4 ms·

I wonder if we ever crossed over, i also worked for Intel in the west country (Swindon) and now whore myself out to aerospace/defence in the same area. I see w

I wonder if we ever crossed over, i also worked for Intel in the west country (Swindon) and now whore myself out to aerospace/defence in the same area. I see what our engineers are paid and its genuinely concerning.

ktallett 2y ago
Is the UK more in line with the norm though and the US is the outlier? I would say the UK, Europe, and Japan all have similar wages (although Japan has worse benefits and on the whole a larger expectation of workers so it's not like for like.)
- blitzar 2y ago
  > Is the UK more in line with the norm though and the US is the outlier Mostly the US is an outlier. Unfortunately, UK property prices, food prices, utilities etc make Silicon Valley look cheep.
  - gambiting 2y ago
    Not disagreeing with your general point, but UK food is very cheap, compared to almost anywhere in western europe and nowadays with the states too.
    - Xelbair 2y ago
      UK's food, not eating out mind you, is on par with even eastern europe in some cases.
      - ablation 2y ago
        That's a boring, played-out stereotype that wasn't even true 30 years ago, let alone now. If you've never set foot in a UK supermarket I could see you perhaps still languishing under this delusion.
        Symbiote 2y ago
        I think they are referring to the price, not the quality or selection. From a very quick search, a litre of milk is 20% cheaper in the UK compared to France, Germany and even Poland.
        swarnie 2y ago
        But no, food is incredibly cheap. Its true i can't eat steak 4 nights a week as god intended but we manage to scratch cook 3 meals a day for 2 people for £70 a week, £85 with a wine pairing. If you want to forgo eight different vegetables and four different proteins im sure you can do it for less. I know too many people complaining "food is expensive" when all they live off is gas mark 6 / 25 mins beige rubbish.
        gambiting 2y ago
        I literally just came back from a month in Poland, and UK food prices in supermarkets are just as low if not lower. Certainly Aldi prices easily beat Polish supermarket prices on nearly everything, maybe with the exception of baked goods. Don't get me wrong - M&S and Sainsburys are very expensive places to shop. But I don't see the quality at Morrisons or Asda or yes, even Aldi as being any worse and the prices are very low. Go to France or Germany and try to compare, I can bet that for your average buyer groceries will be cheaper.
        Xelbair 2y ago
        I was there twice last year. Food was cheaper. It's not that UK is cheap, it's more that eastern europe has gotten more expensive.
        twic 2y ago
        I think they meant by price, not by quality. And there's nothing wrong with Eastern European food anyway!
    - BoxOfRain 2y ago
      It feels like it's got more expensive though, and worse quality. A lot of the garlic I've had this year has been in a sorry state to use a random example, and as well as food you buy to cook things like fish and chips which used to be a cheap takeaway meal cost a fortune now. The depressing thing is that it'd rise a lot more if supermarkets weren't using their weight to squeeze farmers.
  - dukeyukey 2y ago
    >Unfortunately, UK property prices, food prices, utilities etc make Silicon Valley look cheep. That's not true - UK food is _very_ cheap, and overall living costs are quite a lot less than the UK. Property is the real killer in the UK (and eating out I suppose).
    - ta1243 2y ago
      Eating out is entirely optional, it's property that's the killer, and as everyones wages increase, so does rent, because there's more money chasing the same number of properties.
- robin_reala 2y ago
  US is an outlier. You can look at self-described data for front-end engineers from the annual State of JS survey for an indication (try clicking on USA vs World): https://2024.stateofjs.com/en-US/demographics/#yearly_salary https://2024.stateofjs.com/en-US/demographics/#yearly_salary
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
lordnacho 2y ago
Did you at least get to play with the demo computers? Some of the most fun times before everyone had a super powerful machine were when we got to borrow the top-of-the-line demo machines to play on all weekend. Set up in one of those conference rooms, pizza for everyone.

ktallett 2y ago

Is the UK more in line with the norm though and the US is the outlier? I would say the UK, Europe, and Japan all have similar wages (although Japan has worse benefits and on the whole a larger expectation of workers so it's not like for like.)

blitzar 2y ago
> Is the UK more in line with the norm though and the US is the outlier Mostly the US is an outlier. Unfortunately, UK property prices, food prices, utilities etc make Silicon Valley look cheep.
- gambiting 2y ago
  Not disagreeing with your general point, but UK food is very cheap, compared to almost anywhere in western europe and nowadays with the states too.
  - Xelbair 2y ago
    UK's food, not eating out mind you, is on par with even eastern europe in some cases.
    - ablation 2y ago
      That's a boring, played-out stereotype that wasn't even true 30 years ago, let alone now. If you've never set foot in a UK supermarket I could see you perhaps still languishing under this delusion.
      - Symbiote 2y ago
        I think they are referring to the price, not the quality or selection. From a very quick search, a litre of milk is 20% cheaper in the UK compared to France, Germany and even Poland.
      - swarnie 2y ago
        But no, food is incredibly cheap. Its true i can't eat steak 4 nights a week as god intended but we manage to scratch cook 3 meals a day for 2 people for £70 a week, £85 with a wine pairing. If you want to forgo eight different vegetables and four different proteins im sure you can do it for less. I know too many people complaining "food is expensive" when all they live off is gas mark 6 / 25 mins beige rubbish.
      - gambiting 2y ago
        I literally just came back from a month in Poland, and UK food prices in supermarkets are just as low if not lower. Certainly Aldi prices easily beat Polish supermarket prices on nearly everything, maybe with the exception of baked goods. Don't get me wrong - M&S and Sainsburys are very expensive places to shop. But I don't see the quality at Morrisons or Asda or yes, even Aldi as being any worse and the prices are very low. Go to France or Germany and try to compare, I can bet that for your average buyer groceries will be cheaper.
      - Xelbair 2y ago
        I was there twice last year. Food was cheaper. It's not that UK is cheap, it's more that eastern europe has gotten more expensive.
      - twic 2y ago
        I think they meant by price, not by quality. And there's nothing wrong with Eastern European food anyway!
  - BoxOfRain 2y ago
    It feels like it's got more expensive though, and worse quality. A lot of the garlic I've had this year has been in a sorry state to use a random example, and as well as food you buy to cook things like fish and chips which used to be a cheap takeaway meal cost a fortune now. The depressing thing is that it'd rise a lot more if supermarkets weren't using their weight to squeeze farmers.
- dukeyukey 2y ago
  >Unfortunately, UK property prices, food prices, utilities etc make Silicon Valley look cheep. That's not true - UK food is _very_ cheap, and overall living costs are quite a lot less than the UK. Property is the real killer in the UK (and eating out I suppose).
  - ta1243 2y ago
    Eating out is entirely optional, it's property that's the killer, and as everyones wages increase, so does rent, because there's more money chasing the same number of properties.
robin_reala 2y ago
US is an outlier. You can look at self-described data for front-end engineers from the annual State of JS survey for an indication (try clicking on USA vs World): https://2024.stateofjs.com/en-US/demographics/#yearly_salary https://2024.stateofjs.com/en-US/demographics/#yearly_salary
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

lordnacho 2y ago

Did you at least get to play with the demo computers? Some of the most fun times before everyone had a super powerful machine were when we got to borrow the top-of-the-line demo machines to play on all weekend. Set up in one of those conference rooms, pizza for everyone.