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Work From Home (WFH) One thing WFH advocates fail to recognize is that, if companies embrace it - now they have the ability to replace super high paying US bas

Work From Home (WFH) One thing WFH advocates fail to recognize is that, if companies embrace it - now they have the ability to replace super high paying US based WFH employees with low cost WFH (anywhere in the world employee). WFM advocates don’t realize that they are effectively advocating for offshoring their own job.

pylua 3y ago
There has to be labor protections for us employees and us companies or companies that do business here must adhere to it. After all, I cannot just get a visa to go live in India, even though I might be able to have more material wealth there just based on the power of the dollar. The U.S. citizen is at an inherit disadvantage due to other countries not being as friendly with the visa. US government should also be careful about increasing the wealth of countries not in the us sphere of influence.
lagniappe 3y ago
Wouldn't that be WFH?
dvngnt_ 3y ago
off shoring isn't new but it also isn't easy to do well depending on the position
sillysaurusx 3y ago
Hear, hear. You know where I’d like to offshore my job? Literally anywhere other than Missouri, where I live. WFH means I can participate in companies that do important work without having to move my family away from their family. If that means I get replaced by a talented hacker from India someday, the tradeoff is still far north of worth it.
- alberth 3y ago
  And someone living in Columbia or Peru, which is approx same timezone as Missouri, who make literally 1/10th the wage of someone in Missouri … now has the ability to get your job. Be careful for what you wish for, is all I’m saying. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_countries_by_monthly_average_wage https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_countries_b...
  - sillysaurusx 3y ago
    That’s competition, baby! I welcome it. We engineers tend to take for granted just how specialized our knowledge has been, till recently. It seems unrealistic to expect this privilege to last forever. The rest of the world is catching up, and tools like ChatGPT might rapidly accelerate this race. The way to survive is to adapt. It’s always been key.
  - pylua 3y ago
    I think this is unlikely as the us tax base would literally implode. That, and a brain drain from America to other countries may occur. I would expect the government to step in.
analognoise 3y ago
WFH? Besides the Capitalists have already made things terrible for people. “Give up more or they might make it more terrible” isn’t really convincing. Like affording a house is impossible, kids are seen as a status symbol (like owning a BMW 20 years ago, or having a pet tiger or something). The retirement age goes up and up. I say we call their bluff already.
gedy 3y ago
There is a thing called voting and companies in US should be wary of antagonizing people too far. Outsourcing isn't some constitutional right. Or they can move their company and headquarters overseas too.
xwdv 3y ago
Not really. Offshoring and outsourcing jobs has been a threat since the early 2000s and has never really manifested the way people claimed it would. High paying jobs are still here. And if it ever did become a serious threat, we could just resort to blatant racism and stereotyping against foreign workers and that is enough to kick the can down the road a bit longer. Many companies simply will not hire offshore Indians because they believe they do inferior work compared to Americans, and Chinese are corporate spies/leakers.
keiferski 3y ago
Yes, this seems pretty obvious to me. The reason SV salaries are so high is in large part because of the high local costs of the Bay Area. I wouldn’t expect those to remain super inflated as remote work continues to spread and become more viable.
admax88qqq 3y ago
If the only value you provide to your employer is that you're physically present for a job that _can_ be done remotely you are close to being offshored anyways.
62951413 3y ago
You can actually see a VC seriously discussing real-life experience with doing it. For example, in the latest "This Week in Startups" episode (https://youtu.be/RcRdwo0lI08?si=528IZSVd1kTjT5cZ&t=3335 https://youtu.be/RcRdwo0lI08?si=528IZSVd1kTjT5cZ&t=3335).

pylua 3y ago

There has to be labor protections for us employees and us companies or companies that do business here must adhere to it. After all, I cannot just get a visa to go live in India, even though I might be able to have more material wealth there just based on the power of the dollar. The U.S. citizen is at an inherit disadvantage due to other countries not being as friendly with the visa. US government should also be careful about increasing the wealth of countries not in the us sphere of influence.

lagniappe 3y ago

Wouldn't that be WFH?

dvngnt_ 3y ago

off shoring isn't new but it also isn't easy to do well depending on the position

sillysaurusx 3y ago

Hear, hear. You know where I’d like to offshore my job? Literally anywhere other than Missouri, where I live. WFH means I can participate in companies that do important work without having to move my family away from their family. If that means I get replaced by a talented hacker from India someday, the tradeoff is still far north of worth it.

alberth 3y ago
And someone living in Columbia or Peru, which is approx same timezone as Missouri, who make literally 1/10th the wage of someone in Missouri … now has the ability to get your job. Be careful for what you wish for, is all I’m saying. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_countries_by_monthly_average_wage https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_countries_b...
- sillysaurusx 3y ago
  That’s competition, baby! I welcome it. We engineers tend to take for granted just how specialized our knowledge has been, till recently. It seems unrealistic to expect this privilege to last forever. The rest of the world is catching up, and tools like ChatGPT might rapidly accelerate this race. The way to survive is to adapt. It’s always been key.
- pylua 3y ago
  I think this is unlikely as the us tax base would literally implode. That, and a brain drain from America to other countries may occur. I would expect the government to step in.

analognoise 3y ago

WFH? Besides the Capitalists have already made things terrible for people. “Give up more or they might make it more terrible” isn’t really convincing. Like affording a house is impossible, kids are seen as a status symbol (like owning a BMW 20 years ago, or having a pet tiger or something). The retirement age goes up and up. I say we call their bluff already.

gedy 3y ago

There is a thing called voting and companies in US should be wary of antagonizing people too far. Outsourcing isn't some constitutional right. Or they can move their company and headquarters overseas too.

xwdv 3y ago

Not really. Offshoring and outsourcing jobs has been a threat since the early 2000s and has never really manifested the way people claimed it would. High paying jobs are still here. And if it ever did become a serious threat, we could just resort to blatant racism and stereotyping against foreign workers and that is enough to kick the can down the road a bit longer. Many companies simply will not hire offshore Indians because they believe they do inferior work compared to Americans, and Chinese are corporate spies/leakers.

keiferski 3y ago

Yes, this seems pretty obvious to me. The reason SV salaries are so high is in large part because of the high local costs of the Bay Area. I wouldn’t expect those to remain super inflated as remote work continues to spread and become more viable.

admax88qqq 3y ago

If the only value you provide to your employer is that you're physically present for a job that _can_ be done remotely you are close to being offshored anyways.

62951413 3y ago

You can actually see a VC seriously discussing real-life experience with doing it. For example, in the latest "This Week in Startups" episode (https://youtu.be/RcRdwo0lI08?si=528IZSVd1kTjT5cZ&t=3335 https://youtu.be/RcRdwo0lI08?si=528IZSVd1kTjT5cZ&t=3335).