131–140 of 353 posts
If anyone is interested in an anecdote from a US American mid level dev living in Germany: I get 30 paid vacation days, 10 ish public holidays and my employer has to pay up to 6 weeks of sick leave a year (after that the public health insurance pays). I make around 75k€ with a 38 hour work week and my take home is roughly 3600€ net. My living expenses are less than 1k (mid sized city, no car, split rent, no kids) so…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
When I first joined a US startup, they said "you can take unlimited PTO -- we suggest starting with a week per year"... I negotiated that up to the five weeks that are standard here in Denmark.
"Unlimited PTO" is a red flag for me. It means that PTO will be governed by pressure, self-pressure and shame.
Needless to say, I didn't accept the job in the end.
I’m concerned about the 21% who don’t want a better quality of life. What’s going on with them?
If Americans want the same quality of life as we have here in Denmark they should tax the top 20% more so it doesn't surprise me that the top 20% come out against things like higher taxes and more worker rights. I'm probably among the top 5% here in Denmark and I'm fine with paying high taxes.
If anyone is interested in an anecdote from a US American mid level dev living in Germany: I get 30 paid vacation days, 10 ish public holidays and my employer has to pay up to 6 weeks of sick leave a year (after that the public health insurance pays). I make around 75k€ with a 38 hour work week and my take home is roughly 3600€ net. My living expenses are less than 1k (mid sized city, no car, split rent, no kids) so…
It has been shown that you need around 14 days of interrupted rest to recover from stress etc. The European laws are not some random thing we made up because we are lazy. It is to ensure workers are well rested and ready for a new working year. Hence in long term it will also benefit employers. Some personal anecdata: I notice an immediate difference when I come back after a long vacation. The first 2-3 months I work…
In Germany it is actually mandated by law that you take two consecutive weeks of vacation in a year!
It's also worth pointing out that, in many European countries (Nordics, Italy, probably Germany as well?) it's perfectly ok to just take say most of July or August off, along with everyone else. It's disruptive to the business (to the point that it's taken into account when planning things), esp. in complex companies, where a couple of key managers or architects missing means an entire initiative can stall for the du…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Does the US salary hold up against the benefits you get in a well-off EU country? Namely free healthcare, automatic payments into pension fund, strong social system if you're ever in trouble, etc.? It seems to me that, as high as US salaries are, they arent that much higher compared to European salaries when you factor all this in, plus the face that a month of that work youre paid for youre OOO
In tech, yes. If you work in a FAANG-adjacent company, you're likely to be a millionaire after 5-8 years of working, all while getting better health care and better pre-tax retirement accounts than in the EU. If you decide you want to take it easy afterwards, you can still move to the EU then. In the EU, this type of job is much more rare, and even if you get one, after 5-8 years you'd probably be at around $400k-$50…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
What? My parents send me the child allowance ("Kindergeld") they received for me for the 6 years I was at university, plus 100 EUR/month. I also had a regular job earning 450 EUR per month, so I had around 700-800 EUR of income per month with a 240 EUR rent. Tuition was 500 EUR per semester, so around 80 EUR/month. I was health insured for free via the insurance of my parents. I had around 300-400 EUR per month for f…
Here is a realistic estimate for Munich. A room costs minimum 350 Euros or may easily cost 1000. Food and going out costs at least 100 Euros or healthy food 200-300. The subway ticket at that time cost 70 per month. There are some additional costs such as health insurance etc. Tuition at that time was 500 per semester for me. Spending a semester abroad as is common is usually far more expensive. And by law your paren…
> Tuition at that time was 500 per semester for me
This is the number people talk about when they're talking about tuition costs for Americans. Everyone needs shelter and to eat, whether they're a student or an engineer at a FAANG.
It's $5-10k fo r community college depending on in or out of state. It's $10-$20k per year for a university for most, and if you look at a "top" university, it's significantly more.
University of Boulder which is a top-50-USA-university is just shy of $40k per year for tuition. Stanford is $55k, and UPenn (Which was the most expensive I could find) is $61k per year.
Did the survey ask if they wanted a pay cut to match European style wages?
If pay is the only concern, why not just take up contract work and refuse benefits to get the most pay? Ignoring the other variables at play, such as cost of living and benefits, and only focusing on pay is foolish.
Contract work is a fundamentally different proposition and equating it to employment is foolish.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Reaching 50 years old, never got this American complaint about our salaries. The whole package is what matters. We work to live, not live to work.
For some might not be the case when talking about the health insurance...