>> I relocated from another continent. My company gives decent relocation/signing bonuses, so I assume our competitors do too. Not really. From my experience,

>> I relocated from another continent. My company gives decent relocation/signing bonuses, so I assume our competitors do too. Not really. From my experience, only very large companies can sometimes offer you about 1-2K as a compensation for your relocation expenses and that's it. Consider yourself very lucky. >> the market rate is what it is, no company in its right mind is going to hire someone asking for +50% with no good reason. High living expenses is a good reason already. Also, what is not immediately obvious, an employee whose mind is constantly occupied with things like looking for a cheaper apartment or finding a more paying employment is not going to be performing well. He/she has other needs and building your product well just isn't high priority for them.