A very free-market take. Do you believe that a fresh graduate at FAANG is really generating 6 figures in value? Do you believe that US employees on average generate 3x the value of their European counterparts?
On average no; but it's the easiest way to get to the front of the line for finding the ones that do justify it.
> Do you believe that US employees on average generate 3x the value of their European counterparts?
Yes.
> Yes.
Hilarious that you think that doesn't even warrant a justification.
The actual problem is how you measure "value". We're used to valuing technical work on technical merits, but the market just thinks in money, dollar/euro amounts. And of course it's no fault of European employees that their "value" is significantly lower than their US counterparts -- it's probably due to company leadership, differences in regulatory environment, geopolitical and macro-economical factors, and history (the fact that modern computing started in Silicon Valley is significant).
> A very free-market take.
I'd argue that the free-market take would be that pay is a function of supply and demand, not value. As an example, musicians provide a ton of value, but the free market dictates that they aren't paid a lot, because people who would like to make music for a living are a dime a dozen.
Now that chasing growth has gone out of fashion and cutting costs is on the table, I suspect companies might lean more towards hiring cheaper, non-US workforce after the layoffs have settled down.