> Employee talent and costs are really generally not the focus of why companies setup shop where they do.
I don't think that's the case. For example, there are plenty of large, mutlinational companies opening offices in Poland and hiring hundreds or even thousands of devs there specifically because you can get competent people for a fraction of what they'd cost in the company's mother country. Also, of course it's important for them that Poland meets the sane baseline you'd expect from a civilized country, in terms of infrastructure, stability, rule of law etc. - but once these conditions are ok, I think it's mostly about the levels of pay. Most companies at the top levels are ruled by bean counters after all, and they're are always looking for ways to increase profit (and hence stock value) - and reducing wages is a great and easy fix for that.
So true!
I wouldn't even start telling that Google not just underpays polish employees but cuts on the RSUs claiming that TC is adjusted to location based pay.
In the end it turned out the whole non-US IT world is a sweatshop now. Not like it wasn't like this before, but with exposure from apps like Blind the 500 pound elephant is no longer to be ignored.
Plus, the whole crybaby about remote work being kewl is USA-driven cost/time employee savings rationale too. In Europe, remote doesn't make much sense because it's 2x times smaller than the US.
I don't think that's the case. For example, there are plenty of large, mutlinational companies opening offices in Poland and hiring hundreds or even thousands of devs there specifically because you can get competent people for a fraction of what they'd cost in the company's mother country. Also, of course it's important for them that Poland meets the sane baseline you'd expect from a civilized country, in terms of infrastructure, stability, rule of law etc. - but once these conditions are ok, I think it's mostly about the levels of pay. Most companies at the top levels are ruled by bean counters after all, and they're are always looking for ways to increase profit (and hence stock value) - and reducing wages is a great and easy fix for that.