act surprised when productivity falls of a cliff once what was already in the pipeline runs out.

ben7799 4y ago
People who think this isn't happening aren't getting "how" it's happening. BigAnnoyingCo isn't going to lay your whole team off and hire an entire new team in Elbonia. They're going to not replace "B" or "C" players when they leave, or lay off 1 or 2 people here or there. And they are going to hire 1, 2, 3 "A" Players that happen to live in Elbonia along the way. Pretty soon your team is completely geographically distributed.. you'll have a bunch of "A" Players that are scattered around the world. At that point it becomes a question does the superior talent level of the players negate any advantage it would have to have a group of employees in one part of the world.
- jgilias 4y ago
  Yeah, but the thing is that “A” players command “A” level salaries, be it Elbonia or not. Because a company that doesn’t have a clear, understandable, and fair salary policy is a major red flag that “A” players won’t work at. Sure, there may be some discount due to lower living expenses in Elbonia, but it would also apply to Richland people willing to move to sunny Mayland, and it won’t be a multiple.

ben7799 4y ago

People who think this isn't happening aren't getting "how" it's happening. BigAnnoyingCo isn't going to lay your whole team off and hire an entire new team in Elbonia. They're going to not replace "B" or "C" players when they leave, or lay off 1 or 2 people here or there. And they are going to hire 1, 2, 3 "A" Players that happen to live in Elbonia along the way. Pretty soon your team is completely geographically distributed.. you'll have a bunch of "A" Players that are scattered around the world. At that point it becomes a question does the superior talent level of the players negate any advantage it would have to have a group of employees in one part of the world.

jgilias 4y ago
Yeah, but the thing is that “A” players command “A” level salaries, be it Elbonia or not. Because a company that doesn’t have a clear, understandable, and fair salary policy is a major red flag that “A” players won’t work at. Sure, there may be some discount due to lower living expenses in Elbonia, but it would also apply to Richland people willing to move to sunny Mayland, and it won’t be a multiple.