I’m based in Brazil and working for a global German automotive company.
The auto industry in Germany is facing a big crisis, and while some roles are being moved to lower-cost regions like Latin America, the internal climate is tense.
In countries like Germany, strong labor unions make layoffs nearly impossible, even when costs are high. In some cases, they’re reducing working hours there as a way to cope.
This ends up increasing the pressure on other regions — more work, fewer resources, and a general sense of instability. Even though we’re in a low-cost region (and realistically, cutting our jobs wouldn’t save that much in the bigger picture considering BRL value), the uncertainty still hits hard.
If you’re working remotely from Latin America for a US or European company going through tough times, how are things for you?
Are you worried about cuts, or does being in a cheaper region give you a sense of stability, even if it comes with more work?
Comments
I work for a private clinic based in the US, so, sadly for the US residents in need of care, business for that company will only continue to grow. I’m not worried about my job, never had.
They’ve filled a lot of positions with people from here, and other countries on the area. The ones losing their jobs are actually in the US. They pay us like 1/4, probably less than they’d have to pay a local.
So far things are about the same. I’m using my income to try to diversify and start a business since I am not sure how much longer things will be this way. Software dev from Mexico working for USA based company
A lot of Argentines working remotely for foreign companies are going through a big crisis because until 2023 you could afford a really good quality of life with 1000 USD per month, but since 2024 the peso got a lot stronger against the USD and prices in USD are now 2x or 3x what they were in 2023.
So now you need +2000 USD to afford the same quality of life. A lot of Argentines are now quitting these jobs because not many are willing to give 100-200% raises.
Yes for Argentina, but for the opposite reasons than you mention.
Another Argentinian mentions the issue of workers paid in USD now having much lower purchase power, but most of us working for global companies get paid in ARS.
However – Argentina used to be the “American shift’ India” of IT. You could get extremely cheap workers with good technical skills that are on roughly the same timezone as USA. But since the 2024 we are not so cheap anymore, so many positions are being moved to places like Mexico and the companies that are not outright reducing the headcount are simply not replacing anyone that leaves.
Reducing salaries is illegal here, but not increasing them on par with the inflation is not, so many big companies are reducing the amount of inflation adjustments per year (Context: Due to hyperinflation, we usually get several salary “increases” per year that are just inflation adjustments.) and doing adjustments that are WAY below the inflation, effectively cutting salaries.
The bubble of “Working for global IT company” has not burst yet, but it’s getting tighter.
Economy is clearly in a not so good state right now. It is not bad but not good either. At least in the city where I live, you can notice that because sales in my company have decreased when this months are usually VERY good for me and sales have been okayish. Also I can notice that in the traffic, the people in the streets, in bars and restaurants have decreased.
I’ve been telling since March to people that the economy is not the best right now and now one heard me until the report of the PIB came out to a very mediocre result.
I do IT and work for an American company (remotely).
I’ve seen layovers happen in the past two years, last ones happened last week, mostly related to internal financial reasons.
Of course this can happen to me too but so far everything seems normal.
A friend of mine is Venezuelan and lives in Argentina. He worked in web design for an Italian company and was laid over last month without reason
Totally relatable. I’m always anxious about my salary fluctuating with the economy here or the risk of layoffs. Our companies has had our fair shares of ups and downs, but layoffs usually don’t impact our teams abroad.
I earn a great salary. It may be less than what someone in my role would make in the U.S., but when you factor in the cost of living, I am better off here and have no desire to ever move there. Sure, there are pros and cons, but I’m just hoping I can ride this out for as long as possible.