4 ms·

devil's advocate - if they are HQ'd in the US, is hiring US citizens that big of an ask? why do they need cheap overseas labor?

lokar 12d ago
IME it’s not cheaper, it’s the only way to find enough qualified people
- throwawalien 12d ago
  IME at my org we have 3 contractors out of SE Asia to every 1 US FT role. They make less than a third of a FT US employee.
  - lokar 12d ago
    Yes, there is a ton of abuse that drives down pay for many people. We should find way to improve the system.
- alistairSH 12d ago
  Meh, not sure I really buy that argument. I've never had a problem hiring in the US. And this is for a mid-tier, mid-size software company that most people have never heard of, not located in SV, and PE-owned (not much in the way of big bonuses and no stock options).
  - lokar 12d ago
    I’ve interviewed hundreds of people over many years. Lucky to find one out of 10 that are good.
    - alistairSH 12d ago
      1/10 sounds in the ballpark - I think my ratio is better, but not by much. About half my interviews have been with candidates in India, half US, all for software engineering roles, mostly early to mid-career. Success rates weren't significantly different between the countries. Haven't had the chance to interview in Mexico yet, but we have an office there, so that'll probably happen soon.
alistairSH 12d ago
For us, it's a mix of... Local SMEs (regulatory requirements), sales, local implementation teams, HR / legal (to support the previous employees). And engineers. Sales and implementation could maybe be US-based, but then we're flying them around the globe. Not sure that makes sense vs hiring locals. SMEs, similar story - not always available in the US. The engineers are the only ones that could realistically be co-located in the US. But, a good chunk of those were acqui-hired, so now you're asking them all to relocate to the US? Not sure that's viable in the best of times, and definitely not in today's ass-backwards political climate.

lokar 12d ago

IME it’s not cheaper, it’s the only way to find enough qualified people

throwawalien 12d ago
IME at my org we have 3 contractors out of SE Asia to every 1 US FT role. They make less than a third of a FT US employee.
- lokar 12d ago
  Yes, there is a ton of abuse that drives down pay for many people. We should find way to improve the system.
alistairSH 12d ago
Meh, not sure I really buy that argument. I've never had a problem hiring in the US. And this is for a mid-tier, mid-size software company that most people have never heard of, not located in SV, and PE-owned (not much in the way of big bonuses and no stock options).
- lokar 12d ago
  I’ve interviewed hundreds of people over many years. Lucky to find one out of 10 that are good.
  - alistairSH 12d ago
    1/10 sounds in the ballpark - I think my ratio is better, but not by much. About half my interviews have been with candidates in India, half US, all for software engineering roles, mostly early to mid-career. Success rates weren't significantly different between the countries. Haven't had the chance to interview in Mexico yet, but we have an office there, so that'll probably happen soon.

alistairSH 12d ago

For us, it's a mix of... Local SMEs (regulatory requirements), sales, local implementation teams, HR / legal (to support the previous employees). And engineers. Sales and implementation could maybe be US-based, but then we're flying them around the globe. Not sure that makes sense vs hiring locals. SMEs, similar story - not always available in the US. The engineers are the only ones that could realistically be co-located in the US. But, a good chunk of those were acqui-hired, so now you're asking them all to relocate to the US? Not sure that's viable in the best of times, and definitely not in today's ass-backwards political climate.