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Comment by blackhawkC17 | Hacker News Reader

Employee loyalty isn’t a good thing. One of the best things about Silicon Valley is that people can swiftly change companies when they get higher offers. Non-competes are void in California.

There’s a reason US salaries for software devs are 2-5x EU salaries for similar roles.

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What if I told you that non - competes aren't a thing in Germany. (And a big part in other parts of US)

Well I'd tell you that they aren't a thing in California.

...as of six months ago.

Anyone could ask you to sign a non-compete. But in California, they have been legally unenforceable for as long as I have been alive.

What was changed is they now cannot make condition of employment based on signing this unenforceable contract.

As someone who has been stuck in Silicon Valley for 20 years I can say hands down the German and European teams I’ve worked with far outshine the hacker ego Hollywood hipster techbros of San Francisco. Yet the latter make 2-5x the income.

Thanks :) (

But I guess there are also very capable American teams and narcissistic European CS.

(I guess it is a very good question why this difference exist and how to change economic policy)

employee loyalty is a good thing if it's bought and not expected

>There’s a reason US salaries for software devs are 2-5x EU salaries for similar roles.

When you account for medical costs, rent (especially compared to the localities in the USA that provide these huge salaries), extra vacation time, and for those with children, education and child care, this gap narrows considerably.

Rent alone... one can find a reasonable spot in Berlin for ~$1300/mo. Good luck finding more than a shared box in the Tenderloin for that much in the Bay Area.

> When you account for medical costs, rent (especially compared to the localities in the USA that provide these huge salaries), extra vacation time, and for those with children, education and child care, this gap narrows considerably.

That's what Europeans generally say to justify or cope with their low salaries, but it's not true. After accounting for all these, an SV, NYC, Seattle, etc., engineer ends up with far more disposable income than their EU counterpart.

The US has the highest average disposable income worldwide; the rest almost don't come close [1]. That's why it has much more entrepreneurial activity.

Yes, the US isn't perfect, but the EU doesn't come close to the US in terms of money for highly skilled professional workers.

1- https://www.statista.com/statistics/725764/oecd-household-di...

>After accounting for all these, an SV, NYC, Seattle, etc., engineer ends up with far more disposable income than their EU counterpart.

I said it narrows the gap, not closes it.

>https://www.statista.com/statistics/725764/oecd-household-di...

Your link is behind a paywall, I can't view that data.

Point noted, Wikipedia breaks down the data better - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disposable_household_and_per_c....

Housing is notably not included here. Further, while it says government or non-profit provided health care and educated are included in the incomes for countries where it's available, the countries where it is NOT available don't show a reduced disposable income to pay for these things. These data do not show what you think they show. They already show a smaller gap than you had originally implied, and as I stated earlier, that gap is going to narrow substantially when the rest of these factors are taken into account.

I agree with you, but OECD's disposable income does not include housing, education, healthcare, or childcare unless they're paid through taxes.

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