... So why should top notch talent move to Germany, if they can move to Norway, the Netherlands or Switzerland where they earn double or triple? ... Sa

... So why should top notch talent move to Germany, if they can move to Norway, the Netherlands or Switzerland where they earn double or triple? ... Salaries for software devs in The Netherlands aren't really great. Probably worse or the same level as (most of) Germany. Taxes are a huge burden, though expats get a 30% tax exempt ruling [0] for a couple of years. I wouldn't recommend moving to The Netherlands for the salaries. But there might be other reasons to move there. I just left The Netherlands, working from Thailand now and while I earn about half of what I earned in The Netherlands as a freelance dev, I probably save more money in the long run due to lower (practically non-existant) taxation [1] and just a general lower cost of living (especially on the Thai countryside, where I live with my GF and daughter). Oh, I also only work 4 days a week now instead of 5, so better quality of living. I estimate that in The Netherlands my basic cost of living was probably around 2500 EUR a month (mortgage, food, insurance, commuting), but in Thailand for the 3 of us it's around 1000 EUR or so (we built a house here, so no housing costs). P.S.: I don't work for a Thai company, I work remotely (currently for a US client) through my Seychelles offshore company [2]. --- [0]: https://www.expatica.com/nl/finance/Tax-exemption-Dutch-30-percent-ruling-explained_101641.html https://www.expatica.com/nl/finance/Tax-exemption-Dutch-30-p... [1]: https://www.aesinternational.com/education-centre/taxes-for-expats/thailand https://www.aesinternational.com/education-centre/taxes-for-... [2]: https://www.sfm-offshore.com/seychellesoffshorecompany.html https://www.sfm-offshore.com/seychellesoffshorecompany.html