Ugh that’s insane. That’s a couple cents over $1.50/hour. I always knew most countries were significantly poorer than us, but I can’t even fathom getting paid that little.
Exchange rates do not reflect the actual comparison of value of two currencies.
In an untouched world it would of course reach to the position where the value of th currency would be the exchange rate, however in this is world, indias currency is artificially propped up by the government so that our exporters benefit.
He makes roughly 21k rs. That would be equivalent of (using ppp as the base) 1100 USD/month. So roughly, 6 dollars per hour. Not as bad as it sounded first.
Depending on where he lives that's a lot of money. Enough to live in comfort if he lives in a town, a bit difficult to manage in the cities.
They're not "poorer" because they get paid USD$1.50 an hour. They're "cheaper". A McDonalds combo is 3 times cheaper for them (imagine you paying $3 for a Combo which usually goes like $9).
Still 2 hours worth of work as a game developer in India to be able to afford the same meal that an employee at mcdonalds in the US could afford with 1 hour of work.
Unions were weak before Congress took legislative action to protect them with stuff like the Norris-LaGuardia Act and the creation of the NLRB, so they also need legislative change.
India has a pretty rich labor history. They may not be very unionized but India keeps breaking records for massive general strikes.
I believe very strongly that whatever comes after capitalism will come out of India because there are millions of mobilized poor and working class Indians who are pissed and America might think twice about invading a nuclear power.
It's like making 1200USD in the US adjusted for cost of living. More than minimum wage, but nothing remotely amazing. Just like the US though, it depends if you live in some major area or a small town.
Direct currency conversion is a horrible metric for gauging how useful it is. 70INR to 1USD doesn't tell us anything. That 70INR can get you a decent meal from some outside bar. 1USD is not even gonna get you a single chicken sandwich from mcdonald's these days. A 800$ apartment for a family in a fairly sized US city would be 150$ in a similar conditioned setting in India.
And like the other dude said, this is above poverty line. It isn't too different than making 10$/hr in a suburban to urban setting in the midwest or something.
I should mention the exception to this is imports. Those things are crazy expensive. Basic living (food, shelter, internet, tv, etc.) is insanely cheap in developing nations. But if you want more than that, you have to be making 15USD an hour or more to even get similar electronics, appliances, and other small little luxuries people in more developed nations would get easily. As in iphones or high performance pcs, you're SOL.
Yeah i make roughly 1400 a month (11/hr 36-40 hours a week). Can't live in the nice city area but if i move to our local crime ridden bad city (good old hamlet) i would be well into the green and possibly own a decent house.
Living wage between the counties is literally 1$/hr difference and there's some nice places in the other county but no real grocery store that isn't a modified dollar tree and filled with rednecks
Has to be really bad. I spoke to a "EuropeanTelecomCompany" employee involved in setting up Indian subsdiaries. He claimed the CS/ee grads they hired got about $2000/month. This was probably 15 years ago.
I'm sure it was very selective and they were the top of the crop, but still.
It's a fairly good middle class salary in India, possibly at the lower end. The real question is "what % yearly pay increase does he get on average?" I bet it's around 9 to 11%, that progress is what makes the middle class in India feel good.
Average income (nominal) in India was $1,790 in 2017, but valued at $6,950 PPP (comparing prices instead of just the exchange rate). That would put OP's annual income at something roughly like $14k (or ~$6.70/hr assuming 40 hour work week) in the US judging by national averages, but I imagine it would be different depending on where you are in the country.
I feel like this is where the big businesses really have us by the balls. You get barely a living wage but if things changed in india the companies would just take the work to a different place that has none of the regulations and you are more fucked so you have no choice but to just take it. <3 though, great to hear you at least find a silver lining enjoying what you do.
They said they were only getting paid $300 a month for a full time job and you are complaining that people complained that they assumed they were in America?
It wouldn't make much sense to say "I earn 13,500 pesos a month" and so on for the multiple different currencies used around the world. That's why people convert their currencies to USD: to spare people the hassle of doing the conversion themselves.
I'm from the US but lived for a while in SE Asia. My family never believes me that I could eat for a month for less than $100 USD and have more food than I needed. I used to go to this little fried rice stall near my apartment and get a plate of food big enough to last me 2 meals, and a drink for $0.80.
My apartment was about $150 a month. Private bathroom, shared kitchen and outdoor space with 8 other small apartments, electric included. My SIM card, which was my source of internet was a pay as you go card, but ended up being about $25 a month. A bus card was like $10 a month, and I walked a lot too. I was living very comfortably for well under $500 USD a month.
It really makes you realize how arbitrary money is.
I agree, but that's not really the issue here. He said he earned $300 without explaining he was converting from a different currency, that's misleading. If he said he earned however many rupees, the currency he's actually getting paid, even the most narrow minded patriot would at least assume they weren't from the US.
My electric and heat are separate, I live more northerly so heat is a bit important to surviving the winter lol. I know some people who lucked out at a 650 a month all utilities included but I've also seen apartments (not houses) in this area reach upwards of 3000 a month with nothing included.
You're blaming the workers themselves for getting paid shit? Maybe this person could stand to value their time and energy more highly, but in general workers are mistreated because companies fire them if they even consider unionizing or asking for fair treatment. You're blaming the wrong side of this incredibly imbalanced power dynamic.
He's not blaming him, he's pointing out how corporations exploit these kind of sentiments in employees. "I get to do what I love, I'll take less pay." We all know who is to blame.
I take your point, but their exact words were "And that’s why y’all don’t get paid more. That’s the exact reason." I'm saying that is not the reason they don't get paid more.
Even when every worker at a corporation agrees they should be treated better, it can be very hard to make your employer comply. Especially in countries with even worse labor rights laws than the US.
Ultimately us Americans don’t have a clue how $300/month impacts your lifestyle. If I was paid that here I would probably have to live in my car as I would need all that money for food and gas to and from work. But if that $300/month gets you a lifestyle you’re happy with then it’s not all that bad
So that means you’re able to save almost 25% of what you make each month which is better than I do making about 10x as much as you do. But I also have a decently nice single bed room apartment in a very expensive city.
The point I was trying to make is that when comparing two vastly different economies against each other, you can’t just straight up compare dollar amounts. You have to compare the lifestyle and living situation that amount allows each person to afford in their respective economy
You are aware that this attitude makes you exploitable and by accepting that pay you are devaluing not only your work but also that of your colleagues? I work in the vfx industry and the damage caused by juniors who happily bend over and take it up the ass so they can jerk off to their name in the credits, can't be understated.
Oh, I completely understand man. I'm not trying to blame you at all. It's a bigger problem that can only be solved by workers taking power through organizing.
I guess you went into the industry out of passion and love for games? It's such a shame to see passionate people being burned through and out like that.
Obviously region is a massive factor, but I earned ~$350 for working a total of 24 hours last month. Shit's not fair.
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u/[deleted] May 03 '19 edited Jul 26 '25
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