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Anecdotal data, but you are wrong. If you count total comp FB London pays waaaay more than British tech companies and pretty much anything outside of high finan

Anecdotal data, but you are wrong. If you count total comp FB London pays waaaay more than British tech companies and pretty much anything outside of high finance. The salaries aren't that much lower from what you'll get in Silicon Valley.

angarg12 6y ago
Data? From my experience, my colleagues in Seattle make about twice as much as I do in the UK. Raw numbers, not counting taxes, cost of living, etc. In general a new hire in US can make as much as a senior in EU. Comparing income between countries is very difficult due to a lot of factors (different currency, cost of living, taxes, social benefits like health and education...) but I don't think is hard to argue that tech workers are paid much better in the US than they are in the EU, factoring everything in.
- nine_zeros 6y ago
  Why compare with Seattle? Also just because Seattle gets more, does that mean its not worthwhile to have higher wages in UK? What kind of reductionist point of view is this? It has been clearly observed that the standards of living and wages have gone up in countries that have invested in tech over last 20 years. These countries are USA, India, China and Canada recently. Don't you want higher than what you are getting now? Make it easy for industry to survive and operate there.
  - themacguffinman 6y ago
    > Why compare with Seattle? Because if Seattle has significantly higher wages, the best talent will move to Seattle.
    - nine_zeros 6y ago
      > Because if Seattle has significantly higher wages, the best talent will move to Seattle. Not if the entry to Seattle is blocked. In which case, the employers have to move to where the best talent is.
      - themacguffinman 6y ago
        Not if that means they have to move everywhere (which only big tech can afford), and not if the EU continues to be a bad environment for startups to flourish. The best talent will be underpaid or scattered, which is the point.
filoleg 6y ago
>If you count total comp FB London pays waaaay more than British tech companies and pretty much anything outside of high finance. I am in agreement with you here. Even with the abysmal FB London compensation (compared to heavy majority of tech companies in SV/Seattle/Austin/NYC), it is still way higher than local equivalent tech companies. This just reinforces the point I was making in my previous comment. >The salaries aren't that much lower from what you'll get in Silicon Valley. They are much lower than in SV/Seattle/Austin/NYC, if you count total comp (which is what majority of people in tech actually count, because the base cash pay becomes less and less relevant the higher you get promoted). And that's not even mentioning taxes and such being much lower in the US(no state income tax in Seattle/Austin at all, for example, only federal). P.S. on my last point, there is no need to bring up insurance costs that don't come included with lower taxes in the US, as majority of tech companies in the US provide amazing insurance coverage for pretty much no extra charge.

angarg12 6y ago

Data? From my experience, my colleagues in Seattle make about twice as much as I do in the UK. Raw numbers, not counting taxes, cost of living, etc. In general a new hire in US can make as much as a senior in EU. Comparing income between countries is very difficult due to a lot of factors (different currency, cost of living, taxes, social benefits like health and education...) but I don't think is hard to argue that tech workers are paid much better in the US than they are in the EU, factoring everything in.

nine_zeros 6y ago
Why compare with Seattle? Also just because Seattle gets more, does that mean its not worthwhile to have higher wages in UK? What kind of reductionist point of view is this? It has been clearly observed that the standards of living and wages have gone up in countries that have invested in tech over last 20 years. These countries are USA, India, China and Canada recently. Don't you want higher than what you are getting now? Make it easy for industry to survive and operate there.
- themacguffinman 6y ago
  > Why compare with Seattle? Because if Seattle has significantly higher wages, the best talent will move to Seattle.
  - nine_zeros 6y ago
    > Because if Seattle has significantly higher wages, the best talent will move to Seattle. Not if the entry to Seattle is blocked. In which case, the employers have to move to where the best talent is.
    - themacguffinman 6y ago
      Not if that means they have to move everywhere (which only big tech can afford), and not if the EU continues to be a bad environment for startups to flourish. The best talent will be underpaid or scattered, which is the point.

filoleg 6y ago

>If you count total comp FB London pays waaaay more than British tech companies and pretty much anything outside of high finance. I am in agreement with you here. Even with the abysmal FB London compensation (compared to heavy majority of tech companies in SV/Seattle/Austin/NYC), it is still way higher than local equivalent tech companies. This just reinforces the point I was making in my previous comment. >The salaries aren't that much lower from what you'll get in Silicon Valley. They are much lower than in SV/Seattle/Austin/NYC, if you count total comp (which is what majority of people in tech actually count, because the base cash pay becomes less and less relevant the higher you get promoted). And that's not even mentioning taxes and such being much lower in the US(no state income tax in Seattle/Austin at all, for example, only federal). P.S. on my last point, there is no need to bring up insurance costs that don't come included with lower taxes in the US, as majority of tech companies in the US provide amazing insurance coverage for pretty much no extra charge.