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Almost any other western country other than the US and Switzerland will massively pull down the average. Especially in the US salaries are extremely inflated. I

Almost any other western country other than the US and Switzerland will massively pull down the average. Especially in the US salaries are extremely inflated. I know academics in physics who are effectively chained to the US because they are so used to the huge amount of money. In Germany for example you cannot expect to make more than 70k euro max, probably more like 50-55k euro a year even as a senior software engineer. I don't think a lot of americans appreciate how vastly inflated american wages are

housingisaright 4y ago
Salaries in the eu is most def. Lower than us, but earning 100k with a couple years experience is pretty common in London/Berlin/Scandinavia etc. Biggest difference is that not a lot of people are earning 200k+ salaries in eu.
- bowsamic 4y ago
  100k in Berlin is pretty extreme, Scandinavia and London I can see it more. I live in Hamburg and 100k is basically unheard of.
  - badpun 4y ago
    In Europe, good money is in contracting. For senior devs, salaried jobs are for people who for some reason won't switch to contracts (e.g. they're immigrants and need a full time job for visa purposes)
wiseowise 4y ago
> Especially in the US salaries are extremely inflated. Funny way to spell "fairly compensated".
- bowsamic 4y ago
  I didn't spell it wrong, you are suggesting a different idea. Own up to it rather than using a lame linguistic deflection tactic. It is beyond fair compensation, because the standard of living is fine in Europe, even though I know a lot of americans think we live in squalor. The pay in the US is beyond what can possibly be expected in other developed countries.
  - throwaway675309 4y ago
    You'd be singing a different tune if you were a US citizen with our complete lack of socialized safety net, inadequate health care system, etc etc. I'm sorry as a non-US citizen that you're so poorly compensated, but clearly the market and corporations can afford to pay much better than they do in Europe.
    - adventured 4y ago
      > our complete lack of socialized safety net The US spends a larger share of its GDP on its social safety net than Canada does. What you're confused about is the difference between what a nation spends and what it gets for that spending. The US doesn't lack a social safety net, it has exceptionally incompetent government systems at the state and federal level while simultaneously spending a very large sum on its mediocre social safety net. US Government systems spend like European welfare states and the US doesn't get the same results from that spending. If the poorest 1/4 of the population being covered by wildly expensive (for the taxpayer), free healthcare isn't part of a social safety net, then what qualifies exactly? EBT (free food for the poor, aka food stamps) and Housing First are two other prominent social safety net programs. The US spends an enormous amount of money on EBT ($111b just at the federal level for 2021). The US housing first program was so successful it brought the US homelessness rate down to approximately where France and Canada are at. Social Security and Medicare are social safety net programs, and the two largest by cost in world history. Neither program pays for itself properly, it's subsidized by taxpayers (and more so by the day).
      - csomar 4y ago
        The US also has a large incompetent population, compared to Europe. Europe only recently got a huge surge of under-skilled refugees, and this should weigh down on the system (some countries like Italy/Spain are already near bankruptcy). The US also spends a lot on its military, which is part of the social safety net. Europe ignored military for other expenses and is now paying heavily for it. That being said, the US does not make good use of its resources. But it's a much harder problem that you'd expect.
    - 4y ago
roguas 4y ago
Ok, having recently worked in Germany its a bit overexaggerated. I think now, senior engineers can be reaching 80-110k quite easily. Secondly, american wages are not inflated but are high due to original demand being in US.
- bowsamic 4y ago
  Where did you work in Germany? I've never heard of a 100k wage. My wife is a senior design engineer and she makes 55k in Hamburg

housingisaright 4y ago

Salaries in the eu is most def. Lower than us, but earning 100k with a couple years experience is pretty common in London/Berlin/Scandinavia etc. Biggest difference is that not a lot of people are earning 200k+ salaries in eu.

bowsamic 4y ago
100k in Berlin is pretty extreme, Scandinavia and London I can see it more. I live in Hamburg and 100k is basically unheard of.
- badpun 4y ago
  In Europe, good money is in contracting. For senior devs, salaried jobs are for people who for some reason won't switch to contracts (e.g. they're immigrants and need a full time job for visa purposes)

wiseowise 4y ago

> Especially in the US salaries are extremely inflated. Funny way to spell "fairly compensated".

bowsamic 4y ago
I didn't spell it wrong, you are suggesting a different idea. Own up to it rather than using a lame linguistic deflection tactic. It is beyond fair compensation, because the standard of living is fine in Europe, even though I know a lot of americans think we live in squalor. The pay in the US is beyond what can possibly be expected in other developed countries.
- throwaway675309 4y ago
  You'd be singing a different tune if you were a US citizen with our complete lack of socialized safety net, inadequate health care system, etc etc. I'm sorry as a non-US citizen that you're so poorly compensated, but clearly the market and corporations can afford to pay much better than they do in Europe.
  - adventured 4y ago
    > our complete lack of socialized safety net The US spends a larger share of its GDP on its social safety net than Canada does. What you're confused about is the difference between what a nation spends and what it gets for that spending. The US doesn't lack a social safety net, it has exceptionally incompetent government systems at the state and federal level while simultaneously spending a very large sum on its mediocre social safety net. US Government systems spend like European welfare states and the US doesn't get the same results from that spending. If the poorest 1/4 of the population being covered by wildly expensive (for the taxpayer), free healthcare isn't part of a social safety net, then what qualifies exactly? EBT (free food for the poor, aka food stamps) and Housing First are two other prominent social safety net programs. The US spends an enormous amount of money on EBT ($111b just at the federal level for 2021). The US housing first program was so successful it brought the US homelessness rate down to approximately where France and Canada are at. Social Security and Medicare are social safety net programs, and the two largest by cost in world history. Neither program pays for itself properly, it's subsidized by taxpayers (and more so by the day).
    - csomar 4y ago
      The US also has a large incompetent population, compared to Europe. Europe only recently got a huge surge of under-skilled refugees, and this should weigh down on the system (some countries like Italy/Spain are already near bankruptcy). The US also spends a lot on its military, which is part of the social safety net. Europe ignored military for other expenses and is now paying heavily for it. That being said, the US does not make good use of its resources. But it's a much harder problem that you'd expect.
  - 4y ago

roguas 4y ago

Ok, having recently worked in Germany its a bit overexaggerated. I think now, senior engineers can be reaching 80-110k quite easily. Secondly, american wages are not inflated but are high due to original demand being in US.

bowsamic 4y ago
Where did you work in Germany? I've never heard of a 100k wage. My wife is a senior design engineer and she makes 55k in Hamburg