Comments on: What is your time worth? http://www.thursdaybram.com/2007/11/15/what-is-your-time-worth Creativity is business too. Mon, 08 Mar 2010 22:40:09 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Thursday http://www.thursdaybram.com/2007/11/15/what-is-your-time-worth/comment-page-1#comment-422 Thursday Fri, 14 Dec 2007 12:27:29 +0000 http://www.thursdaybram.com/2007/11/15/what-is-your-time-worth/#comment-422 Thank you for the added perspective. I know for some Americans it can be very difficult to think in terms of living on $30 a month. Thank you for the added perspective. I know for some Americans it can be very difficult to think in terms of living on $30 a month.

]]> By: Laurie http://www.thursdaybram.com/2007/11/15/what-is-your-time-worth/comment-page-1#comment-416 Laurie Fri, 14 Dec 2007 02:32:59 +0000 http://www.thursdaybram.com/2007/11/15/what-is-your-time-worth/#comment-416 Just to give you a little perspective on this... Sri Lanka is financially better off than Cambodia. Here, a house maid working 10-14 hours a day, 7 days a week with one or two days off a month will earn around US$30 a month on average, perhaps getting closer to US$100 a month if s/he's working for rich foreigners who have no clue what the going rate is. We paid our house help US$3 a day for eight hours of work and a good meal, so our working conditions are exceptionally good compared to everyone else. A garment factory worker will typically earn US$20 a month, again working 10-14 hours a day, 7 days a week with one or two days off a month. A secretary/receptionist will typically earn in the neighborhood of US$100 a month. So, yes, when you see those adverts for 500 words for a couple of dollars, they usually get snapped up by people in this region for whom that kind of money makes a difference. Sadly, the English usually isn't great, so it still falls back on the principal of "You get what you pay for." But, again sadly, many small business owners don't know what good English looks like, so have no idea what kind of quality they're getting. Or they don't care because it's filler for websites used only to attract visitors, not to keep them. Just to give you a little perspective on this… Sri Lanka is financially better off than Cambodia.

Here, a house maid working 10-14 hours a day, 7 days a week with one or two days off a month will earn around US$30 a month on average, perhaps getting closer to US$100 a month if s/he’s working for rich foreigners who have no clue what the going rate is. We paid our house help US$3 a day for eight hours of work and a good meal, so our working conditions are exceptionally good compared to everyone else.

A garment factory worker will typically earn US$20 a month, again working 10-14 hours a day, 7 days a week with one or two days off a month. A secretary/receptionist will typically earn in the neighborhood of US$100 a month.

So, yes, when you see those adverts for 500 words for a couple of dollars, they usually get snapped up by people in this region for whom that kind of money makes a difference. Sadly, the English usually isn’t great, so it still falls back on the principal of “You get what you pay for.” But, again sadly, many small business owners don’t know what good English looks like, so have no idea what kind of quality they’re getting. Or they don’t care because it’s filler for websites used only to attract visitors, not to keep them.

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