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The software engineers at the top segment in the Netherland are not working full-time jobs, but are instead pulling €800 per day (or more) via long-term contracts. Assuming you're working 48 weeks per year, this amounts to €192k per year.
Fine by me, I went solo 4 years ago and never looked back.
A lot of the Europeans in this thread will jump on things like health care or other social benefits without realizing that high paid workers in the US are well taken care of in this regard. The truth is the pay is higher in the US and is not particularly close. It's funny trying to see Europeans argue places like London, Zurich, or Amsterdam are "low cost" compared to US cities to try justify the difference
I see your reasoning pop up as often as the European viewpoint and each time I have the same reflection: what about your loved ones? AFAIK your significant other + children can be covered by your insurance, but what if one of your parents or siblings get in financial straits due to some medical event?
A lot of the Europeans in this thread will jump on things like health care or other social benefits without realizing that high paid workers in the US are well taken care of in this regard. The truth is the pay is higher in the US and is not particularly close. It's funny trying to see Europeans argue places like London, Zurich, or Amsterdam are "low cost" compared to US cities to try justify the difference
> without realizing that high paid workers in the US are well taken care of in this regard.
Do these benefits go on if you quit your job? As in can you quit your job and get paid a little less for a while you search for a new one? If you only work a few years in a high paying job the rest in other industries, can you still expect a pension that pays enough money for your last 20-40 years of life? Can you afford proper health care you got in your great job in case you can't work in it anymore for whatever reason?
Market economy. In the US there is a perception of shortage and so wages are artificially increased (as compared to other industries of equivalent skills/experience/challenge) to account for that perception. The reason that perception exists is a misalignment between how developers are produced, the skills required by industry, and the things employers are willing to do to compensate for that supposed gap.
However, current day tech companies that can potentially address a global market from wherever(Europe for argument) are in a spot where they need to compete against US labour. I for one get paid significantly higher than what you posted in NL. It’s just that the average includes local markets and lower pay(or really pay online with other local jobs) in Europe.
There are always exceptions- San Francisco salary should not be compared to Amsterdam for example - cost and style of living is very different. I pay €3 for a cappuccino and not $8 :-) I pay €600 for my kids day care whereas in SF it is definitely substantially more. I can buy a family home for €700K here, whereas in SF I can probably get a garage for that… you get the point.
If one is single, and many of these perks don’t apply, US is the best place to be and make a shit ton of money and all the connections. Once the perks start to make sense, Europe it is.
Life in London for example is just as expensive if not more than San Francisco/New York. We pay for our national health insurance too and probably comparable to what Americans pay for their private.
People can barely afford an average house/flat as a full-time senior software engineer in UK and are not paid too different than any other office based role.
And no it's not because there is more money in US for tech, because a lot of people in UK work for American companies and I guarantee you they get paid less than their US devs.
American companies outsource their tech to Europe for the sole purpose if being cheap especially to eastern EU countries.
A lot of the Europeans in this thread will jump on things like health care or other social benefits without realizing that high paid workers in the US are well taken care of in this regard. The truth is the pay is higher in the US and is not particularly close. It's funny trying to see Europeans argue places like London, Zurich, or Amsterdam are "low cost" compared to US cities to try justify the difference
It's also really hard to "translate" money via exchange rates. Cost of living matters a lot. If food and housing is cheap, then the money goes a lot longer. That's also the sort of goods that the arbitrage pressure of international trade struggles to even out. Maybe if WFH becomes a big international thing, but I don't think we're quite there yet.
Only way to make comparable money in Europe is by contracting. For some reason full-time employees are massively underpaid compared to US and don't tell me about living cost comparison. Life in London for example is just as expensive if not more than San Francisco/New York. We pay for our national health insurance too and probably comparable to what Americans pay for their private. People can barely afford an average…
To clarify something, in the UK there are two main deductions on personal income - income tax and National Insurance. National Insurance doesn't pay for healthcare, it pays for things like state pension and other support benefits - https://www.gov.uk/national-insurance/what-national-insuranc.... The National Health Service (NHS) is funded through taxes.