> They don't have a single US engineer; only project managers.

That's what I never understood... why not outsource the project managers too? What is it about _project management_ that only onshore Americans can do? Whatever you think of programming, project management is much easier than programming.

PMs in service firms are usually client facing, or at least client oriented. Having them native puts a native face on the team and keeps the language/culture barrier inside the firm.

Communicating across language, culture and timezone barriers takes some effort. Having a native, local, PM means you delegate that work to the PM, instead of putting it on everyone who needs to interact with the PM.

...and usually, cheaper.

I think the main reason is because the CEO wants someone that they can grab in-person, at any time.

And - if I'm being honest - the CEO doesn't need to concern themselves with the time differential or language barrier. Those are the PMs' problems.

If it's very small services companies using offshore for all development, they're not big tech at all

These are effectively MSPs and perform the kind of role GP describes.