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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?)

#21

Post by mousetree »

ochoseis wrote: post #11
mousetree wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> USD is the global reserve currency which makes it much easier to raise capital. Could you explain more?

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?

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

#22

Post by refurb »

grecy wrote: post #9

The US not having healthcare and higher education for all is a big factor. They also have worse infrastructure (condemned bridges in use...) So you get low taxes and lots of money into your pocket, but then you fork it out again. Remember, those grads landing a job at a FAANG have hundreds of thousands in student debt that is attracting interest to pay back. It’s also the cheapest developed country to buy “stuff” For…

The US not having healthcare and higher education for all is a big factor.

It's a big factor in wages? I mean my employer was paying $24,000/yr for my families healthcare plan on top of my salary. You'd think it would push wages down, not up.

But regardless, there is plenty of healthcare (my friend's friend came from Thailand on a green card and signed up for free Medicaid right away) and higher education ($10k/yr for tuition at a top-ranked global school is pretty good in my opinion).

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

#24

Post by gwbas1c »

permo-w wrote: post #10

the outcomes of WW2 are a large part of the answer to this question

Which partially is because the US is an island nation with no threats at its borders. There is very little threat of ground war in the US. Historically, the border with Canada was a formality; and the border with Mexico is small.

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

#25

Post by ivolimmen »

I would really advise you to look into how stuff is organised in the US compared to your country. I once did and came to the conclusion that it looks like they earn more. I pay a really low healthcare insurance fee compared to the US. Their system for pension is also completely different from other countries. They have a 401K. In my case my company pays for my pension. I am Dutch from my stance it would be unwise to move to the USA. Certainly if you take in account that (in my POV) the country is moving backwards (Gun violence, abortion, right-wing, etc. etc.)

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

#27

Post by toastal »

phphphphp wrote: post #13
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.

Find a job with a US company that has a UK presence (a multinational like Google, Facebook etc.) and get promoted enough (e.g: to Engineering Manager) to be eligible for an L1 visa, then request to transfer from the UK to the US. The L1 visa process is the easiest, and has a path to citizenship. https://www.nnuimmigration.com/l1-visa-to-green-card/ (UK salaries are competitive enough nowadays that it's not really wor…

Compensation is competitive now? Last I looked (couple years), anywhere outside London was really low.

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

#28

Post by pavlov »

Mainly because USA developed multiple geographic clusters where software developers are in high demand (Bay Area for consumer tech, New York for finance etc.) and the funding ecosystem is both deep-pocketed and culturally supports paying for talent. Traditionally European VCs and founders both operated under the assumption that startups need to save money rather than spend to get the best. And consequently those startups don’t grow into big companies that would pay for talent.

It’s worth noting that the meteoric rise of Bay Area software engineer salaries is a fairly new phenomenon. In the mid 2000s, salaries were actively suppressed by a wage cartel that included Steve Jobs. The companies paid out a $324M settlement to employees [1].

Mark Zuckerberg is often said to have been the crucial CEO who broke the cartel. Facebook started paying higher salaries and hiring aggressively from Google and others who had been suppressing wages.

[1] http://www.equitablegrowth.org/aftermath-wage-collusion-sili...

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

#29

Post by JohnJamesRambo »

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/M2SL

I think you could make a good case that like all things going up and up the past years, it is just money printed at the FED. Thinking long and hard on the implications of that can inform your moves in the coming decade.

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