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Ask HN: Why is pay so much higher in the US? (or is it?)

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Re: Ask HN: Why is pay so much higher in the US? (or is it?)

#151

Post by gigatexal »

badpun wrote: post #148
gigatexal wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I could never pass the ridiculous white board challenges. Didn’t have any of that drama here. A take home and a relaxed discussion about it after the fact and I got the role.

I live in Europe, but got a couple of remote US jobs over the years. Didn't get a single whiteboarding exercise in them. At most, there were live coding exercises, but one where they were interested in how well I know the language/frameworks, what is my thinking process, how do I structure the code, how do I handle errors and unexpected states etc. - so, in essence, the things relevant to daily coding tasks, not some…

That’s how it should be. That’s how I interview candidates now, too: applicable situations not highly conceptual intellectual navel gazing.

Re: Ask HN: Why is pay so much higher in the US? (or is it?)

#152

Post by ochoseis »

mousetree wrote: post #21
ochoseis wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it's the global reserve currency it generally means: 1. There's more people around the world with USD who are interested in putting it to work. 2. The US government can easily print and borrow money denominated in USD, which leads to more USD floating around, which ends up in the hands of people from #1.

Thanks. Could you explain how that leads to higher salaries in the US too?

I don’t have any references handy, but I suppose it’s a combination of the U.S. being a top destination for investment (because of the currency, risk-level, innovation and productivity), plus high demand for labor.

Re: Ask HN: Why is pay so much higher in the US? (or is it?)

#153

Post by badpun »

stingraycharles wrote: post #136
badpun wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most coders don't work in tech or startups, but in regular businesses. An yet, they still make more in the US than in Europe. Perhaps it falls in line with general lower compensation in Europe - I mean, for example there are plenty job offers for accountants in London (super-expensive city) which advertise sub 30k pounds pay per year. I don't think there are a lot of accountants in NYC who would take a job for the eq…

Isn’t the cost of living in US, especially in the “clusters of high demand”, generally higher than Europe as well?

Not hugely so. Properties in top cities in Europe are probably as expensive as in top areas of US (NYC, SV). Rent is higher in US (that's because, if landlords charged SV/NYC rents in Europe, then the flats would just be empty, as the rent would be more than 100% of salaries of most people), but mortgage is comparable. Other typical cost of living expenses are somewhat higher in US (according to https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?cou...). Salaries, on the other hand, are massively higher in US than in Europe.

Re: Ask HN: Why is pay so much higher in the US? (or is it?)

#154

Post by nickd2001 »

BeenChilling wrote: post #6

What are the best ways to get hired in the US as a software engineer from the UK? I’ll be graduating with a masters in CS from a top university in 2023.

This isn't as easy as it once was, I believe. I did precisely this about 25 yrs ago, then ultimately returned to the UK. At that time you could get a H1B visa as long as they paid you the market rate and had advertised the job sufficiently at home first. Once you had a H1B you could transfer the visa between employers if you got another job, although not entirely simple. Since then, rules have changed so you have to earn a lot of money to qualify - though this may be do-able on a FAANG salary after a couple yrs experience. Also numbers of visas are capped so you might not even get one. So you could try L1 route as sibling post suggested, although, then you have to rise in that company a little bit , then you're quite beholden to them if you transfer - once in the USA, not so easy to transfer so what happens if you're unhappy in your job? Maybe you should do a Phd and try to get classified as "alien of extraordinary ability". (I love this terminology ;). ). That opens other doors possibly to visa independent of employer. In short- its not easy for a foreigner to go and work in tech in the US these days, and that in itself may explain some of the salary inflation that is being seen, hence the original Q on HN at all.

Re: Ask HN: Why is pay so much higher in the US? (or is it?)

