11 yoe Senior Software Developer here, I'm working at a non FAANG job, 180k. I'm looking at moving to Europe in the next few months. The salaries look about 1/3 of what I make, and yet the cost of living seems to be the same with higher taxes. While I'm willing to sacrifice that to move, I'm wondering if there's a best of both worlds approach? Perhaps get a FAANG job and relocate first day? It would be nice to just keep my job and work remote late nights, but I think I need a work visa to live over in Europe , and that needs to be sponsored by a European company. Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks
ActorNightly|1 year ago
Basically, from a "tired of US bullshit" perspective, if you can land a job in US, your best bet is to stay here as long as possible while saving as much money as possible, and ride it out. You will be better off financially if you have to move.
Otherwise, landing a remote job here with flexible work hours is the second best thing. You just have to basically solve for the Visa issue. My old coworker that managed to get a student visa and is basically enrolled in some university for like over 4 years now, so he can legally stay in the country, while working for US company, with his parents house in US as a permanent address.
Getting into FAANG and relocating can be done, but its not really that simple. You would have to find an opening overseas and be justified in moving there, or be senior enough to have a skip level manager approve it.
Otherwise, you just simply start applying for jobs. Denmark and Germany are your best bets. If you have a job offer, you can apply for a work permit, and then depending on the place there are different requirements for permanent residency, and then eventually citizenship.
toomuchtodo|1 year ago
Edit: Spain's economy is also doing pretty well as of recently [2].
[1] https://www.exteriores.gob.es/Consulados/losangeles/en/Servi...
[2] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/18/how-spains-rad...
IncreasePosts|1 year ago
It might be different if you have some very special skillset or are ultra high level, but it will be difficult for a run of the mill senior swe to do.
aylmao|1 year ago
As far as I know they still pay more than average for the area, but you wouldn't keep your USA salary.
kyriakos|1 year ago
There are also favourable tax schemes that go along. Finding a remote US job, moving to EU, getting better tax terms than residents will be a good experience as long as working hours are flexible.
red-iron-pine|1 year ago
anilr|1 year ago
People didn't worry about 401Ks & IRA - it's expected the security system and standard pension from working is sufficient.
People didn't worry about saving for kids college - they are close to free; same for healthcare.
You have 6 weeks of vacation (one job I had gave 9 weeks); and it's normal to take 2-3 weeks off at a time. In the US, from my experience, people don't leave for more than a week, and most of the work they missed is waiting for them upon their return.
davidw|1 year ago
This was such a big letdown when I moved back to the US from Italy. Over there, at the company I worked at, there were two big groups that mostly ate lunch together - those who brought something from home, and those who walked over to the local cafe to have some pasta or a salad or something.
People in Italy are pretty good at just kind of coexisting... like we weren't best friends or anything, but everyone was pretty friendly and cordial and we talked about stuff outside of work, and it was just a pleasant experience.
I'd forgotten about US work culture by the time we moved back here and in my new job, I asked a few people if anyone went to lunch regularly and got blank looks, and then I remembered what things are like here and had kind of a sad moment.
VirusNewbie|1 year ago
I doubt quality of life is higher for senior engineers at big tech companies, other than having more time off. How many engineers have 3,000 sq ft house? How many can retire in their 50s if they want? Can they afford private tutors or nannies or fly first class?
globnomulous|1 year ago
Would I receive citizenship, if I wanted it? If not, how much would I set myself back in the USA for retirement by paying into the Danish system? Currently the US and Denmark have some tax arrangements that slightly ameliorate this problem, but would I really want to stake my future on the durability and reliability of these agreements?
Would I have access to the prescription drugs I need? Fun fact: I wouldn't. Denmark's medical system generally will not prescribe Adderall for ADHD. They prescribe Ritalin, which doesn't work for me and causes me awful bouts of rage.
