10 ms·

How long until all those new workers are laid off again as intel goes back to overseas fabs?

speed_spread 3y ago
Add the numbers get bigger and the risks increase, the number of "cheap labor" countries where investments in large tech infrastructure are safe is shrinking every year. Maybe South America? Intel has (had?) a fab in Costa Rica...
- golergka 3y ago
  South America is very underrated. People still think about the region in 20-30 year old stereotypes, but most countries have gotten much more stable, economics have improved drastically. Workforce is highly educated, different countries share a very similar culture and mostly speak the same language, which means that a lot of things can be scaled much easier. Of course, there's also Portuguese, which is still somewhat similar, and Quechuan languages speakers who learn Spanish as a second language, but this doesn't change the equation much. The only thing the region lacks is investment and ecosystem to attract and protect it.
  - ethbr1 3y ago
    Venezuela's perpetual political/economic fuck-ups (going on 125 years at this point? [0]), Argentina's recurring currency fuck-ups, some really nasty left-wing vs right-wing spats between countries, and a generally weak rule of law / judiciary (in comparison with executive branches) deserve mentioning too. South America could stand to learn a LOT from ASEAN -- stability = international investment = economic growth = happy people = stability. In contrast, in South America inveterate bickering about politics dominates and you end up with something like this: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Supranational_American_bodies https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Supranational_Ameri... I hope it sorts itself out! And I know Columbia and Brazil are developing some impressive technical industries, especially since they share North America timezones. But it should be honest about the headwinds. [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuelan_crisis_(disambiguation) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuelan_crisis_(disambigu...
    - truculent 3y ago
      The problem is that the “stability” and invesment interventions from the USA has typically come with some rather unpleasant strings attached. I think it’s either patronising or ignorant to suggest that various Latin American countries policy decisions weren’t made with that in mind.
      - ethbr1 3y ago
        It doesn't have to be US investment!

Add the numbers get bigger and the risks increase, the number of "cheap labor" countries where investments in large tech infrastructure are safe is shrinking every year. Maybe South America? Intel has (had?) a fab in Costa Rica...

golergka 3y ago
South America is very underrated. People still think about the region in 20-30 year old stereotypes, but most countries have gotten much more stable, economics have improved drastically. Workforce is highly educated, different countries share a very similar culture and mostly speak the same language, which means that a lot of things can be scaled much easier. Of course, there's also Portuguese, which is still somewhat similar, and Quechuan languages speakers who learn Spanish as a second language, but this doesn't change the equation much. The only thing the region lacks is investment and ecosystem to attract and protect it.
- ethbr1 3y ago
  Venezuela's perpetual political/economic fuck-ups (going on 125 years at this point? [0]), Argentina's recurring currency fuck-ups, some really nasty left-wing vs right-wing spats between countries, and a generally weak rule of law / judiciary (in comparison with executive branches) deserve mentioning too. South America could stand to learn a LOT from ASEAN -- stability = international investment = economic growth = happy people = stability. In contrast, in South America inveterate bickering about politics dominates and you end up with something like this: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Supranational_American_bodies https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Supranational_Ameri... I hope it sorts itself out! And I know Columbia and Brazil are developing some impressive technical industries, especially since they share North America timezones. But it should be honest about the headwinds. [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuelan_crisis_(disambiguation) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuelan_crisis_(disambigu...
  - truculent 3y ago
    The problem is that the “stability” and invesment interventions from the USA has typically come with some rather unpleasant strings attached. I think it’s either patronising or ignorant to suggest that various Latin American countries policy decisions weren’t made with that in mind.
    - ethbr1 3y ago
      It doesn't have to be US investment!