#155

Post by kvmac »

jlbbellefeuille wrote: post #131
olabyne wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hey french here. You are speaking of raw income, right? I don't think we are content with lower wages. It's just that you cannot really compare EU-US just like that. You need to compare cost of living, entirely. Paid leave. Public holiday. College fees. Working time. But also what I call 'peace of mind'. In Europe, you have retirement from the state. You will never have crazy, 6 figures hospital bills. My employer fi…

Sharing numbers in the office DOES NOT benefit the employer. Share your salaries, bonuses and equity based compensation! That way your employer can no longer take advantage of you or your peers!

I don’t think you read OP correctly. They’re saying that because devs are too shy to talk about salaries in the office, it only helps employers.

Re: Ask HN: Why is pay so much higher in the US? (or is it?)

#156

Post by nickd2001 »

phphphphp wrote: post #64
spacejogger wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How are UK salaries competitive? Even in London, salaries are, at best, 50% of what they are in Silicon Valley for 'typical' companies. At FAANG companies (e.g.: the Google/FB/etc London offices), they are about 70% of what they are in Silicon Valley. Cost of living is higher in SV, but not that much higher.

I believe that 70% is very, very competitive — I’d go as far as to say 70% of an SF salary, in London, is better. There’s a bunch of considerations, not just the cost of living, but things like healthcare, which allow for a high-earner to better leverage their earnings to improve their quality of life. There’s a higher density of well-funded companies in the US who can afford to pay high salaries, so it’s easier to f…

+1. Housing costs a fortune in both London and Silicon Valley. London has an excellent rail network so if you could WFH somewhere with much cheaper housing 3 days a week that could work. Although the NHS is underfunded to breaking point, private healthcare and insurance is much cheaper in UK than USA. Reasons to move to the US would be for adventure, experiencing another country, the great outdoors, all the things USA offers. Probably not for financial reasons anymore. This used to be different but UK tech salaries got better. Of course, who knows what the long-term holds for UK, with Brexit, higher inflation than other countries, the union breaking apart (Scotland leaving), political instability etc.. Not that USA is a perfectly stable country either ;)

Re: Ask HN: Why is pay so much higher in the US? (or is it?)

#158

Post by wbsss4412 »

p1esk wrote: post #146
wbsss4412 wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Yes, but it's most likely a top dermatologist. It is not. It is a dermatologist. > Almost one year is definitely not normal. I would like to believe that too, but I don’t know what to tell you.

How many dermatologists have you called before giving up and agreeing to wait until May? In my experience it takes 3-5 calls to find someone willing to see me within a few days.

I don’t know, I didn’t interrogate them about it. I would imagine they considered that, but, then again, maybe not.

Re: Ask HN: Why is pay so much higher in the US? (or is it?)

#159

Post by labarilem »

yoav wrote: post #157

Working remotely for a US based or US funded company while living in a country that has a social safety net is really the sweet spot. My salary is roughly 2-3 times higher than I’d make working for a canadian company. SF salary in a not SF rent market.

Are you salaried or contracting? Also, I guess it might not be as easy for people in EU timezones.

Re: Ask HN: Why is pay so much higher in the US? (or is it?)

#160

Post by legacynl »

badpun wrote: post #153
stingraycharles wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn’t the cost of living in US, especially in the “clusters of high demand”, generally higher than Europe as well?

Not hugely so. Properties in top cities in Europe are probably as expensive as in top areas of US (NYC, SV). Rent is higher in US (that's because, if landlords charged SV/NYC rents in Europe, then the flats would just be empty, as the rent would be more than 100% of salaries of most people), but mortgage is comparable. Other typical cost of living expenses are somewhat higher in US (according to https://www.numbeo.co…

I don't agree.

You get higher wages in the US, but you also have to pay more in the US. Healthcare (or saving money for when you need healthcare), schools, having to drive everywhere, etc.

In most of western Europe you don't actually need that high salary. There are no crazy medical bills, your children can go to school for free, you don't have to spend a couple of bucks for gas for every errand.

Also i think your comparison is a bit skewed because afaik Paris and New-York are famously expensive. I think using this comparison is more realistic: https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?cou...

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