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$2/hr is a lot of money to some people in some places, particularly certain "developing nations". Of course, you get what you pay for. Most people looking to h

$2/hr is a lot of money to some people in some places, particularly certain "developing nations". Of course, you get what you pay for. Most people looking to hire on these sites aren't interested in quality; they want quantity at a discount. It works well for both them and the people doing the work at least in the short term. After all, some money (food) is better than nothing. I consider it a pretty base form of exploitation, though.

jfoster 13y ago
Can you give an example of a place where $2 peer hour is a lot? I often hear this type of assertion being made. I can believe that $2 per hour is enough to live off in some places, but I don't know of anywhere it would be considered "a lot."
- Iftheshoefits 13y ago
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_%28nominal%29_per_capita http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_%28nom... Pick a country in the list on that page where the Per Capita Income is less than ~$4160/year. Most likely, in such a country, $2/hour is very likely going to put an individual at or above the median income (farther above, the lower the GDP Per Capita). $5/hr is a nice wage. For comparison, the UN ranking of the US in this category is ~$51,000, and the median household income in the US is about $55,000 (per year).
- sergiotapia 13y ago
  Where I live, a software engineer makes about $500/month. That's $3/hour and some change, I know software developers who make even less. Freelancing for me is basically a no-brainer as I will not work for those wages if I can help it. I have the incredible fortune of being able to speak and write at a native level, that gives me and a few others an edge but most people suffer a lot. If you land a job making $5/hour, full time 40 hour weeks, that's $800 a month. A LOOOOT of people here would kill for that kind of salary.
  - jfoster 13y ago
    OK, I stand corrected. Where is that? (just curious)
    - thekingshorses 13y ago
      Bolivia
  - majani 13y ago
    Your name looks South American. I can verify that a similar situation exists in Africa, right down to the numbers you stated.
  - brc 13y ago
    I'm curious. At that sort of rate, buying hardware to work on sounds very expensive compared to your income. What sort of machine do you use, and how much did you pay? I'm guessing you don't have a $3k MacBook. Seems like there would be an opportunity for developers to donate laptops/hardware to people in developing countries who could use them to make money. I have at least 5 sitting around my office, only 2 of which are in use. I guess the logistics would kill it, but still.
    - sergiotapia 13y ago
      My consulting rate is not $5 because I'm not doing "Wordpress installs". I make similar wages to a software developer working in the US.so I do own an iMac 27'' and a $1200 built Windows PC for .NET work. It would be very hard to donate laptops here in Bolivia because of how this ass-backwards government handles importing goods and taxes when importing something.
    - nikolak 13y ago
      Not OP. But someone who's also in a country where an average salary would be around 3 USD per hour. If you work and charge local rates you're pretty much restricted to either saving longer time for new average, not high end, laptop or shorter time for used one. Ordering used hardware online is much cheaper because prices are much lower, but there's about 50% chance that it will be "caught" by customs and then you have to pay ~27% (tax+customs) of the purchase price, additionally. Prices of new stuff locally is pretty much the same as in other countries in my experience. For reference I'm in Bosnia right now and prices are same or very similar to those in Italy,Germany and Austria.
- dalerus 13y ago
  Here in Cambodia, a developer with 3-5 years experience(which is hard to find) is looking at around $300-500 a month. And yes, it's considered a lot.
- User1398 13y ago
  I spent some time in Indonesia, where the helper for your guest house is making $50/mo. They're cleaning the rooms, running errands around the city, making breakfast, gardening, etc. What you make in a couple of days, they make in a year. It's mind boggling. Yes, cost of living is cheaper, but not that cheap. On the plus side, you feel like you can make a difference in their life. If you're living there, you can pay them a great salary, without breaking the bank. Or if you're visiting, they might not expect tips, but hand someone $5 that went out of their way to give you a free ride on their moped, and you just dropped a few days income in their pocket.
  - keithnoizu 13y ago
    Yes. I'm in Cambodia currently. We pay the maid $170 a month + food/beverages and I let her borrow the kindle and surface when she wants. It's a pretty kooshy gig for her, helps her support the family, doesnt break the bank for us and makes my life a lot easier.

jfoster 13y ago

Can you give an example of a place where $2 peer hour is a lot? I often hear this type of assertion being made. I can believe that $2 per hour is enough to live off in some places, but I don't know of anywhere it would be considered "a lot."

