181–190 of 345 posts
Go to Spain, same salary, free healthcare, better quality of life, better weather, no crunch culture, better social life (good luck making new friends on Switzerland), less taxes and the last nobel prize of literature was inspired meanwhile lived here like many others.
They have no shame. They went as far as praising Switzerland's diversity and inclusiveness... Come on... Healthcare may be the only reason, but you also have it everywhere else...
As someone who owns a business in CH and visits there relatively frequently, I understand what you are saying, but I have two initial responses to you:
1) technically, CH is, in fact quite diverse in terms of population stats - especially Zurich and Geneva. I was surprised to look up and see that 25% of the population of CH is foreign born[1].
2) That being said, to whatever degree CH is really, really homogeneous (and it definitely seems so as you travel outside Zurich/Geneva/Basel) isn't that a feature ? Isn't that the point of a Switzerland ? I don't want the entire world to be strip malls and walmarts - I enjoy local culture and diversity in nations.
[1] https://www.thelocal.ch/20180831/foreign-residents-now-make-...
They have no shame. They went as far as praising Switzerland's diversity and inclusiveness... Come on... Healthcare may be the only reason, but you also have it everywhere else...
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Sorry, but Austin is not low COL. you’re way off the mark with those numbers for anything near Austin central and it’s going up exceedingly fast.
I was in total agreement with this and for fun I did a Zillow search and there are in fact a good many condos that are asking <=$350K. Some of them are even large enough to turn around in too. I have to say I'm a little surprised. None of them are awesome but I've seen many a worse place in The Lower Haight.
The price comparison reads like a joke from my $500 a month, 2 bedroom, nice neighbourhood apartment in Sofia, Bulgaria. Also, probably saving more money than I would in Switzerland. "If you are a Software Developer living in Europe then there is a better place for you - and this place is Switzerland." Ha-ha Yeah, it's probably not bad in Switzerland, just some of the arguments are really funny. Also: https://en.wiki…
How are salaries in Bulgaria?
1. Definitely don't move to Switzerland. Your cost of living will be very similar, you will have to work more than 40 hours a week, and your salary will go down.
2. Move literally anywhere else in the USA. I live in Boulder, Colorado and its awesome. Mountains and trails out my door with a great city scene as well. People snob at Boulder because its getting expensive, but you can still rent a 1 bedroom for 1300, and get a room in a house for $800. Google, Twitter and Uber are here if you want FAANG level compensation, as well as a bunch of other small companies.
3. Or better yet, get a remote job and move to somewhere even cheaper. I work remotely and it was really hard not to move to Bend, Oregon. I could have bought a nice house there for what I paid for my small townhome in Boulder. The only reason I didn't do it is because I am a fanatic rock climber and the climbing around Boulder is better.
One thing I have found about working remotely is that its pretty easy to work 35 hours a week and produce the same output as a full time, in office employee. Less distractions and in-office chitchat, and more working time. In practice this means that you can wake up at 7:30, make a coffee, be online at 8am, and then be free by 3pm. The Swiss 9 to 6 is a hard sell with this lifestyle.
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…
If you're contracting in London at 600 GBP per day (not an unreasonable amount for a senior in demand, it's very possible to get more than than), then assuming 2 weeks of vacation and 1 week of public holidays, you make 147k GBP, which amounts to $185k. You can make even more in Scandinavian countries, but such contracts there are rather rare, while 600 GBP p.d. in London is common.
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Also, a lot of the "pros" of living in Switzerland are basically the same as in the US. In any other low-key metropolis (Dallas, Atlanta, Houston, Austin, Phoenix, Des Moines, whatever) a software developer with 5 years of experience can earn $130k and buy houses for $250k - $350k. If you're single, you can get luxury 1 BD apartments for $1500 in happening parts of town. Plus, in the enterprise world it's very easy t…
Sorry, but Austin is not low COL. you’re way off the mark with those numbers for anything near Austin central and it’s going up exceedingly fast.
[1] I find the term OP to be ambivalent. Like is it the original poster of the whole thread or the original poster you are responding to?
The list seems like a dream, especially the healthcare part and the neutrality of the Swiss, not as extreme and divided. The housing, taxes and pay are icing on the cake. To top it off, Switzerland looks like a dreamland with all those amazing views.
If you have a shower or run a bath or do laundry in your apartment outside of the designated hours, your neighbours will complain to the landlord and you may be evicted. The Swiss are very, very fond of rules, and even fonder of enforcing them.
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> Salaries are certainly not capped at 140k CHF, I've seen a number of job ads for 180K CHF Are you speaking about CH or USA? Because in CH it pretty much seems to be capped at 140k CHF and below. Unless you are speaking of a very specific role/technology stack.
I was applying for roles recently that were as high as 180K CHF (and that wasn't FAANG).