4 ms·

I don't think there is any value in just comparing salaries across countries, but I'm sure you already know this. Make it more interesting by add in life expect

I don't think there is any value in just comparing salaries across countries, but I'm sure you already know this. Make it more interesting by add in life expectancy or something else, salary is just a number that doesn't matter much unless you start including other numbers too.

kortilla 3y ago
This is a discussion about worker pay. Salary is the metric.
- markus92 3y ago
  I'd say PPE is. Getting paid 5k to spend 4k on rent is pretty similar to getting paid 2k and spending 1k on rent (all else being equal).
  - andybak 3y ago
    > PPE Personal protective equipment?
- capableweb 3y ago
  > This is a discussion about worker pay. Salary is the metric. Disagree, the discussion is about much more than just a metric of salaries. Even if you consider the discussion to only be about salary, doesn't it matter how much of that salary you have to spend on things like health insurance VS other places? As that'd eat from your salary (or not).
Firmwarrior 3y ago
I'd rather work one year at Amazon than 5 years at a nice European country in a walkable city, and that's how the numbers pan out if you're saving for retirement
- capableweb 3y ago
  I'm guessing you're a US-native then? Where this salary/work obsession seems a lot stronger than around here (South-West Europe). My impression is that you work in order to do what you really want later, while we tend to focus on getting a job that pays enough to survive + bit more, but still allows us to do the things we want now, rather than later at/around retirement. Insert story about The Businessman and The Fisherman
  - Firmwarrior 3y ago
    You aren't sitting on a beach playing guitar with your friends if you get a tech job in Germany, you're doing the same boring pain-in-the-ass dead-end work either way. Just with less threat of being randomly fired or mistreated, which isn't even particularly intimidating or stressful when you're sitting on an enormous nest egg
    - capableweb 3y ago
      Since you avoided the question, I'm guessing I was spot on :) And I'd guarantee you that someone who worked five years for a average German company definitely has incurred less mental stress than someone working one year for Amazon, on average. But I also recognize that it's hard to see the difference between the two cultures if you only have the experience of one of them, and the "hard working pays off" system is so heavily ingrained.
      - Firmwarrior 3y ago
        I think you need to go touch grass, or at least check out some real numbers and think about them https://www.levels.fyi/t/software-engineer/locations/berlin-metropolitan-region https://www.levels.fyi/t/software-engineer/locations/berlin-... https://www.levels.fyi/t/software-engineer/locations/san-francisco-bay-area?city=7158 https://www.levels.fyi/t/software-engineer/locations/san-fra... How many years are you going to have to save up to retire at $240k/year vs $80k/year, do you think? Would you rather grind 10 months a year until you're too old to do anything but sit around and watch TV, or would you rather grind 12 months a year for 5-10 years and then do whatever you want for the rest of your life?

kortilla 3y ago

This is a discussion about worker pay. Salary is the metric.

markus92 3y ago
I'd say PPE is. Getting paid 5k to spend 4k on rent is pretty similar to getting paid 2k and spending 1k on rent (all else being equal).
- andybak 3y ago
  > PPE Personal protective equipment?
capableweb 3y ago
> This is a discussion about worker pay. Salary is the metric. Disagree, the discussion is about much more than just a metric of salaries. Even if you consider the discussion to only be about salary, doesn't it matter how much of that salary you have to spend on things like health insurance VS other places? As that'd eat from your salary (or not).

Firmwarrior 3y ago

I'd rather work one year at Amazon than 5 years at a nice European country in a walkable city, and that's how the numbers pan out if you're saving for retirement

capableweb 3y ago
I'm guessing you're a US-native then? Where this salary/work obsession seems a lot stronger than around here (South-West Europe). My impression is that you work in order to do what you really want later, while we tend to focus on getting a job that pays enough to survive + bit more, but still allows us to do the things we want now, rather than later at/around retirement. Insert story about The Businessman and The Fisherman
- Firmwarrior 3y ago
  You aren't sitting on a beach playing guitar with your friends if you get a tech job in Germany, you're doing the same boring pain-in-the-ass dead-end work either way. Just with less threat of being randomly fired or mistreated, which isn't even particularly intimidating or stressful when you're sitting on an enormous nest egg
  - capableweb 3y ago
    Since you avoided the question, I'm guessing I was spot on :) And I'd guarantee you that someone who worked five years for a average German company definitely has incurred less mental stress than someone working one year for Amazon, on average. But I also recognize that it's hard to see the difference between the two cultures if you only have the experience of one of them, and the "hard working pays off" system is so heavily ingrained.
    - Firmwarrior 3y ago
      I think you need to go touch grass, or at least check out some real numbers and think about them https://www.levels.fyi/t/software-engineer/locations/berlin-metropolitan-region https://www.levels.fyi/t/software-engineer/locations/berlin-... https://www.levels.fyi/t/software-engineer/locations/san-francisco-bay-area?city=7158 https://www.levels.fyi/t/software-engineer/locations/san-fra... How many years are you going to have to save up to retire at $240k/year vs $80k/year, do you think? Would you rather grind 10 months a year until you're too old to do anything but sit around and watch TV, or would you rather grind 12 months a year for 5-10 years and then do whatever you want for the rest of your life?