Or rather why Europe pays so bad.
I wonder whats the reason behind many american companies being able to pay 200-400kusd a year while its hard to get past 100k usd in the richer countries of Europe (Germany, Scandinavia, UK, etc.). A junior in USA gets more than a senior in Europe. And after 10 years the american may get 2-4x the salary of the european counterpart. In contrast life in USA is often even cheaper.
- Are european companies greedy?
- Are european companies less competitive?
- Are the high taxes and equality in Europe pushing companies to not try harder to reward talent while USA rewards the high performers as they can see the benefits it brings?
What you get for your taxes and employment benefits isn’t always easily measurable in terms of “what do I gain economically right now”. So let me list some of the benefits I think you enjoy, if in an indirect way or in the future:
Many weeks of paid vacation every year, job security, paid parental leave for months, free education for you and your children, free school lunches, free healthcare, subsidized unemployment insurance, subsidized medicine, subsidized public transport, subsidized access to swimming pools and training facilities, base of 401k savings, “unlimited” sick leave (you can not be fired for being sick and will usually get a good portion of your salary for a very long time on sick leave), free or heavily subsidized rehab and accessibility aids like wheelchairs and hearing aids and modifications to your home if you get ill or old, heavily subsidized personal assistance if you get disabled, etc etc.
A safety net not reliant on your employment.
Additionally I want to ideally have happy lawful people around me in my community and society and not homeless, hopeless, sick, uneducated, destitute and desperate people. So I want to build a sustainable society where these things are accessible to everyone and am willing to pay extra for it.