Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Switzerland vs Silicon Valley for Software Developers

swissdevjobs.ch

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

151–160 of 345 posts

Re: Switzerland vs Silicon Valley for Software Developers

#151

Post by username90 »

config_yml wrote: post #115
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m pretty sure Google Zurich pays more than $120k.

Depends on the position of course, but they pay much less than in the US. If you want to rake in cash, don't go for a tech job. It's much easier to make > 200k in some random middle management position at a bank.

> they pay much less than in the US

Not in my experience, it is basically the same. You start at around $160K TC minimum as a junior and then it rises rapidly from there. Glassdoor doesn't have stock and bonus values for Switzerland which makes the salaries look much worse than they actually are.

Re: Switzerland vs Silicon Valley for Software Developers

#152

Post by adventured »

amyjess wrote: post #77
greatgib wrote: post #53

Bullshit alert They start with: "Maybe it is because of the outrageous rents eating over 30% of the salary and houses you cannot afford unless you joined Facebook or Google at the right time? " Regarding the SV. Then, this is what they (proudly) say about Switzerland: 1) "In Zurich, you can rent a whole flat (50+ square meters) for something between 2500-4000 CHF " 2) "In Switzerland a Software Developer can easily e…

Personally, I'd rather avoid both SV and CH and just live in Texas. $1/sq. ft. ($10.76/m²) is still the norm in Dallas, and it's not too hard to find cheaper. You would pay less money for a decent-size house in the suburbs of Dallas than the cheapest 1-bedroom apartment in SV or Zurich.

Austin is also still amazingly well priced compared to the salaries you can pull there, especially against SF or Zurich.

Re: Switzerland vs Silicon Valley for Software Developers

#153

Post by kgwgk »

fookitty wrote: post #133
kgwgk wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Go to Spain, same salary The difference is that in Switzerland you get paid that salary every month, not over the full year. (I’m exaggerating, but not that much.) Edit: by the way, the “less taxes” remark is also quite funny.

You're totally exaggerating, been living in Spain for the past 10 years and previously worked in Switzerland, I often get job offers from Swiss companies and the difference is minimal.

Either you are too lucky/unlucky and your experience is not typical or you think that a factor of two (at least) is minimal.

Re: Switzerland vs Silicon Valley for Software Developers

#154

Post by rsync »

aantix wrote: post #130

If you're single or a couple dating, love tech, move to SV. Don't deprive yourself of that experience. Hire a professional relocator to find your apartment. That's what we did. Company paid for it. Every third person you will meet is an engineer, generally working on something cool. Everyone has ideas as to how you can do things "better" - from tech to processes to politics. You can attend all sorts of product launch…

"Every third person you will meet is an engineer, generally working on something cool. Everyone has ideas as to how you can do things "better" - from tech to processes to politics. ... You can attend all sorts of product launch parties, meetups, company socializers. So many that it's impossible to go to them all. ... You can meet many of the founders and engineers that you read from on HN. Either they live in SF/Bay Area or end up visiting. Just tweet at them and ask."

I live in the SFBA for reasons other than tech/career but this has been a huge plus. It's very interesting and exciting to visit the major tech HQs and meet founders and engineers living and working here, etc.

My favorite example of this was last year, 2018, when Twilio Signal was coincident with Litquake. I stayed in the city all week and talked shop with Twilio folks all day and went to talks/lectures about the evils of technology every evening :)

Re: Switzerland vs Silicon Valley for Software Developers

#155

Post by tasuki »

HorkHunter wrote: post #91
greatgib wrote: post #53

Bullshit alert They start with: "Maybe it is because of the outrageous rents eating over 30% of the salary and houses you cannot afford unless you joined Facebook or Google at the right time? " Regarding the SV. Then, this is what they (proudly) say about Switzerland: 1) "In Zurich, you can rent a whole flat (50+ square meters) for something between 2500-4000 CHF " 2) "In Switzerland a Software Developer can easily e…

I'm in Vienna and its pretty normal here to rent for 40-50% of your salary. otherwise you'd move to the far outskirts of the city.

