From the U.S. perspective is it really still prestigious to work for them? I think these companies have been causing lots of ethical issues and having negative impacts on society lately all in the name of profit.
Ask HN: Is working for FAANG as big of a deal in Europe as it is in the US??
11–20 of 40 posts
Re: Ask HN: Is working for FAANG as big of a deal in Europe as it is in the US??
#12From the U.S. perspective is it really still prestigious to work for them? I think these companies have been causing lots of ethical issues and having negative impacts on society lately all in the name of profit.
Prestige has been replaced by money, I think. It used to be Google could pay a little below top tier since they had such a sterling reputation and interesting work to be done. Now they pay outrageous sums to secure their position and optimize ads
Re: Ask HN: Is working for FAANG as big of a deal in Europe as it is in the US??
#13Nope. I’ve never met anyone who expressed a desire to work for FAANG.
Re: Ask HN: Is working for FAANG as big of a deal in Europe as it is in the US??
#14Im originaly from EU (immigrated here when I was a kid) and currently work for FAANG, so I have a lot of extended family in Poland/Russia.
To put all of EU into one basket in terms of this is not really accurate. For example, in Russia/Poland and likely other Slavic countries where people saw a much better life when capitalistic principles were adopted, there is definitely a prestige associated with working at a big famous company and earning big bucks. Ironically, there is very much aura of "earn good salary, then spend it on BMW/Merc/Audi and a big house to impress your friends and family" with people from that background, which seems significantly less applicable to native US employees within the company.
Meanwhile, in places like Switzerland/Germany/France, while my exposure to those people is limited (friends of family in Poland/Russia), it seems that people care more about the quality of life than high salary. In those regions, high salaries have traditionally been very hard to get (you need connections almost more than talent), so most people don't see this within reach, and as a result value things like good work life balance, ability to have a family, vacation, and other common things.
Re: Ask HN: Is working for FAANG as big of a deal in Europe as it is in the US??
#15From the U.S. perspective is it really still prestigious to work for them? I think these companies have been causing lots of ethical issues and having negative impacts on society lately all in the name of profit.
> I think these companies have been causing lots of ethical issues
Pro tip: you can safely assume that any of the stuff you read online in terms of ethics in those companies exists solely for people to feel "woke" and for you to click on, and is highly biased. Do not take what you read online as the common viewpoint about those companies.
Companies like Amazon, Facebook and Google has had way more positive impact on society that surpasses any negative things that they have done. The negative things should be ignored, but require proper contextualization and accuracy to really understand what the overall impact is.
Re: Ask HN: Is working for FAANG as big of a deal in Europe as it is in the US??
#16From the U.S. perspective is it really still prestigious to work for them? I think these companies have been causing lots of ethical issues and having negative impacts on society lately all in the name of profit.
> I think these companies have been causing lots of ethical issues Pro tip: you can safely assume that any of the stuff you read online in terms of ethics in those companies exists solely for people to feel "woke" and for you to click on, and is highly biased. Do not take what you read online as the common viewpoint about those companies. Companies like Amazon, Facebook and Google has had way more positive impact on…
Did you mean should not be ignored?
Re: Ask HN: Is working for FAANG as big of a deal in Europe as it is in the US??
#17Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I think these companies have been causing lots of ethical issues Pro tip: you can safely assume that any of the stuff you read online in terms of ethics in those companies exists solely for people to feel "woke" and for you to click on, and is highly biased. Do not take what you read online as the common viewpoint about those companies. Companies like Amazon, Facebook and Google has had way more positive impact on…
Did you mean should not be ignored?
Yep mistype
Re: Ask HN: Is working for FAANG as big of a deal in Europe as it is in the US??
#18From the U.S. perspective is it really still prestigious to work for them? I think these companies have been causing lots of ethical issues and having negative impacts on society lately all in the name of profit.
> I think these companies have been causing lots of ethical issues Pro tip: you can safely assume that any of the stuff you read online in terms of ethics in those companies exists solely for people to feel "woke" and for you to click on, and is highly biased. Do not take what you read online as the common viewpoint about those companies. Companies like Amazon, Facebook and Google has had way more positive impact on…
Strongly disagree. Facebook in particular. I'm with you on Amazon, and I founded a search engine because of my ethical beef with Google and general dissatisfaction with their product, their data collection is unethical and their search leaves a lot to be desired particularly for developers.
Re: Ask HN: Is working for FAANG as big of a deal in Europe as it is in the US??
#19I’m in Canada. I get paid quite well in my non-FAANG role, I have way more vacation than I’d get at any company that size. I’d probably make a little more at a FAANG role but the salaries here are not the insane salaries they are in the US, and I prefer the vacation. Also at any large company up here I’d have to give ownership of any code I write in my spare time to my employer, and at small companies it’s easier to negotiate that kind of thing and get opportunities to work on open source. Possibly if I was in Vancouver I’d make a lot more working for a FAANG company, but my cost of living would be insane, and they basically try to get you to move to the US. I have some friends at some of those companies, and they’ve tried to poach me, and I’ve consistently turned them down.
Re: Ask HN: Is working for FAANG as big of a deal in Europe as it is in the US??
#20It’s only big deal in the USA because outside FAANG, technology really doesn’t pay that well. There are a few other companies, but your income is capped elsewhere
You’re forgetting finance. There are plenty coders in finance making multiples over FAANG.
Finance doesn't pay nearly as well as FAANG does. They used to, pre 2008, especially with enormous bonuses, but that is a thing of the past. Maybe with the exception of Goldman Sachs, the other banks rather pay market rates or even below.