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Comment by emptysongglass | Hacker News Reader

Your comment implies European tech workers are somehow less passionate or that passionate tech workers can't be found here. This is a harmful myth that perpetuates our depressed wages. We're not America's backwater for tech sourcing. We're just as capable and passionate.

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> Your comment implies European tech workers are somehow less passionate or that passionate tech workers can't be found here.

No, it implies that there are Americans who don't care about their work and there are Europeans who don't care about their work. But the former are far more pricey.

The original comment was easy to misinterpret; I had the same thought until I reached the last few words.

With all due respect, as a European myself, the ones who are passionate about tech do not stay out of the US for long. There are notable exceptions of course but the immigration statistics and subsequent brain drain is undeniable. The only notable tech company to come out of Europe in the last decade is Spotify.

I don't agree - moving to the US is about chasing the money.

> The only notable tech company to come out of Europe in the last decade is Spotify.

I think this is incredibly dismissive of a huge number of tech companies that are european. ASML are dutch, and ARM are a UK company. Neither are startups, but both are foundations of the bleeding edge of tech this decade.

The fintech space is brimming with startups in europe, and to the best of my knowledge this is far superior to the situation in the US.

> ASML are dutch, and ARM are a UK company

I guess it’s much easier for them to compete for workers since IIRC Intel (and I assume others in the sector) don’t pay that well compared to software companies

> This is a harmful myth that perpetuates our depressed wages

In some European countries, conditions are more favorable to workers, and this can be reflected in the wages as well. For instance, an employee in France will enjoy 35 weeks of holiday per year (not including public holidays), and also stronger protections regarding layoffs. This is somewhat expected that wages are also lower.

EDIT: 35 days, not weeks.

You possibly meant 35 days per year.

Weeks

Given French stereotypes, I'm not sure, heh.

French side do weeks not days like Americans. That is why French can't compete with the rest of EU. If you think Americam boomers bad, ENTIRE France is a glorified boomers on steroid. To be fair their income tax rate is 70%. So work hard? Reagan once forgo the other half of the year of work once he max his marginal tax rate.

Income tax rate is far from 70% (not sure if this was second degree or not).

Up to €10,777 = 0% From €10,778 to €27,478 = 11% From €27,479 to €78,570 = 30% From €78,571 to €168,994 = 41% More than €168,994 = 45%

https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F1419?l...

You need to add "cotisations sociales" (not tax per se, social security and such), which is I believe a 22% flat tax. So that would make 67% for the last bracket. But there are other differences. For instance, if you're married or/and have kids, you can have important benefits. Also RSUs are taxed differently.

Overall, tax is high in France, but not that different from other countries. Even in the US, certain places like NYC are heavily taxed. And you also need to see what tax gives you. I don't mind to pay tax if that gives me (and everybody else living here) access to healthcare, security, education or a decent future pension. Now whether France still provide these things is up to debate.

35 days, that's correct!

but they are not just somewhat lower, they are massively lower. Is 1-2 extra week really worth $50-100k? Also many (most?) tech companies offer more than 2 weeks in the US

I read this as since Evernote is not a cutting edge, hypey startup they don’t need to have as high a calibre/pay grade of staff as they currently do have by being based in California. Hence can halve labour costs by moving to Europe and still maintain a decent standard of technical employee.

The protestant work ethic is becoming a thing of the past.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant_work_ethic

The replacement now is the "hustler's work ethic", which takes away the virtues from the traditional work ethic.

Loyalty and hard work are a two-way street. Companies generally haven’t demonstrated loyalty; employees are forced to reciprocate lest they find themselves unemployed and unemployable.

Because we replaced good faith business people with the root of all societal decadence known as the "Masters of Business Administration".

I think the comment implies the opposite

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