Ah yes, this is exactly why I'm not in Vienna. Software developers are curiously underpaid in Austria. I got offered a better salary even in Brno (Brünn), which is a much cheaper place.

A pity, Vienna is a beautiful city and consistently ranks among the best places to live.

Re: Switzerland vs Silicon Valley for Software Developers

#156

Post by rmah »

balfirevic wrote: post #126
greatgib wrote: post #53

Bullshit alert They start with: "Maybe it is because of the outrageous rents eating over 30% of the salary and houses you cannot afford unless you joined Facebook or Google at the right time? " Regarding the SV. Then, this is what they (proudly) say about Switzerland: 1) "In Zurich, you can rent a whole flat (50+ square meters) for something between 2500-4000 CHF " 2) "In Switzerland a Software Developer can easily e…

> In Zurich, you can rent a whole flat (50+ square meters) for something between 2500-4000 CHF > In Switzerland a Software Developer can easily earn over 100,000 CHF (1 CHF is around 1 USD) So... A little bit cheaper apartment combined with a salary that is half or third (from what I read, I don't live there) of what you can get in Bay Area. WTF is this article trying to say? Edit: And of course, not to even mention…

50 sq m is 500 sq ft, which is considered very small in most of the US and on the small end even in NYC. It's just slightly larger than a mobile home.

Re: Switzerland vs Silicon Valley for Software Developers

#157

Post by bitL »

jankotek wrote: post #21

Rent in Zurich is $4000 a month and that as an advantage? Is that a joke? Many workers in Switzerland commute daily from foreign countries to save money.

Doesn't France have some CERN enclave next to Swiss borders where people reside to avoid excessive costs of Switzerland, and then French tax authorities periodically trying to extract more money from them? I was told some stories by ex-CERN folks...

Re: Switzerland vs Silicon Valley for Software Developers

#158

Post by izacus »

dilyevsky wrote: post #114
izacus wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$4000 for rent is not normal for Zurich, and a 25 minute comfortable train commute drops the rent significantly lower. Try getting a 25 minute commute in SV.

That’s 25 min to hb? And then you have to change trains or take a tram or whatever. So not 25 mins Edit: 25 mins to 4th&kings get you as far as Hillsdale which is considerably cheaper too.

No, I mean 25 minutes to actual workplace.

Re: Switzerland vs Silicon Valley for Software Developers

#159

Post by j7ake »

opmac wrote: post #121
aripickar wrote: post #86

Like half of these are negatives, imo. 1) I've found places in the bay for way less than what they were saying, even without roommates. Its like 2k for a 1br in Lake Merritt, which is 15-20 minute BART to SF. 2) Yes startups that are pre-seed/ pre-series A will have crazy hours, but any big tech co. will be pretty close to 40 hours a week. My team is pretty big about work life balance, and we work at a place infamous…

> 6) 300 CHF is still 6x what I pay for healthcare per month. I currently pay 46 USD per month for (from what I can tell is excellent) healthcare, vision, and dental. You are the exception here, not the rule. 46 USD for Healthcare is pretty rare in the US. It's not uncommon for people to spend 500 USD per month, so 300 CHF would look good to many people. There is also the potential argument that the Swiss healthcare…

You also need to compare the amount you have to pay out of pocket before insurance kicks in. 300 CHF probably requires you to pay out of pocket around 2500 CHF before insurance kicks in.

Re: Switzerland vs Silicon Valley for Software Developers

#160

Post by googlethrow »

zerr wrote: post #2

Cons: no Sun and the salaries seem to be capped at CHF 120-140K. Has that old school European mindset that managers and MBAs should be paid more than individual contributors, engineers.

At Google Zürich the total comp starts at 160K chf/year for fresh grads and with counteroffers can go much higher.
Post reply on HN