Programmer salary in mainland Europe?

#1

Post by socialist_coder » Fri, Apr 22, 2011, 8:12 AM UTC

I am an American programmer living in Southern California making around $100,000 USD per year. Pretty much your average experienced programmer salary, maybe even a little on the low side.

I have been applying for programming jobs in San Francisco and in Germany, the Netherlands, and other mainland European countries. I finally got an offer from a company in Austria but the salary was a lot lower than I was expecting, only 45,000 EUR (~$65,000 USD). This is even a "Senior" programmer position!

To put things in perspective, I also got an offer from a company in San Francisco that is a significant raise from my current salary, but that is to be expected given the current programming job market in SF.

I was expecting the pay to be worse in Europe, but not that worse. The company in Vienna insists that this is a fair salary for the region but I am finding this very hard to believe.

I'm not in this for the money at all, but I also don't want to sell myself short. Can anyone help me out with their experiences with programmer salary in mainland Europe? Should the disparity be this great?

Re: Programmer salary in mainland Europe?

#2

Post by patio11 » Fri, Apr 22, 2011, 8:22 AM UTC

Mainland Europe is a big place. (As is the United States, Japan, etc). There are huge, huge, huge disparities in income between e.g. programmers working finance in Paris and somebody cranking out back office code in Poland.

I have no specific knowledge about the market in Vienna, but find it easily within the realm of plausibility. You'll still be making a 50% premium to e.g. some fairly senior developers in the Midwest, and almost a 100% premium to common programming wages in Nagoya.

Re: Programmer salary in mainland Europe?

#3

Post by benregn » Fri, Apr 22, 2011, 8:24 AM UTC

I can't comment on what the actual average salary for a programmer in Europe is, but you have to remember that you can't just convert straight from EUR to USD and compare the amounts. You have to consider the cost of living etc. in the country you are getting the offer from compared to the cost of living where you currently live.

Re: Programmer salary in mainland Europe?

#4

Post by davidw » Fri, Apr 22, 2011, 8:25 AM UTC

Pay is generally a lot lower in Europe, compared to the most competitive market in the world for developer talent. Be sure, however, that you're both talking about the same things: the number before taxes, and try and get an idea of how much actual take home pay would be.

Re: Programmer salary in mainland Europe?

#5

Post by trin_ » Fri, Apr 22, 2011, 8:28 AM UTC

you have to take into account that cost of living will not be anywhere near sf cost of living in germany or austria.

i cant say anything about austria but in germany 36-40k€ would be a good starting salary for someone with a Diplom or M.Sc. straight out of college.

Re: Programmer salary in mainland Europe?

#6

Post by toadi » Fri, Apr 22, 2011, 8:45 AM UTC

Working as experienced contractor in Belgium you can make between 500 and 650 euro's per day. Less experienced can go from 350 until 500 euro's per day.

As a foreigner working in Belgium and you incorporate in a tax beneficial country you make a decent wage.

If you are going to work as a salaried employee you will take a lot less. So contracting work can be more lucrative.

Re: Programmer salary in mainland Europe?

#7

Post by ido » Fri, Apr 22, 2011, 9:02 AM UTC

I am a programmer living in Vienna (currently self employed, but I was an employee not that long ago).

45,000 EUR is above average programmer pay in Vienna (that is about the same as the highest offer I ever got here, for doing java enterprise stuff about a year ago).

Sounds about right.

However, as a contractor you can make significantly more (500-600 euros/day).

Re: Programmer salary in mainland Europe?

#8

Post by miguel_lourenco » Fri, Apr 22, 2011, 9:03 AM UTC

Salaries do vary significantly between different European countries. For example, salaries in Germany are much higher than in Spain or Portugal. Within a country you can also expect some variation depending on the city. I don't know about Austria in specific but I would expect higher than that.

To give you a point of comparison, in Amsterdam (The Netherlands), I've known of several people with a salary like that, take or give 5k, and around 2-3 years of experience.

Suggestions: Check glassdoor, payscale and those types of sites. Remember to check how much tax you're expected to pay, some countries in Europe have very high taxes. Finally, cost of living, especially property, is a big factor in how much your money will be worth.

Re: Programmer salary in mainland Europe?

#9

Post by mrspeaker » Fri, Apr 22, 2011, 9:08 AM UTC

I can concur that the pay sucks in France - ludicrously low compared to Australian rates (like, half!) and it's not like living expenses are lower, that's for sure. If you're only in it for the dollars, then avoid!

However, bonuses are (at least for me) much much lower working hours. Which means plenty of time for side projects.

Re: Programmer salary in mainland Europe?

#10

Post by DeusExMachina » Fri, Apr 22, 2011, 9:12 AM UTC

I'm a developer living in Amsterdam. From what I see around (in job offers and my last two employments), the pay is around 50K EUR per year for a senior position.

In the last company I was working there were also developers getting 60K. But they had around 10 years of experience.