3 ms·

I'm sure they do pay well, it's just that they seem to assume that ever random person in Europe would be jumping to work for them. I'd have to be around the $1

I'm sure they do pay well, it's just that they seem to assume that ever random person in Europe would be jumping to work for them. I'd have to be around the $150k in a city where large (180-200m2 inside on 600-800m2 land, with a double garage) high quality house would cost $2000 a month in mortgage payments. That's basically where I stand now. I have no idea what houses cost in the places they were talking about (Toronto and somewhere in the US iirc). That's to be even just for me and that's just to say even. Which is of course not even slightly interesting if you're talking about emigrating. For my wife you're talking between 4-6x that amount (which is where the profit sharing comes in). From the emails I've exchanged with recruiters it was basically a no-go. I don't know what they could actually offer but the recruiters have all stopped replying after I mention that :-)

radicalbyte 7y ago
All of this said: money isn't everything. Actually for us it's not a top priority. Our kids, having a healthy work/life balance, doing work which is positive to society. That's way more important. So we do leave a lot of money on the table: my wife priorities quality of care to the bottom line for her patients. I have chosen to bill way less the last two years so I can help with community work, help with my father-in-law who had a stroke (and cancer) and to invest in building my own products. In the future I might either stop or do software development/consultancy for charities/community stuff. I don't need a big car or lots of environment destroying vacations to be fulfilled in life.
GCA10 7y ago
That's artful! Your salary request is very reasonable assuming you've got the kinds of skills Amazon wants. Which is obviously the case. But your housing parameters will freak them out. I'm seeing that the average house within Toronto city limits goes for $1.39 million. Your mortgage-payment cap lets you borrow only $410,000 or so at current Canadian rates. So they need to pay you a lot more to get you into the house you want. And at that stage, they turn pale and get off the phone.
- radicalbyte 7y ago
  Yeah, that's about 2-2.5x what it costs here; the 2k a month is what you pay on a loan of 500k for 30 years repayment. I have absolutely 0 interest in moving, it's nice here: we have a proper Democracy (proportional representation), you can cycle everywhere and the culture is socially liberal* and understanding. * The Netherlands is very socially liberal, but I live in the Bible Belt where a large proportion are socially conservative. However people learn to accept each other's differences and the PR ensures that certain groups don't get a disproportionate voice. I actually like living here: Bible Belt means community and a similar decency standard whilst live-and-let-live means that our LGBT friends can actually live their lives in the open.

radicalbyte 7y ago

All of this said: money isn't everything. Actually for us it's not a top priority. Our kids, having a healthy work/life balance, doing work which is positive to society. That's way more important. So we do leave a lot of money on the table: my wife priorities quality of care to the bottom line for her patients. I have chosen to bill way less the last two years so I can help with community work, help with my father-in-law who had a stroke (and cancer) and to invest in building my own products. In the future I might either stop or do software development/consultancy for charities/community stuff. I don't need a big car or lots of environment destroying vacations to be fulfilled in life.

GCA10 7y ago

That's artful! Your salary request is very reasonable assuming you've got the kinds of skills Amazon wants. Which is obviously the case. But your housing parameters will freak them out. I'm seeing that the average house within Toronto city limits goes for $1.39 million. Your mortgage-payment cap lets you borrow only $410,000 or so at current Canadian rates. So they need to pay you a lot more to get you into the house you want. And at that stage, they turn pale and get off the phone.

radicalbyte 7y ago
Yeah, that's about 2-2.5x what it costs here; the 2k a month is what you pay on a loan of 500k for 30 years repayment. I have absolutely 0 interest in moving, it's nice here: we have a proper Democracy (proportional representation), you can cycle everywhere and the culture is socially liberal* and understanding. * The Netherlands is very socially liberal, but I live in the Bible Belt where a large proportion are socially conservative. However people learn to accept each other's differences and the PR ensures that certain groups don't get a disproportionate voice. I actually like living here: Bible Belt means community and a similar decency standard whilst live-and-let-live means that our LGBT friends can actually live their lives in the open.