That's just not true. For one you're not factoring in the cost to hire, monthly tax on that salary etc. I doubt a good developer earns less than 4k gross in say Paris.
My other problem with this line of thinking is this idea that you are getting less for that 4k than if you were to hire someone from the US. There are extremely capable people around the world with excellent communication skills and if you're looking at it with this attitude you will just miss out on this talent.
From the article : "Today, a good Java developer in the Ukraine earns $4,000 a month."
As I understand it, it's not what the dev costs to its employer but what he takes home.
And where did you read that I had the idea that they were not good enough to justify this kind of money. My surprise at the 4k number comes from 2 thoughts :
- how come a dev from a poor country earns more than one in a rich country ? (I don't say they shouldn't, just that it's surprising)
- and as I wrote in another comment, I read since the war the average Ukrainian pension is 70$ a month. I would have thought devs salaries would be more in line. 4k a month must be "stratospherically" rich there.
You are taking the article too seriously. The guy googled a bit, came up with some half-digested ideas and burped them with a clickbait title. Here’s a recent overview of Ukrainian IT market on the largest Ukrainian IT community hub. Look at the last two pictures.
http://dou.ua/lenta/columns/jobs-and-trends-2015/
In Poland (where salaries in general are higher than in Ukraine, my guess would be about twice as high) 4 grand for a dev isn't unheard of, but far from typical, especially outside of Warsaw.
My other problem with this line of thinking is this idea that you are getting less for that 4k than if you were to hire someone from the US. There are extremely capable people around the world with excellent communication skills and if you're looking at it with this attitude you will just miss out on this talent.