Franco Pereyra, Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Near, a platform that assists American businesses in hiring remote Latin American talent, has sparked a stir online with his views on global wage gaps.
Pereyra claimed in a LinkedIn post that it is reasonable for foreign workers to be paid less than their American colleagues, explaining his position by comparing wages to cost-of-living differences, Economic Times reports.
“As an Argentinian living in Buenos Aires, I see how some people get upset by that statement,” he wrote. “But I get to stay in my country, be with my family, and enjoy a lower cost of living,” he wrote.
He acknowledged that his perspective might upset a lot of people.
“A lot of people get upset and say workers in Latin America, India, and the Philippines are being exploited. And yes, there are certainly companies that do exploit global talent. But paying less for overseas work is not inherently wrong,” he added.
The contentious post soon found attention online, particularly on the subreddit r/LinkedIn Lunatics community, where opinions were strongly divided.
Some defended his point, stating that wage disparities are a part of offshore hiring.
“That’s just how offshoring works. If they weren’t able to pay people in lower cost-of-living countries less money, they wouldn’t employ those people,” one user wrote.
Others critiqued his comments for oversimplifying the situation. "It is odd that he never mentioned the cost of living or working conditions," another commenter said.
