I understand there is a significant pay cut. But isn't the lifestyle and wlb better there. Are there people here who moved Europe. How do u like it there. Is there racism. Is the pay cut significant enough to make u unhappy.
Overall the purchasing power in Europe is even better than on average in the US. Pay cut is significant if you have US obligations, which might be a bummer. WLB and job safety / employee rights are definitely better in Europe. Racism is also higher than in the US - not in the workplace but rather in the European working class neighborhoods. Last but not least happiness has absolutely nothing to do with money or pay cuts. You can be the happiest guy in the world without a penny.
Purchasing power is definitely not higher in Europe with SWE pay, since the salary is so much lower, taxes are higher and COL is similar
COL is way lower in most places in Europe. Take Germany for example. You get usually much more quality in anything for the buck. Properly built housing vs American wooden sheds, proper food standards, way better restaurants, reliable and efficient bereaucracy, excellent health care while still affordable, free schools and universities, cheap travel, extremely good tax incentives for investment etc. Edit a good senior developer can make 100k+ EUR in places like Paris, Berlin, Munich or Vienna. If tax bothers you so much look at Luxembourg or Switzerland, COL is higher there though, but tax is lower than in the US and TC of 180-200 CHF in tech are not unusual. It really depends on the place. Surely Eastern Europe is a different story. But the further east you go, the cheaper property becomes. You could buy a farm for 100k easily in Romania...
Throughout most of Europe mono-cultures persist so a lot of the culture clashing that inspires racism in the US is avoided. Many countries do have serious immigration related race concerns so there will definitely be some resentment if you are seen as related to the refugee crisis. WLB and lifestyle will vary heavily based on country/city; but overall WLB is better than in the US. Most of the cultures in the US, especially Scandinavian, discourage open displays of wealth/excess which contribute significantly to the fact that people are happier since there is no Jone’s family to keep up with. To that point, Tech jobs still pay above average across Europe (about 10-15% above average compared with over 50% above average in the US) so if you appreciate the lifestyle the money is more than enough to live comfortably in the culture
I moved from Europe to Asia and I feel much happier. Although I’d like to retire in Europe. If we compare Europe to the US, we need to be more specific. Europe is huge.
A coworker went to work in Europe for FB. He took a 30% pay cut but wouldn't move back for anything. He said there were struggles early on but now he loves everything about it.
Which country?