It seems that would be more effective than fining the companies, or the usual "We don't admit to doing anything wrong, but here's some money anyways."
Apologies for the green account, but I would prefer not to have my real name attached to such a discussion.
This atmosphere--along with the kind of proprietary shenanigans that make it difficult or impossible to truly own your own hardware and software stack--is the very opposite of the hacker ethos that created much of the value these barons robbed from the economy.
It would be great if someone could prove me wrong.
I know personal anecdotes doesn't count for much, but I turned down several 80k offers in Berlin. I would expect salaries in Munich to be 10-15% higher due to cost of living.
You're right that 90k USD (~65-70k EUR) for a dev is not unheard of, but it appears to be the final stop on the salary train for that profession, unfortunately.
How is that relevant? (And) Once you factor in healthcare, education (for kids) and housing, I suspect that 90K USD in Berlin goes just as far as 200K USD in Silicon Valley, probably a lot further.
Healthcare is approximately the same cost now from what I've seen with ACA prices in the US. Education is still cheaper, but only if you assume an American student will have zero financial aid. I also doubt this lower price tag offsets the prices and regressive taxation elsewhere throughout the economy.
Germany has $6,000+ deductibles? Thin provider networks that leave out the good doctors and hospitals, and large or even unlimited out-of-pocket limits for out-of-network care?
Monthly premiums are just the beginning of the story.
But we don't need to compare ledgers to show that 80k USD in Berlin, Munich or Frankfurt won't go nearly as far as 200k in SV or SF. That's what exchange rates and the big mac index are for, and that's why I converted the currency to USD in my original comment. You can argue the rate is maybe 10 or 15% off, and I can argue for 10-15% the other way, but no way is a dollar (0.82 EUR) 2-3 times as powerful in Germany.
Are you using ACA? (I am.) Do Germans have to pay $500-$1000/month, maybe more if you're older, for a plan that pays almost 80% of their in-network costs? And speaking of those costs, how much is an endoscopy in Germany? Here I was just quoted $8000.
My point was that the cost of living here is also very high. Sure, there are EU/US trade-offs all over the place, but they are not anywhere near big enough for you (or the GP, or anyone) to just wave away a factor-of-three pay difference.
Btw, yes, last I checked my monthly premium is over 400€, so it cleanly weighs in within the range you name. I switched to private insurance because public 'Krankenkasse' charges a percentage of gross income, which would turn out to be even more. Not complaining, just answering your question in case you really wanted to know.
It's genuinely impressive how you contort people willingly giving their money to Apple, Google, Pixar and Lucasfilm for goods and services into them robbing money from the economy.
I've deliberately kept my account "low-profile" for exactly this reason.
I'm in SV and frequently rub shoulders with these people. Trust me, they're not ignorant. They've picked a side already.
But it's so much easier to play hardball with a new hire who doesn't know anything; thus this kind of thing is "ignored."
> But it's so much easier to play hardball with a new hire who doesn't know anything; thus this kind of thing is "ignored."
I don't know about that though: if I was, say for instance, in a line of business which benefited from skilled developers going into startups rather than established tech companies this kind of news would look like the perfect advertising to me—but I'd still want to keep my head down while it was being discussed.
Basically, the existential question of Old Money is one of taking as much as possible, whereas the hacker ethos operated on more of a giving spirit.