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> Considering Germany is an economic powerhouse Having seen piles of headlines about stagnant wage growth in Germany, I had to look up some stats, and found th

> Considering Germany is an economic powerhouse Having seen piles of headlines about stagnant wage growth in Germany, I had to look up some stats, and found these links: https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/wage-growth https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/wage-growth https://tradingeconomics.com/germany/wage-growth https://tradingeconomics.com/germany/wage-growth Except for 2009/10 being particularly bad in the US, wage growth seems much stronger in the US. And when I look at tech salaries in the EU, I'm not sure I want that. Or at least that attitude to compensation.

jamesmcm 8y ago
> And when I look at tech salaries in the EU, I'm not sure I want that. Or at least that attitude to compensation. This the same everywhere outside the US though. Salaries are much lower as the skill ceiling tends to be much lower and there is more skilled labour available. The US just has a huge amount of investment, a small skilled labour force and a more meritocratic outlook in general (bear in mind, even just 50 years ago, being a manager or not would depend on your family and school in the UK for example, and you wouldn't even eat with your subordinates). I don't think worker representation would change much there, the Americans already have it so good.
- Eridrus 8y ago
  I think looking at relative growth numbers is illustrative. Germany should have an easier time hitting high percentage growth than the US, starting from a lower total, but they don't. Though the rest of the continent is doing even worse. But anyway, it makes arguments of "look how well Germany is doing" not very compelling to me. I don't hate the idea of codetermination tbh, but I do have lots of questions about how it would work in practice. At the very least you have to ask whether contractors get a vote, which gets you into a question if incentive and which workers are more or less aligned with a company.

jamesmcm 8y ago

> And when I look at tech salaries in the EU, I'm not sure I want that. Or at least that attitude to compensation. This the same everywhere outside the US though. Salaries are much lower as the skill ceiling tends to be much lower and there is more skilled labour available. The US just has a huge amount of investment, a small skilled labour force and a more meritocratic outlook in general (bear in mind, even just 50 years ago, being a manager or not would depend on your family and school in the UK for example, and you wouldn't even eat with your subordinates). I don't think worker representation would change much there, the Americans already have it so good.

Eridrus 8y ago
I think looking at relative growth numbers is illustrative. Germany should have an easier time hitting high percentage growth than the US, starting from a lower total, but they don't. Though the rest of the continent is doing even worse. But anyway, it makes arguments of "look how well Germany is doing" not very compelling to me. I don't hate the idea of codetermination tbh, but I do have lots of questions about how it would work in practice. At the very least you have to ask whether contractors get a vote, which gets you into a question if incentive and which workers are more or less aligned with a company.