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Tech Giants Take Their Talent Hunt to Cambridge, UK

nytimes.com

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Re: Tech Giants Take Their Talent Hunt to Cambridge, UK

#231

Post by yayana »

monksy wrote: post #216
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

3 weeks is common for USA tech companies now. What is it in the uk?

15 is the bare minimum for USA tech companies. I've seen a few not so stellar places offer 10.

Maybe in the right subsections. But 10 days for the first 2-3 years is very common and many companies argue they need consistency across staff.. then others offer you more or infinite vacation then give you a manager from hell with absurd deadlines to make sure you don't take any.

It's much nicer to live in a country with clear employment laws. (Particularly since not everyone around you will work in tech.)

Re: Tech Giants Take Their Talent Hunt to Cambridge, UK

#232

Post by MrBuddyCasino »

collyw wrote: post #229
MrBuddyCasino wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe my numbers are off, but at least in Munich startups are ~80k, automotive ~100k. What are you seeing?

Isn't Munich the German equivalent of London? The expensive but well paid part?

You can get similar salaries in other Tier 1 cities like Hamburg, Frankfurt, Düsseldorf or Berlin. Of course its different in small cities (except Walldorf or Wolfsburg), but you also have lower expenses. Its not as centralized as UK.

Re: Tech Giants Take Their Talent Hunt to Cambridge, UK

#233

Post by cyclinghacker »

Nursie wrote: post #183
angarg12 wrote: post #14

> According to the recruitment website Hired, the average tech salary in London is $78,000 a year, versus $142,000 in Silicon Valley. And this is one of the reasons for the brain drain that the mention before. Silicon Valley firms pay significantly more than the competition, and they are still paying almost half of what they do in the US. It isn't only about money, but it would be naive to deny it's impact on people'…

>> Silicon Valley firms pay significantly more than the competition, I'd say another major factor here is that the UK market significantly undervalues talent, compared to the US, Australia and other markets I've heard of. It may be better than continental Europe, but it's pitiful compared to the money in other countries. Which is why I'm a contractor now, salaries for permanent work in London are not comparable to wo…

I worked in AU around ten years ago. I don't remember salaries coming anywhere near the UK or US. I'd love to know if things are better now.

I wouldn't say the UK market particularly undervalues talent, in the city at least. Most of my peer group are on a day rate of 800-900 which (assuming you take 5 weeks of holidays) would translate to at least USD 248k gross. Chatting to our traders they are pretty jealous of our 9-5 hours, 2 hour lunch breaks and relaxed dress code.

Re: Tech Giants Take Their Talent Hunt to Cambridge, UK

#234

Post by sgt101 »

desas wrote: post #194
sgt101 wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But you are allowed to save all of that 20k in a pension fund and pay zero on it. Up to 40k a year and 1m in your life.

Pay zero on it now. You'll be paying on it when you withdraw

Well, that depends.

You can take 25% tax free.

And yes, you have to pay tax on the lot, but If you are paying 60% then momma, you are having a retirement and a half.

Re: Tech Giants Take Their Talent Hunt to Cambridge, UK

#235

Post by foldr »

notahacker wrote: post #228
foldr wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Nobody is about to evaluate how well Trident works in practice by launching a first strike on London. Let's hope not. >not to achieve perfect balance between the city-eradication potential of the respective nuclear powers. The UK's nuclear deterrent consists of one or two Trident submarines active at any given time which carry 8 Trident missiles each. (They can carry up to 16, but don't at the moment.) Don't be unde…

I'm reading the political slant into the comment upthread I quoted from; not really sure why we're engaged in the tangent of questioning the adequacy of Trident if you acknowledge it's a better deterrent than the present "Special Relationship" (and an expensive one paid from our taxes). The UK's non-operational stockpile means ample capacity to expand upon the currently operational missile stock in the event of a rat…

Trident is (and is widely acknowledged to be) about the bare minimum required for a semi-credible nuclear deterrent. It's just about enough to make a country like Russia think twice. Probably.

The deterrent provided by the US is not the special relationship, but the US's enormous nuclear arsenal, which it probably would deploy against Russia if Russia launched a nuclear attack against the UK. They would do the same if Russia launched a nuclear attack against any NATO power, so the special relationship doesn't really come into it.

