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Given that USD 40K is a pretty decent salary in most of Southern and Eastern Europe, as other people have pointed out, US companies tend to be pretty good emplo

Given that USD 40K is a pretty decent salary in most of Southern and Eastern Europe, as other people have pointed out, US companies tend to be pretty good employers, and why not ? They can pay a fraction of what you would pay US based engineers, have more or less the same quality of work done, and still have happy employees.

expertentipp 9y ago
These are salaries much below the market rate. The same companies oftentimes have massive profits in these countries, profits which are tightly funneled out through IE/NL/LU/British overseas regions.
- Kurtz79 9y ago
  "These are salaries much below the market rate." Are you really comparing US market rate, which even varies inside the US, with that of Eastern Europe ? Or are you saying that USD 40K is much below market rate in Eastern Europe ? In the latter case I'll have to ask for sources, because my experience differs greatly.
  - expertentipp 9y ago
    So Eastern Europe deserves low salaries? Mind you - cars, clothes, petrol, electronics there are more expensive (sic) than in US and cost the same as in more developed EU countries. Social security net and healthcare in Eastern Europe are awfully underfunded and are more comparable to American than to those from more developed EU countries.
    - Mediterraneo10 9y ago
      > Mind you - cars, clothes, petrol, electronics there are more expensive But housing is much cheaper, and that leaves a lot of money left over to buy all those other stuff. In my Eastern European city, I can rent a three-bedroom house with garden for 300€/month. I probably would struggle to do the same with an IT job in Western Europe. Furthermore, it’s strange that you talk about cost of petrol, because IT firms here generally reimburse employees for taxi fares, so that they never have to drive (or use public transportation) unless they live unusually far away. > Social security net and healthcare in Eastern Europe are awfully underfunded Which is why most IT firms here attract employees with nice private healthcare.
      - expertentipp 9y ago
        > three-bedroom house with garden for 300€/month This is not a major eastern European city, certainly not one where IT jobs are available. > here attract employees with nice private healthcare. These private health insurances are hoax. The only thing they cover is a consultation and high five with the doctor, for anything serious involving a stay in the hospital one fallbacks into public health insurance.
        Mediterraneo10 9y ago
        > This is not a major eastern European city, certainly not one where IT jobs are available. Cluj is Romania’s second city and home to buzzing IT sector. Granted, my house is a little farther away than the most popular suburbs for those wanting a whole house, but it is still possible to easily and fairly quickly commute into the city centre each day. Rents will rise even here at some point, but they haven’t yet, and for the IT sector (though unfortunately not for most local people) rises in rents tend to keep pace with rises in salaries. > These private health insurances are hoax. The only thing they cover is a consultation and high five with the doctor Getting even a consultation here from the public sector is unpleasant enough that an opportunity to freely visit the much nicer private clinic is a wonderful thing.
    - Kurtz79 9y ago
      We (actually you) are talking about "market rate". The Eastern Europe "market rate" is lower than the US because cost of living is. I assure you that people earning USD 40K in Eastern Europe have a quality of life comparable to their "market rate" paid US engineer (as people in the same thread are saying). As quality of life improves (also helped by US companies paying above-average rates, compared to the local ones), so will wages and cost of living in general. It's basic economics, it has nothing to do with "deserving" something. If you expect US companies should pay US wages where the market rate is well below that, your expectations are simply not realistic.
      - expertentipp 9y ago
        This sounds like a recruiter/HR person/manager: "in Germany we would have to pay you 60-80k EUR, in the country you are currently in 40k USD is generous... why? look at Numbeo - it cannot lie!"
      - ThePawnBreak 9y ago
        > The Eastern Europe "market rate" is lower than the US because cost of living is. It's the other way around.

expertentipp 9y ago

These are salaries much below the market rate. The same companies oftentimes have massive profits in these countries, profits which are tightly funneled out through IE/NL/LU/British overseas regions.

Kurtz79 9y ago
"These are salaries much below the market rate." Are you really comparing US market rate, which even varies inside the US, with that of Eastern Europe ? Or are you saying that USD 40K is much below market rate in Eastern Europe ? In the latter case I'll have to ask for sources, because my experience differs greatly.
- expertentipp 9y ago
  So Eastern Europe deserves low salaries? Mind you - cars, clothes, petrol, electronics there are more expensive (sic) than in US and cost the same as in more developed EU countries. Social security net and healthcare in Eastern Europe are awfully underfunded and are more comparable to American than to those from more developed EU countries.
  - Mediterraneo10 9y ago
    > Mind you - cars, clothes, petrol, electronics there are more expensive But housing is much cheaper, and that leaves a lot of money left over to buy all those other stuff. In my Eastern European city, I can rent a three-bedroom house with garden for 300€/month. I probably would struggle to do the same with an IT job in Western Europe. Furthermore, it’s strange that you talk about cost of petrol, because IT firms here generally reimburse employees for taxi fares, so that they never have to drive (or use public transportation) unless they live unusually far away. > Social security net and healthcare in Eastern Europe are awfully underfunded Which is why most IT firms here attract employees with nice private healthcare.
    - expertentipp 9y ago
      > three-bedroom house with garden for 300€/month This is not a major eastern European city, certainly not one where IT jobs are available. > here attract employees with nice private healthcare. These private health insurances are hoax. The only thing they cover is a consultation and high five with the doctor, for anything serious involving a stay in the hospital one fallbacks into public health insurance.
      - Mediterraneo10 9y ago
        > This is not a major eastern European city, certainly not one where IT jobs are available. Cluj is Romania’s second city and home to buzzing IT sector. Granted, my house is a little farther away than the most popular suburbs for those wanting a whole house, but it is still possible to easily and fairly quickly commute into the city centre each day. Rents will rise even here at some point, but they haven’t yet, and for the IT sector (though unfortunately not for most local people) rises in rents tend to keep pace with rises in salaries. > These private health insurances are hoax. The only thing they cover is a consultation and high five with the doctor Getting even a consultation here from the public sector is unpleasant enough that an opportunity to freely visit the much nicer private clinic is a wonderful thing.
  - Kurtz79 9y ago
    We (actually you) are talking about "market rate". The Eastern Europe "market rate" is lower than the US because cost of living is. I assure you that people earning USD 40K in Eastern Europe have a quality of life comparable to their "market rate" paid US engineer (as people in the same thread are saying). As quality of life improves (also helped by US companies paying above-average rates, compared to the local ones), so will wages and cost of living in general. It's basic economics, it has nothing to do with "deserving" something. If you expect US companies should pay US wages where the market rate is well below that, your expectations are simply not realistic.
    - expertentipp 9y ago
      This sounds like a recruiter/HR person/manager: "in Germany we would have to pay you 60-80k EUR, in the country you are currently in 40k USD is generous... why? look at Numbeo - it cannot lie!"
    - ThePawnBreak 9y ago
      > The Eastern Europe "market rate" is lower than the US because cost of living is. It's the other way around.