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> “Wang said the salaries of his 40-person team for two years cost $700,000.” Good luck with that. If you’re averaging $10k per employee per year over the long
by Ancalagon 7y ago
> “Wang said the salaries of his 40-person team for two years cost $700,000.”
Good luck with that. If you’re averaging $10k per employee per year over the long term, I guarantee anyone with the ability to be a good engineer is still going to come to the US where they can make orders of magnitude more.
- cronix 7y agoMaybe in terms of total dollar amount, but what happens when you take into consideration the cost of living in each country (including subsidies, etc)? I don't know the answer...just talking out loud. I have no idea how far $10k will take you in China.
- whatshisface 7y agoA lot of people make a tricky mistake when adjusting for COL: investment power. Because people can save up and then move, being able to save 10% of a big salary is worth a lot more than being able to save 10% of a small salary. That's why people in California can still beat tech workers in other places in the long run even though the local COL depresses their standard of living down to almost nothing (next to what their pay could buy them elsewhere).
- matz1 7y agoOr maybe US engineer is overpriced.
- creaghpatr 7y agoYeah, but not by that much, not even close.
- 420codebro 7y agoYeah and maybe Uncle Chang steals everything. "Maybe"
- gscott 7y agoConsidering companies will only hire an engineer from a top college, with top scores, with huge student loans the pay should have to match.
- akmarinov 7y agoWell, they kind of contradict themselves later on > The pay discrepancy between Silicon Valley and China has narrowed since he launched in 2014, especially at top-tier firms. Wang’s engineers now make 70 percent to 80 percent of what they could get in America. So it was 700k in 2014, but now it's 70-80% of what US people would make.
- Andhurati 7y agoWith Chinese cost of living. So, no reason to stay in the Bay Area if you were raised in China.
- suyash 7y agoThere are several other reasons for not living in China, have you ever been there? Freedom, Privacy, Pollution, Corruption, Healthcare etc.
- ClutchBand 7y agoThere are many who know and understand that decision, and still move back, so they must (at least some) be factoring things like this into the decision to move back. Perhaps they feel that they can make a difference or perhaps some other reason, but the numbers in the article show that they are going back.
- asdfman123 7y agoIt's probably because there is a healthy tech industry in China and it's home. If could take classes in China and possibly get a job making 50% more there, I'd probably come back to the US instead. A 50% raise isn't enough to justify being half a world away from my family.
- roboys 7y ago4 times less likely to get murdered in China than in USA. Sounds like a better place to raise a kid too.
- mtw 7y agoIf it was just salary, they'd stay here. What's new is the general anti-Chinese climate, where they're suspected of working for Chinese interests, with people reviewing your research and trying to find anything hinting that you might have send files or blueprints to China. I'd also move back if I worked in such conditions. Plus you'd have family and friends back home.
- o8347ov 7y agoIf 80% are returning to China, then they are working for Chinese interests.