[tcgv]

It's not that weird if you consider that a large chunk of software engineering is CRUD apps and digital plumbing, which doesn't require a lot of creativity. Nevertheless, I'm sure India, Ukraine and other countries have tons of talented developers that due to global economics are willing to work for a lower pay. Maybe the problem with the outsourcing model in these cases is that it's being poorly executed. It's already difficult enough to build a strong team within your own city, it wouldn't be any easier to do it remotely across the world, much less if you delegate it to an HR department purely focused on costs reduction.

[Alex3917]

> a large chunk of software engineering is CRUD apps and digital plumbing, which doesn't require a lot of creativity

The issue is more precision and lucidity of thought and language, and the ability to communicate ideas and emotion to others from a given culture and socioeconomic background.

Consider that when development velocity grinds to a halt because of "technical debt", this is almost always just a euphemism for developers not being able to read each other's code. (I understand there is an actual idea behind technical debt, I'm just talking about what's almost always happening in practice.)

[jdmg94]

as a 3rd world developer now living comfortably on the 1st world this is exactly my experience, people in the developing world are in general more ignorant on technology, so even if you are an excellent developer it is still going to be a hard sell to ask for a US dev rate. The emerging economies are not technology driven in most cases. In my case I had to look for work outside my own country first to more reputable South American countries and eventually in North America.

[nicoburns]

I think the problem with outsourcing is it adds a layer of indirection between the stakeholders and the developers. As a developer myself, I find it almost impossible to work effectively unless I have direct contact with the stakeholders.