We must have very different definitions of senior engineer from the GP, because I’d put the monthly cost of a senior engineer closer to $30k than $3k, even on a log scale.
Employing people requires insurance, buildings, hardware, support, licenses, etc. There are lower cost locations, but I can’t think of a single market on earth where there is a supply of senior engineers that cost $3k/month. And I say this being familiar with costs in India, China, Poland, Spain, Mexico, Costa Rica, and at least a dozen other regions.
Log scale is just going to distort the picture in favor of your argument nor against it (10 is closer to 3 than to 30, but in log scale 10 becomes closer to 30) so I don't really understand why you're adding that here.
Also having hired senior software engineers in Europe (France, Germany, Nederlands), if it cost you 30k a month in India or Poland, you're just being conned. “Hardware, support and license” are just bogus argument, as it's completely negligible unless you're doing exotic stuff requiring expensive licenses for your engineer. “Insurance” costs pretty much nothing in most of Europe because health insurance is mostly covered by the state, and “buildings” is mostly a self-inflicted wounds nowadays, especially since you'd get the better candidates if you supported full working from home.
The original 3k is indeed way too low, even for a junior developer, but 30k is equally ridiculous really as you should never really spend more than half of that outside of the US.
