Live data from Hacker News

Remote work will break the US monopoly on global talent

devonzuegel.com

41–50 of 534 posts

Re: Remote work will break the US monopoly on global talent

#41
post #9

Does the US have a monopoly on global talent that I'm unaware of?

That would depend upon the definition of talent. My long mega corporate experience has taught me there isn't any practical different between CS graduates (bachelors level only) from the US and India once they enter the real world. It is generally Java focused with some C++ thrown in and for everything else that isn't Java or C++ you make it look like Java as much as possible.

I have also noticed many generalized similarities between self-taught developers from the US and India in how they proceed against a problem as well. The CS educated developers are convention focused in that there is a certain way to solve problems regardless of the problem while the self taught developers tend to focus more on the goal, the solution.

Re: Remote work will break the US monopoly on global talent

#42
post #3

I find this a bit far fetched, with as many problems as the USA has it still has a solid reputation as a place you can come and make a new life with low corruption, a justice system, free speech, affordability, and on the local/state level a government/bureaucracy that still works. Same goes for Germany and countries that provide a high quality of life for their people. I understand the idea, but there is a reason pe…

Not sure how the rest of the world still views the USA, but as a Canadian the states no longer has a solid reputation for any of those things. The sad thing is that most Americans still believe they're #1 at almost everything.

Re: Remote work will break the US monopoly on global talent

#43
post #7

I don't buy it, US tech salaries continue to skyrocket and we're nearly two years into pandemic conditions. Just over the last 6-9 months, salaries have markedly jumped. There's still a huge thirst for talent that isn't being quenched, and global pools don't help either. Facebook, Google and others have satellite offices all over to soak up talent elsewhere, but they're still ultra competitive in the US. They can pay…

It's not that drastic anymore people getting 350 total comp in US would get 200K Euro total comp in say Dublin, Ireland

Re: Remote work will break the US monopoly on global talent

#44
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They can pay a senior engineer $350k in the US, or an equivalent experience senior engineer $100k in Europe. Why can they do this?

Because the rest of Europe pays 80k.

Very fair salary, especially when you take into account they have real health care, real social safty nets, etc.

Re: Remote work will break the US monopoly on global talent

#45
I've seen what it requires for an individual to be in a country other than the USA and the US-based company not wanting to treat them as an employee due to the paperwork. That generally means they need to be an independent contractor so individual needs to set up a company in their own country and deal with all the issues associated with that and the tax implications. Most smaller companies won't deal with foreign employees and leave it all up to the individual, if those companies are will to do it as all.

Re: Remote work will break the US monopoly on global talent

#46
post #34
post #3

I find this a bit far fetched, with as many problems as the USA has it still has a solid reputation as a place you can come and make a new life with low corruption, a justice system, free speech, affordability, and on the local/state level a government/bureaucracy that still works. Same goes for Germany and countries that provide a high quality of life for their people. I understand the idea, but there is a reason pe…

> low corruption I’m sorry, what? Ask anyone in NYC what they think of the corruption. Ask them if they feel that the taxes they pay are put to a good use. Ask what they think of MTA, of the unions, of the mafia connections. And ask any expat what they think of lobbying, a.k.a. legal corruption.

Compare corruption in NYC to India or Thailand or Romania :)

A waist high pile of poop is much different from one the size of a skyscraper. I am not saying it doesn't have aspects of corruption, but it is low and solid resources on the local and national level to constantly investigate and make cases.

Legalizing corruption through lobbying is a good move. There are other options but better than keeping it underground.

Re: Remote work will break the US monopoly on global talent

#47
post #7

I don't buy it, US tech salaries continue to skyrocket and we're nearly two years into pandemic conditions. Just over the last 6-9 months, salaries have markedly jumped. There's still a huge thirst for talent that isn't being quenched, and global pools don't help either. Facebook, Google and others have satellite offices all over to soak up talent elsewhere, but they're still ultra competitive in the US. They can pay…

Still, I find the quality of life in Spain preferable. We have a government health system paid through taxes, no guns on the streets, not much pollution, amazing public transport, 4 weeks holidays and good weather. I prefer having those things as a safety net instead of having to pay for them myself. I really love not needing a car here at all, I haven't driven in years. I was recently offered a job in silicon valley…

I think you are really onto something truth is if you have 100K remote job in Spain you will hav better lifestyle than having 300K job in SV. If I only could convince my wife to move :(.

Re: Remote work will break the US monopoly on global talent

#48

In the short term, I think it's going to be a lot harder than this article lets on, but long term, it is abundantly clear: cushy developer jobs in the US are on borrowed time. Salaries may continue to go up for a little while longer, but they will fall to reflect the rest of the world catching up with the US. And that's a scary prospect for those under 35 now. And I don't think there's a way out of it. We embrace rem…

For americans this sounds like horror but for the international perspective this sounds wonderful (and a fair readjustment for work that we always felt was no different than our american counterparts). Just pointing out the semi obvious thing that the majority who reads this will see it as fantastic news.

Re: Remote work will break the US monopoly on global talent

#49

In the short term, I think it's going to be a lot harder than this article lets on, but long term, it is abundantly clear: cushy developer jobs in the US are on borrowed time. Salaries may continue to go up for a little while longer, but they will fall to reflect the rest of the world catching up with the US. And that's a scary prospect for those under 35 now. And I don't think there's a way out of it. We embrace rem…

Is there any extra cost to hiring non-American workers though? I do wonder if we’ll have some politicians who will try to make it harder for companies to just shortcut to cheap labor and try to never use American workers. But I also see foreign workers at my shop demanding what we make and getting it, which I think is great and I hope that trend holds. Then there’s no cheap labor alternative and comes down to merit.

However… when you mix in the politics of Diversity and Inclusion that is sweeping our industry right now, it will be more enticing and possible to hire someone who isn’t an evil white person.

Re: Remote work will break the US monopoly on global talent

#50
post #9

Does the US have a monopoly on global talent that I'm unaware of?

The US seems to have a monopoly on the ability to pay top talent (at least in the west).

At the high end of the talent pool, I don't think opening up is going to have a significant impact. We're mostly already internationally mobile or can demand competitive salaries, and a new supply of mid-tier talent will only create more capital-deploying opportunities.

I'm a computer vision person with a good grasp on 3d geometry, SLAM, linear algebra, statistics, filtering, etc.

We've had budget and I've been trying to hire another me for at least half a year with no luck (western Europe). Thousands of applicants and the couple of interesting candidates were snapped up before we could move (and likely for more than we could pay).

I'm about to leave and go on the job market, and I have no concerns whatsoever about landing a high paying job. It also helps that I have ties to the bay area and am more than willing to go back.

Post reply on HN