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Ask HN: WFH – will I be outsourced?

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Re: Ask HN: WFH – will I be outsourced?

#11
It's "can", not "will".

When the work requires in-person presence, you're essentially competing against the people who can also attend your workplace - locals and those willing to relocate. When the work can be done remotely, the competition is naturally bigger. Obviously, if we're not talking about applying somewhere new, then there are costs of replacing an already onboarded employee which can be quite prohibitive etc, so you have a natural advantage.

However, most importantly, all this applies only if people compete for your position. I believe, still, software engineering is one blessed and super-privileged industry where there is a lot of money and significantly more demand than supply for higher-skilled folks (although I've heard junior-level job market is pretty saturated and situation there is quite dire). So if you are in such conditions, and assuming your performance (and value to the company) does not suffer, getting outbid is not an exactly probable event.

[Added a bit later] Unless your company is not doing well and is looking ways to cut corners. Then - yes - getting replaced with someone cheaper that's not exactly improbable. So, keep an eye and year for company's health - and be aware that some executives could lie straight to your face how everything is amazing while simultaneously thinking of how it's best to abandon this ship in a most profitable manner.

Re: Ask HN: WFH – will I be outsourced?

#15

Demand = Num of companies hiring remotely / wfh Supply = Num of people in nearly same timezone interest in wfh Currently supply >> demand, so if your company is embracing remote work, you need to now be good at your job when compared to a larger pool of people.

> Currently supply >> demand

Is it, though? I guess we must clarify an industry, of course. But if we're talking about software engineering - the balance had surely changed, but I don't think it had tipped over, and especially for a "much greater than" (">>") sign.

If supply would start to outweigh demand, salaries would naturally plummet down. As far as I've heard talking to friends (for personal reasons, I've been not exploring any opportunities, being busy with some other matters, so I haven't really kept an eye on this), last year they rose up.

Re: Ask HN: WFH – will I be outsourced?

#16
I mean, it's possible, but I think there's room to start holding companies that do that kind of stuff accountable. For instance, my company made a big deal about remote hiring during the pandemic and has now completely reversed course. I think they'll pay for that in the long run, not only in terms of turnover, but now every time I tell the tale of working there it ends with, "They eventually squeezed anyone who wanted or needed to go remote so hard they left."

Re: Ask HN: WFH – will I be outsourced?

#17

Don’t believe the propaganda. If you CAN be outsourced, work-from-home has little or nothing to do with any motivations to start that process.

It's really not propaganda though. WFH's job pool is at least your entire state, if not your entire time zone, if not your entire country.

When it's in person, it's people within commuting distance. Simple as that.

That being said, people overestimate the will of management to replace current employees. WFH is really more of a problem in the hiring process, not the firing process.

Re: Ask HN: WFH – will I be outsourced?

#18
I don’t see how is the current wfh situation any different from before.

Before: work at the office. You were competing with people who lived in your city. You were limited to work at companies in your city.

Now: wfh. You compete with people who live in your country. Depending on the company, you may compete with people who live in countries +- N hours of difference. But you are not limited to work for companies in your city anymore.

So, sure you get to compete with more people… but you also got more options.

Re: Ask HN: WFH – will I be outsourced?

#19
post #6

In theory, perhaps. But first consider whether the company gains value from workers sharing a time zone, language, cultural context, etc., all of which push against replacing employees with "cheaper" ones from abroad. In many ways the ideal remote first company manages to address and eliminate these constraints (eg. by adopting async communication channels) to truly enable employees to come from and work from anywher…

Cross time zone asynchronous communication is not better. Things can get delayed by days since you can fall into the trap of only being able to send a single message to them per day.

Re: Ask HN: WFH – will I be outsourced?

#20

It's "can", not "will". When the work requires in-person presence, you're essentially competing against the people who can also attend your workplace - locals and those willing to relocate. When the work can be done remotely, the competition is naturally bigger. Obviously, if we're not talking about applying somewhere new, then there are costs of replacing an already onboarded employee which can be quite prohibitive…

Consultants and contractors have been hired on prem for ages. If employers didn’t clamour for such contractors before, I don’t know why they would now.
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