Are you a Product? or a Service?

The iPhone you just bought is 1,500USD+ here
The paycheck you got is 10x less for the same role in US?

Why are products priced similarly across the globe
But services are adjusted for local economics?

It’s an interesting question, especially for those who work with BPOs or agencies

You are basically being paid a cut of a cut — and hey, if you are happy with it, more power to you

The fact is, we have gotten used to this because it is a better option

Local Business or Industry starting salary -> 100 USD/month
BPO or Dev Agency starting salary -> 250 USD/month
A 2.5X difference — matters for your first paycheck

But wait, there is another level to this –

Tech Support Rep Salary in a BPO -> 250 USD /month (1.6 USD/hr)
Tech Support Rep Salary in US -> 4,500 USD /month (28.1 USD/hr)
A staggering 17X difference — the Fffffff?

(I don’t usually want to make my posts about numbers, but here, they matter a lot)

What option are you left with then?

Cut the middleman

Go Solo

And as you do — years go by — you realize again

Average Pakistani freelancer rate -> 20 USD/hr
Average US freelancer rate -> 80 USD/hr
A 4X difference — wait, what?

There is no middleman, you are directly working with US clients, why is there still a gap?

Two main reasons

Number 1
It’s a mentality problem
Years of being stuck in such loops, most of us just run with the less shitty option — never questioning such matters

Number 2
Companies want to hire us to save on costs; not to match what is locally available — that is the truth for most solo players or people working at BPOs

So what’s the fix?

Impossible –
Become the next iPhone
Be so good at what you do that no matter where a company is, they are willing to pay you your price

Possible –
Fix your expectations
We live in Pakistan, a country that also has a 10X less cost of living, yeah ‘things’ are still expensive but you don’t need to match 1 for 1 to a US resource.

Just avoid abuse, be aware of not getting paid 17X less — and anywhere 2–4X less is perfectly fine

We might be limited by our max rate, but we have unlimited flexibility when it comes to launching a business of our own — stay tuned for a follow up on that matter!