3 ms·

"we'll hire overseas for a fraction of the cost, darn" The ones at a fraction of the cost aren't very good. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.

bluefirebrand 3y ago
Maybe, maybe not. I've worked with great offshore teams and terrible ones, I think the great ones were more expensive but still less than a local salary. But the theoretical hiring manager here doesn't care anyways. All they want is to come under budget so they can max their bonus for being so cleverly frugal.
zooq_ai 3y ago
That's a naive argument. Intelligence / Competence more or less has the same distribution curve. With the access of knowledge now widely available, A country with 1.5B people will always have more competent people than countries that have 50 Million in population. And these countries have cheap labor. US has always poo-pooed Japanese, Chinese and Indian workers as low quality. That's only because you didn't filter well
- Clubber 3y ago
  >That's a naive argument. No, it's an experienced one. >Intelligence / Competence more or less has the same distribution curve. With the access of knowledge now widely available, A country with 1.5B people will always have more competent people than countries that have 50 Million in population. That is only a fraction of what it takes to produce good software developers. You have to include quality of the educational systems, living conditions and all that. Any offshore developer worth their salt gets paid market rates or near market rates. >And these countries have cheap labor. US has always poo-pooed Japanese, Chinese and Indian workers as low quality. That's only because you didn't filter well It's not their nationality, it's the price they are charging for. I bet you can't find a quality US worker for $30K a year either.
- jakupovic 3y ago
  I work with IDC folks a lot and just like you said there is no difference in quality but the time difference and being US centric makes a difference. The US side makes the decisions and the ither sides has to follow. I personally try to give as much independence as possible but it's just how it is based on where the money comes from.

bluefirebrand 3y ago

Maybe, maybe not. I've worked with great offshore teams and terrible ones, I think the great ones were more expensive but still less than a local salary. But the theoretical hiring manager here doesn't care anyways. All they want is to come under budget so they can max their bonus for being so cleverly frugal.

zooq_ai 3y ago

That's a naive argument. Intelligence / Competence more or less has the same distribution curve. With the access of knowledge now widely available, A country with 1.5B people will always have more competent people than countries that have 50 Million in population. And these countries have cheap labor. US has always poo-pooed Japanese, Chinese and Indian workers as low quality. That's only because you didn't filter well

Clubber 3y ago
>That's a naive argument. No, it's an experienced one. >Intelligence / Competence more or less has the same distribution curve. With the access of knowledge now widely available, A country with 1.5B people will always have more competent people than countries that have 50 Million in population. That is only a fraction of what it takes to produce good software developers. You have to include quality of the educational systems, living conditions and all that. Any offshore developer worth their salt gets paid market rates or near market rates. >And these countries have cheap labor. US has always poo-pooed Japanese, Chinese and Indian workers as low quality. That's only because you didn't filter well It's not their nationality, it's the price they are charging for. I bet you can't find a quality US worker for $30K a year either.
jakupovic 3y ago
I work with IDC folks a lot and just like you said there is no difference in quality but the time difference and being US centric makes a difference. The US side makes the decisions and the ither sides has to follow. I personally try to give as much independence as possible but it's just how it is based on where the money comes from.