841–850 of 936 posts
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More Americans work for large employers than small or mid-sized ones.
Not by a big margin. Around 47% of the workforce is employed by small businesses.
And "small businesses" with fewer than 500 employees represent 99.7% of all businesses and yet they represent less than half the total workforce.
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All it takes is a small loan of a million dollars.
Sure, because nobody has ever taken a loan to start a business before. And VC funding doesn't exist. And mortgages are a falsehood. And companies are never bootstrapped either. I guess eventually owning a factory is just impossible right?
VCs might be interested in your app but not in a random bakery which is also a business of a type that is probably more common.
Also VCs take a share which makes them the owner as well but oh well.
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Let me just go find a cash machine and withdraw the $X million needed to buy me a factory. Nobody’s stopping me!
That's called venture capital, or a loan, or a mortgage; things that millions of others have used to start their own businesses. Happy to make some intro's for you. Let me know.
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While you are young and healthy sure, but if something happens to you or when you get older, not so much.
Why not? Can't you purchase the same insurance, protections and care with 4x earnings and lower taxes?
Also, the cost means that it is something you can only afford while you are still working.
So if you do get hurt and can't work or get fired you lose that privilege.
That is also a cost of opportunity that you lose by living in the US and that is not factored into the price of the insurance directly.
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I think European dev market is a lot more complex than that; if you work in Zurich or London, do contracting, work for a major bank etc then the market is way different for you than if you do (say) PHP as an employee of a non-software company in Berlin. The baseline is decently middle class with a solid safety net but there's a lot more room at the top than you're making out IMHO. As always, to make cash as a "workin…
Zurich and London top out at $100k, any more and we're talking managerial responsibilities. Compared to SF or SEA they are only paying ~25% market rate. The safety net argument has no legs. Australia and Canada both have social benefits that far exceed the majority of EU nations, yet pre-pandemic there was no shortage of $150k+ dev roles.
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Sending your kids to school all the way up including university costs about ~€10K per kid in Europe. How much would it cost in the US? ~$150K? I think that would make up another large chunk of price difference. And: it’s available for every parent. Not just those in nice tech jobs.
For California residents, the top state schools are ~$57k in tuition for all 4 years (total). Yes, American private universities would cost more, but that's a choice to pay more if you think it's worth it.
If Airbnb is willing to pay 14 weeks (3.25 months) of severance, they must believe this is going to go on significantly longer than that. Or they're using this as an opportunity to cut underperformers at the same time. Because if they believed things would start to recover by fall, wouldn't you just pay the people as normal and make a judgement call around then? You're spending the payroll money either way -- 14 week…
If you accept that scenario your decisions in the present about finances, investments, and employment all radically shift. My decisions have radically shifted to accommodate even though I have two essential industry employers with virtually no risk of being laid off.
What I personally use as a thermostat on how to proceed during adjusted life is the military. How they conduct business is bound by finances not beholden to a profit stream and they do not conduct business out of political ideals/favors. When they lift travel restrictions I will feel more confident about traveling. Once they reopen schools I will more confident about going back to work in an office building. When they drop the need for face masks or mandatory forced quarantine I will feel more confident stepping away from social distancing. Until those things happen I will continue to play it highly conservative in accordance with the suggested medical guidance to avoid exposure.
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Pardon my frankness but that's BS. What are you referring to here? How much money buys you? Aka: costs of living? How much you make, converting EUR to USD? What industry? IT? I worked in a leadership position at a multi-national in Berlin for almost five years. I know the salaries the engineers had in CA & Chicago vs Germany. US was maybe 20% more max. In terms of what it buys you ... not so much. See below. Cost of…
It’s worth making 4x in the states and paying less taxes to boot. Forget cost of living, only rent is more expensive so tack on an extra $2k a month if you don’t want to live with roommates.
You can forget it when you are young, healthy and single.
Put a wife and couple of kids into the equation, a sickness here and there plus a small risk to become unemployed and everything changes.
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Sending your kids to school all the way up including university costs about ~€10K per kid in Europe. How much would it cost in the US? ~$150K? I think that would make up another large chunk of price difference. And: it’s available for every parent. Not just those in nice tech jobs.
All the way up is 17 years about of school. A $100k annual difference still puts the tech employee way ahead.
And you medical coverage might still cover less than the European one.
If Airbnb is willing to pay 14 weeks (3.25 months) of severance, they must believe this is going to go on significantly longer than that. Or they're using this as an opportunity to cut underperformers at the same time. Because if they believed things would start to recover by fall, wouldn't you just pay the people as normal and make a judgement call around then? You're spending the payroll money either way -- 14 week…
I personally suspect that travel related industries will be one of the last to recover, both due to consumer reticence and due to lower levels of disposable income during the recovery.