> And if they can do their jobs remotely, why can't an equally skilled engineer in a country with a cost of living 1/10th of the "rich countries" do the same?
Same reasons as last decade. Time zone difference, language/culture barrier, the legal complications of hiring across jurisdictions. I don't see how any of it has been addressed by recent events or incremental improvements to remote working tools.
I think it came up in a previous thread on the topic that the non-US workers that can overcome these barriers but aren't interested in immigrating, still demand competitive US rates when working with US companies (through consultancies, iirc).
Same reasons as last decade. Time zone difference, language/culture barrier, the legal complications of hiring across jurisdictions. I don't see how any of it has been addressed by recent events or incremental improvements to remote working tools.
I think it came up in a previous thread on the topic that the non-US workers that can overcome these barriers but aren't interested in immigrating, still demand competitive US rates when working with US companies (through consultancies, iirc).