Just FYI, as far as I'm aware, you will not be able to get a FAANG job and then just pick up and move to another country. I know for a fact it wouldn't be permitted at my FAANG-ish company, for reasons having to do with tax law, employment law, and company policies regarding benefits and pay scale. And I'm not saying that my company would dock your pay but permit it. I'm saying they'd wish you luck and terminate your job. The only time it's a possibility, I think, is when you've been at the company for a while and your manager is willing to go to bat for you. But even then there's no guarantee that the company will accept the arrangement.
jijijijij|1 year ago
Not sure about Denmark, but at least in Germany immediate release stims for adults are not covered/approved. Neither methylphenidate, nor amphetamine. However, both are covered as extended release formulations (e.g. Medikinet/Ritalin adult, Elvanse adult). And both can be prescribed as IR, or XR privately, which means you have to pay for it yourself (e.g. ~20€ per for 50 pills Ritalin).
radicalbyte|1 year ago
Housing is expensive - I watched Louis Rossman's videos a couple of years ago when he was looking for property around NYC and was shocked at the relatively low prices ($500k for large detached houses within 30-45mins commute of a major city at a time when it'd cost $700k for something similar here).
It took me a year to get to C1 level in Dutch when I came over 20 years ago but many people don't bother. You need that to get citizenship (after 5 years of residency) so I would recommend it. Cost me $3k at a Uni fast track (3 x 2 hour a week for a year) to do, most employers will be flexible to enable you to do it.
throaway-1931|1 year ago
Also, 30% ruling doesn't mean paying 0 tax (https://thetax.nl) and it's not guaranteed. The government decided that 8 years was too much and decided to lower it for people already in the country. I know it well, it happened to me.
buildfocus|1 year ago
Remote for the US is definitely still the best way to get the benefit of the difference though, and even with a lower paying US role in return that could be worthwhile.
Remote work visas for Spain and I think Portugal are designed for exactly that case and should fit the bill nicely if you have remote work. Alternatively if you can't get any, it gets significantly more complicated - finding a well-off-relative-to-local-cost-of-living local software job is quite possible in many many major EU cities, but will take time and require some adjustment en route (to local norms, paperwork, and languages) so the visa situation can be challenging. Doable but requires research and work.
WhatsName|1 year ago
Generally quality of life and especially food is better in europe. Also people tend to get better work-life balance.
pllbnk|1 year ago
There's certainly a gap between what companies show on the job ads and what they are really willing to pay for good candidates.
As pointed out in other comments, you get around 1 month of vacation. It is often possible to negotiate more vacation days in favor of lower salary or perhaps request a remote work. There's a lot of flexibility.
snozolli|1 year ago
https://visaguide.world/europe/eu-citizenship-ancestry/
(disclaimer: I haven't verified the accuracy of that list)
tech_lizzard|1 year ago
davedx|1 year ago
My wife owns a small recruitment company and they help with visas and relocations here. Let me know if you’d like to get in touch.
tech_lizzard|1 year ago
mindwork|1 year ago
daft_pink|1 year ago
davedx|1 year ago
p2detar|1 year ago
Recursing|1 year ago
gambiting|1 year ago
I mean that's a crazy oversimplification. I work at a British company where we work with Americans a lot and it's not uncommon for people to work late at night just to stay in contact(even I did some work at 11pm last night to speak with someone).
>>People don’t work outside of their work hours in Europe
I'm curious how many people from Europe have you actually met. Working outside of your hours "just to finish that one spreadsheet that the boss is prodding me for" is extremely common everywhere.
youreth4tguy|1 year ago
1. Salaries are shit here anyways, and any additional money you make beyond say 60k (!) is taxed at 40% or higher. 2. For compliance reasons, if you spend more than 8h in the office between "badge in" and "badge out", HR will tell you to work less because the company will get into legal trouble otherwise. It is just prohibited and you will just create headaches for everyone including yourself.
