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Americans Work 25% More Than Europeans, Study Finds

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Re: Americans Work 25% More Than Europeans, Study Finds

#161
post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A senior ie 10 years experience in London is unlikely to make more than $70k which is about half what the starting salary is for google in the valley

There are plenty of senior dev jobs in London that pay far more than that. I passed that level in London 15 years ago. At that time I had about 6 years experience. It depends much more on niche, how well your market yourself, and what type of companies you work for.

Perm or contractor?

Re: Americans Work 25% More Than Europeans, Study Finds

#162
post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a very light analysis from me, so might not be fully true, but I live in the US, now in Europe, and in Canada before that. You could also say Canada is kind of in the middle. Well, maybe correlation doesn't imply causation in that case but here is what I can see: - US > Canada > Europe in terms of opportunities, be it starting salary, end-of-career salaries, and everything in the middle such as promotions, perso…

> it's harder to move from a class to another compared to the US. Not true: social mobility in US is lower than in Europe and Canada.

That might be true in the aggregate, but I imagine it's not for specific groups. Why else would so many people move to the US for job opportunities?

Re: Americans Work 25% More Than Europeans, Study Finds

#163
post #7
post #2

Thing is, in the software world at least, you earn >25% more than Europeans in the US. Just look at salaries in London. Given the extraordinary cost of living, salaries are pitiful. Why is that?

We also have higher costs of living when you factor in healthcare costs and lack of public transportation. A healthy 20 year old can pay $300 a month for insurance that covers nothing until you hit 10k in expenses.

While you're being downvoted, as someone in the US, I have to let everyone know: He is right. If you buy your own insurance, and pay low premiums ($3600/yr in his case), you can expect to get deductibles of $10K.

And this is where it is unfair: If I am fairly wealthy (e.g. earning $150K/year in a not expensive city), then this is very affordable. However, someone earning $100K in the same city will pay the same premium - it'll hurt their wallet a lot more than mine. $100K will not get anyone government subsidies.

With tax-funded health care (as in Europe), the burden isn't on the poorer person, but on the richer one.

Re: Americans Work 25% More Than Europeans, Study Finds

#164

Less happy, certainly plausible. The only world superpower, definitely. While I don't have any evidence to back any of that up, it certainly appears the nation working the most, has the biggest economy/power. Obviously money/power isn't everything though.

I'm not entirely certain that a nation as a whole being a superpower is good for the people if the people living in it are miserable. "The economy" is not, in fact, a direct measure of how happy people are - it's an indicator which may have something to do with it in a broad sense, but can be gamed, especially once you get down to attempting to maximise arbitrary single numbers (GDP, stock market indicators, etc).

Re: Americans Work 25% More Than Europeans, Study Finds

#165
I struggle to digest this article. Considering I'm an Italian who has ever worked 40+ hours a week (non tech jobs got me to 60+ hours/wk...). And then, when I lived in England, everyone seemed to be doing at most 35 hrs/wk. I understand that these are statistics, but I can't really match it to my experience (but, hey, maybe this tells me to complain less and enjoy spare time more!)

Re: Americans Work 25% More Than Europeans, Study Finds

#166
post #5
post #2

Thing is, in the software world at least, you earn >25% more than Europeans in the US. Just look at salaries in London. Given the extraordinary cost of living, salaries are pitiful. Why is that?

Because European governments take a lot more out of your salary before it reaches you in exchange for social services (pensions, healthcare, etc). Unlike America where you are expected to either drop a stack of bills just to see the doctor or die in the streets.

Most tech jobs in the US come with very generous health insurance with pretty small out of pockets. And it's mostly paid by the company.

Re: Americans Work 25% More Than Europeans, Study Finds

#167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're well educated. If you're not then you'll find yourself working much harder in Canada to stay afloat than in Europe.

I have a lot of relatives in Alberta. And it seems like the oil industry there is providing a lot of opportunity for people without college degrees to make a good living. But of course, that's just Alberta. I can't comment on the rest of the country.

Yes, but that's very hard work and quite a few of the people that moved to the territories to participate in the boom there already lost their shirt due to the prolonged drop in the price of oil. Alberta is a bit different because the extraction is easier.

You can make money in lumber, oil, mining, fishing and lots of other industries but it will not be 'easy' money by any definition, and if you get out without injury then you should consider yourself lucky. Long days, very hard work.

Re: Americans Work 25% More Than Europeans, Study Finds

#168
I think its a lot more than 25%. In Sweden where I work, people are relaxed at their jobs. Coming in at 8.30 am and leaving at 4.30 pm with a full lunch break in the middle is normal. Taking a couple of coffee breaks or ping pong matches and chatting with collegues is normal. There is casual talk all day long and bosses are also leaving work early to pick up children, spend time with the family and just enjoy their lives. I think something around 35 hours is what we do around here, but getting payed for 40 of course.

The American culture honestly seems totally crazy to me. There is a massive difference in how you view yourselves over there. If you dont succeed at making some kind of a career, you feel like losers? Please step out of the matrix a little bit guys. Life is not getting some position in a company so you can work even more. Its about finding happiness.

Re: Americans Work 25% More Than Europeans, Study Finds

#169

Higher earning workers in the US work more hours than lower earning workers. "Between 1979 and 2002, the frequency of long work hours increased by 14.4 percentage points among the top quintile of wage earners, but fell by 6.7 percentage points in the lowest quintile." There are insinuations in this thread that the reason Americans work more hours is because the working poor have to work long hours to make ends meet.…

there is a correlation but that does not mean the jobs are elastic. it is not reasonable to assume that higher paid workers can simply switch jobs or even career paths simply to trade available free time for lower compensation.

Re: Americans Work 25% More Than Europeans, Study Finds

#170
post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a very light analysis from me, so might not be fully true, but I live in the US, now in Europe, and in Canada before that. You could also say Canada is kind of in the middle. Well, maybe correlation doesn't imply causation in that case but here is what I can see: - US > Canada > Europe in terms of opportunities, be it starting salary, end-of-career salaries, and everything in the middle such as promotions, perso…

Completely agreed having lived and worked in all 3. Canada is the sweet spot.

I'm in the process of moving to Toronto from the US. Any tips on good tech companies to work for. :)
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