Iftheshoefits 13y ago
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_%28nominal%29_per_capita http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_%28nom... Pick a country in the list on that page where the Per Capita Income is less than ~$4160/year. Most likely, in such a country, $2/hour is very likely going to put an individual at or above the median income (farther above, the lower the GDP Per Capita). $5/hr is a nice wage. For comparison, the UN ranking of the US in this category is ~$51,000, and the median household income in the US is about $55,000 (per year).
sergiotapia 13y ago
Where I live, a software engineer makes about $500/month. That's $3/hour and some change, I know software developers who make even less. Freelancing for me is basically a no-brainer as I will not work for those wages if I can help it. I have the incredible fortune of being able to speak and write at a native level, that gives me and a few others an edge but most people suffer a lot. If you land a job making $5/hour, full time 40 hour weeks, that's $800 a month. A LOOOOT of people here would kill for that kind of salary.
- jfoster 13y ago
  OK, I stand corrected. Where is that? (just curious)
  - thekingshorses 13y ago
    Bolivia
- majani 13y ago
  Your name looks South American. I can verify that a similar situation exists in Africa, right down to the numbers you stated.
- brc 13y ago
  I'm curious. At that sort of rate, buying hardware to work on sounds very expensive compared to your income. What sort of machine do you use, and how much did you pay? I'm guessing you don't have a $3k MacBook. Seems like there would be an opportunity for developers to donate laptops/hardware to people in developing countries who could use them to make money. I have at least 5 sitting around my office, only 2 of which are in use. I guess the logistics would kill it, but still.
  - sergiotapia 13y ago
    My consulting rate is not $5 because I'm not doing "Wordpress installs". I make similar wages to a software developer working in the US.so I do own an iMac 27'' and a $1200 built Windows PC for .NET work. It would be very hard to donate laptops here in Bolivia because of how this ass-backwards government handles importing goods and taxes when importing something.
  - nikolak 13y ago
    Not OP. But someone who's also in a country where an average salary would be around 3 USD per hour. If you work and charge local rates you're pretty much restricted to either saving longer time for new average, not high end, laptop or shorter time for used one. Ordering used hardware online is much cheaper because prices are much lower, but there's about 50% chance that it will be "caught" by customs and then you have to pay ~27% (tax+customs) of the purchase price, additionally. Prices of new stuff locally is pretty much the same as in other countries in my experience. For reference I'm in Bosnia right now and prices are same or very similar to those in Italy,Germany and Austria.
dalerus 13y ago
Here in Cambodia, a developer with 3-5 years experience(which is hard to find) is looking at around $300-500 a month. And yes, it's considered a lot.
User1398 13y ago
I spent some time in Indonesia, where the helper for your guest house is making $50/mo. They're cleaning the rooms, running errands around the city, making breakfast, gardening, etc. What you make in a couple of days, they make in a year. It's mind boggling. Yes, cost of living is cheaper, but not that cheap. On the plus side, you feel like you can make a difference in their life. If you're living there, you can pay them a great salary, without breaking the bank. Or if you're visiting, they might not expect tips, but hand someone $5 that went out of their way to give you a free ride on their moped, and you just dropped a few days income in their pocket.
- keithnoizu 13y ago
  Yes. I'm in Cambodia currently. We pay the maid $170 a month + food/beverages and I let her borrow the kindle and surface when she wants. It's a pretty kooshy gig for her, helps her support the family, doesnt break the bank for us and makes my life a lot easier.