I also make a much higher salary than my SWE friends in the EU. But:
I’ve been at this for 25 years
grinding - my work-life balance is garbage compared to my European friends in SWE
regularly dealing with a fuckton of uncertainty
had my retirement completely gutted by my partner’s cancer treatment
got my stock portfolio screwed up because of my significant ESPP; my theretofore trustworthy, reliable employer decided to sell to a private equity firm
get to travel very little and have to work when I do because of paltry PTO policies; and I get “generous” PTO compared to most of my US SWE peers; my PTO is decadent compared to most US proletariat
I could really go on. That great, yuuuuge, beautiful salary difference is deeply undercut to the point of collapse by everything all of the other costs (not just financial) that are co-requisite to working in the US.
I also make a much higher salary than my SWE friends in the EU. But:
I could really go on. That great, yuuuuge, beautiful salary difference is deeply undercut to the point of collapse by everything all of the other costs (not just financial) that are co-requisite to working in the US.
Yeah the actual numbers don’t mean anything.
If you make $10k/month and have a hard time while somebody makes €2.5k/month and has a comfortable life, who is the richest?