I'm working out of Seattle at present as an SDE2, visa status is L1 (pending extension) - if my visa gets rejected, I'm considering a few options like moving back to home country, or some other European country with in Amazon I'm wondering if the TC - Cost of living in European countries is at least as much as it is in the U.S. I also heard that Amazon makes it possible to stay on the U.S. payroll for sometime after moving overseas - can someone shed light on this please?
London comp is half of Bay Area, living expense can be even more. The farther east you go the less TC $, but cost drops faster. E.g. if you go to Sophia, Bulgaria the comp can be 20-40k, but living cost is trivial.
Highest compensation in Europe will be in Switzerland and UK, but the cost of living is also quite high. You will definitely save less compared to working in Bay Area or Seattle, while housing prices, at least in London, are freaking high.
My rule of thumb to convert UK salary to US salary is convert from GBP to USD and x2. So at 250k USD you could expect ballpark 100k GBP. London is one of the most unaffordable cities in Europe. Cost of living is ridiculous and wages just don't keep up. The only reason ever to live there is to advance your career and bail, or because you REALLY love it. Don't get me wrong, 100k GBP is plenty to live, but forget about buying a property or splurging too much. I'm afraid that if big money is your game, Europe is not the place to be. The places that pay best are also more expensive, and conversely cheaper places pay less. Amazon has big offices in Dublin, London, Luxembourg and Germany (Berlin, Munich). You could also try to move to smaller offices in cheaper countries, but your salary would take a hit and also probably your career would slow down. Ultimately these places are so different that which one you choose will boil down to which place adapts best to your taste and lifestyle. Money wise, don't expect any to come close to the US.
TC is definitely lower, madrid location for example pays 45% of non bay area TC, and I know bay area has a higher TC at Amazon. Cost of living in madrid was not that lower than thr US, except perhaps for housing, and you might not need a car there...after doing some research around the reasons, turned out its all about demand, SWE are in high demand in the US driving wages higher, than other european cities...for exemple a SWE in madrid makes around the median salary of the population, where here they are around 25% higher than the median salary, on average...
Great inputs everyone! Thanks so much
Rule of thumb for London - 25-30% discount on US comp and apply exchange rate. Switzerland is roughly the same all-in.
Some people say "housing too expensive in bay area" some still want to go London.
US is at least 1.5X more
Thanks! I just edited my original post with one more question... By any chance, do you have a comment?