Re: Tech Giants Take Their Talent Hunt to Cambridge, UK

#236

Post by foldr »

aphextron wrote: post #196
foldr wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're not that cheap. Russia spends about 230 billion USD annually, and spends about 10 billion on nuclear weapons. That's more than any country other than the USA.

>They're not that cheap. Russia spends about 230 billion USD annually, and spends about 10 billion on nuclear weapons. That's more than any country other than the USA. Where are you getting these numbers? I really doubt that Russia is spending 1/5th their GDP on the military. Wikipedia says it's $69 billion, which is more than order of magnitude below NATO [0], [1]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_budget_o…

230 billion USD is, according to Wikipedia, Russia's annual spending (not just military spending). I can see how that figure could have been interpreted as referring to military spending in the context of my post, but that's not what my post actually said.

The figure of $69 billion overall military spending seems consistent with the 10 billion figure I gave for Russian spending on nuclear weapons.

I got that figure from here: http://www.icanw.org/the-facts/catastrophic-harm/a-diversion... The figures are a bit old and I accidentally used the older of the two. But unless they're way off, it's true that Russia is spending more on nuclear weapons than any country other than the US. It's also spending more than France and the UK combined (France and the UK being the only European countries with a strategic nuclear capability).

Besides all that, the idea that nukes are somehow the cheap option for Russia is pretty nuts when you consider that Russia still maintains a fleet of ballistic missile submarines -- an expensive hobby by anyone's standards. You could pay for lots of conventional weapons with the money spent on that. They're even building shiny new ones: https://thediplomat.com/2017/06/russia-to-launch-its-deadlie...

Re: Tech Giants Take Their Talent Hunt to Cambridge, UK

#237

Post by fooker »

swebs wrote: post #126
riyadparvez wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you have better chance getting a green card if you're an illegal immigrant than if you're on H1-B.

Lol, that's because H1-B is a temporary work visa, not an immigration visa.

H1B is a dual intent visa, explicitly allowing you immigrate.

Re: Tech Giants Take Their Talent Hunt to Cambridge, UK

#238

Post by fooker »

riyadparvez wrote: post #89
fooker wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

America is an amazing place to live if you do not have to be stuck in the same place for decades waiting for a green card.

I think you have better chance getting a green card if you're an illegal immigrant than if you're on H1-B.

Yep, sneak in (or overstay), marry an US citizen. Alternatively, create a media sob story and you're golden.

Re: Tech Giants Take Their Talent Hunt to Cambridge, UK

#239

Post by blibble »

robk wrote: post #185
kalkut wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The top 1/4 in the US have easy, fast access to some of the most elite medical care on the planet. And if you're making $142k in salary in the US, your healthcare is entirely paid for. There is nothing surprising in the fact that the top 25% earners have access to healthcare. The point of public healthcare is to make sure that the remaining 75% will not get indebted to barely survive. What would worry an European w…

Then they just come back to Europe when they want those perqs

that hack doesn't work as non-resident British citizens are not eligible for free NHS treatment (other than accident and emergency)

they would be charged in the same way an American would

(the same is true for education subsidies)

Re: Tech Giants Take Their Talent Hunt to Cambridge, UK

#240

Post by Nursie »

cyclinghacker wrote: post #233
Nursie wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> Silicon Valley firms pay significantly more than the competition, I'd say another major factor here is that the UK market significantly undervalues talent, compared to the US, Australia and other markets I've heard of. It may be better than continental Europe, but it's pitiful compared to the money in other countries. Which is why I'm a contractor now, salaries for permanent work in London are not comparable to wo…

I worked in AU around ten years ago. I don't remember salaries coming anywhere near the UK or US. I'd love to know if things are better now. I wouldn't say the UK market particularly undervalues talent, in the city at least. Most of my peer group are on a day rate of 800-900 which (assuming you take 5 weeks of holidays) would translate to at least USD 248k gross. Chatting to our traders they are pretty jealous of our…

You have to recognise, surely, that even for London those rates are exceptional?

The vast, vast majority of salaried software guys make far less than that, especially outside of the capital. Hell, I pull in about 75% of that much and consider myself very fortunate as a contractor. And I see ads and 'opportunities' all the time for experienced people in the 40-50k range.

About 8 years ago I moved from London to Western Aus and was immediately earning (as a permanent employee) in the six figure range, when AUD and USD were at parity. In London, doing the same job for the same company, I had been on less than £50k.

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