Ask HN: Location based pay is killing my motivation, how do others handle it?

Post by withinboredom » Mon, Sep 05, 2022, 7:05 AM UTC

rootusrootus wrote: post #162

withinboredom wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And what are you going to do if that dev moves to the US while working for you (such as on a partner visa)? Are you going to pay them more or fire them? I don’t work for less as an American Expat, I work for how much I’m worth (which is a lot more than local wages) and I live where I live because the money let’s my wife stay at home, in a nice house in a nice neighborhood instead of us both working our asses off just…

> I don’t work for less as an American Expat, I work for how much I’m worth (which is a lot more than local wages) and I live where I live because the money let’s my wife stay at home, in a nice house in a nice neighborhood instead of us both working our asses off just to have a decent house in a shitty neighborhood. That is reasonable. But if you want to work on a schedule that is not the same as a US dev, then you…

Post by herbst » Mon, Sep 05, 2022, 7:26 AM UTC

RestlessMind wrote: post #175

xyzzy_plugh wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Source: we are a Canadian company, and hire from everywhere but the US. I don't follow. This isn't true at all in my experience, plenty of companies in Canada and the US hire across Canada and the US. It's practically the norm. If you work for a Canadian company that doesn't hire in the US then you're comically underpaid. Wages are converging very fast. Many companies are paying parity and frankly folks are selling…

> This isn't true at all in my experience, plenty of companies in Canada and the US hire across Canada and the US. It's practically the norm. Probably only after they get to a certain scale and cannot find more talent in Canada? When did Shopify start hiring in the US - right from the beginning?

Post by herbst » Mon, Sep 05, 2022, 7:33 AM UTC

slyall wrote: post #122

rootusrootus wrote: post #81

If I am hiring outside the US, I'm doing it to save money. I'm willing to accept the downsides -- schedule differences, language barriers, etc, in order to save money. Otherwise I would just hire someone in the US. So if a foreign dev were to tell me I had to pay the US rates, I'd pass. I think you should negotiate for as much as you can, but it is unrealistic to benchmark yourself against US employees of a US compan…

As a non-US worker I definitely agree. My big advantage over US-based employees is that I'll work for less. Why would I insist on getting paid exactly the same as a Bay-area employee when I could ask for significantly less and be well ahead of what I could make locally?

Post by herbst » Mon, Sep 05, 2022, 7:45 AM UTC

amelius wrote: post #24

Start your own company or become a freelance worker.

Post by imtringued » Mon, Sep 05, 2022, 7:49 AM UTC

SQueeeeeL wrote: post #253

patrulek wrote: post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm just imagining this dude quitting and his manager suddenly realizing that no one else knows anything about the parts he worked on and how fucked they are now. I would bet its rarely a case. We like to think that we are irreplacable, but after our quit company/project is still moving on.

A lot of times they move on with larger technical debt, less understanding of their own systems, and less resiliency when things start to break. These issues accumulate over time especially if smooth transitions between technical knowledge isn't kept (like when employees are constantly jumping ship), and lead to places eventually hiring consultants for $1600 an hour to fix their technical mess. It also depends how re…