_dark_matter_|1 year ago
NicoJuicy|1 year ago
For Europeans and Americans;)
hsuduebc2|1 year ago
Do not forget that the medical bills are for you as an American ridiculously low and you can live without car without any complications. Furthermore east are lower salaries but you cant land 70-80k contracting jobs with sometimes very little taxation.
philsnow|1 year ago
I guess that in the EU (and maybe .ch / .uk?), you wouldn't need to pay for health insurance as such, and I don't know whether they have this (barbaric, imho) notion of employment taxes, so maybe the number is closer to 1.5x, which would make 180k€ into 120k€ equivalent, which sounds quite good compared to OP saying that typical offers are around 1/3 of what they're making now.
dustingetz|1 year ago
gambiting|1 year ago
scarface_74|1 year ago
Even the mid size cloud consulting company I work for (full time) hires from 6 different countries and the compensation structure is different for each. When I did work for Amazon remotely, comp was also based on location. I’ve seen the same from talking to people at Google.
Besides, most FAANG jobs require you to be in the office these days.
Why do you want to leave? I understand if you think America is in a long term decline. But my first thought is that as long as I am working and not dependent on the government for part of my livelihood - social security and Medicare - I should be fine.
I have seriously thought about and talked to my wife about moving to either Costa Rica or Panama once we retire.
My second thought is what is going to happen in Europe once they have to beef up their military spending as the US has shown to be an unreliable partner.
jijijijij|1 year ago
I don't understand, what do you think may happen? Do you think Europe will collapse because they have to increase their military spending?
tech_lizzard|1 year ago
* Your guess to my reason for leaving is accurate. I've also wanted to see Europe for awhile, and was planning to go relocate and travel there before 2024, the recent issues in the news just provides another reason.
* in Europe, I have less of a chance of getting shot by police, better healthcare, and more walkable cities that I can get to on a weekend getaway. I'm all for that.
sumuyuda|1 year ago
scarface_74|1 year ago
rich_sasha|1 year ago
Maybe you don't know and fair enough, but it feels like a good start to make it more firm. You mention somewhere you want to stick to English, I certainly don't recommend moving to the UK right now. I don't know much about Ireland, but it's worth expanding your search. English is the lingua franca of software anyway and for the job it will be sufficient anyway. But you would really need to learn some local language elsewhere. It's also not as hard as it sound, people in Europe (mostly...) are very supportive and patient with foreigners trying to learn the language.
FWIW, Poland is worth looking at and not mentioned much on this thread. So long as you don't mind living 300km from Russia+Belarus.
exceptione|1 year ago
https://ind.nl/en/residence-permits/work/paid-employment-res...
jcarrano|1 year ago
- The salary issue you are already aware. - Germany is pretty straightforward for visas/permits, meaning the requirements are clear and if you fill them, you are in, no arbitrariness. - Companies don't need to do anything related to the visa (though many don't know that). You apply yourself once you have a contract and is pretty easy. There's also a work search visa for people with your experience level. - Last time I had to deal with the immigration office they were taking so long I had to pay a lawyer to expedite the process. - The Germans have a much more relaxed attitude to work. The stats I read said 30 avg sick days per year, which wouldn't surprise me. At my last job there was always someone either sick or on holidays. On the other hand I had a supervisor who every Friday after noon would go grab a beer and bring me another one. - Here was the first time in my life that I had time for real side-projects. - I have 10yoe and had been out of a job for the last year. Friends in other industries also had difficulties. IDK whether it is because of my specific skills or the not-so-good economic situation. - German culture is quite credentialist. This is in contrast to US culture (I guess anglo-saxon in general?) which I feel is a more pragmatic "show me what you can do". - Contractor work is not straightforward. You have to have your main clients in Germany to apply for a freelance visa. Once you are a permanent resident it is easier, but there are laws related to disguised employment contracts. In general everything related to laws and taxes is more convoluted.
My main concern would be the medium and long term outlook, mainly economic but social too. As someone else mentioned, the economy has been stagnant for years, not really growing since 2008. One has to wonder why, given the good infrastructure, huge integrated market, qualified workforce, and lower salaries and cost of living, which would be a competitive advantage, you see the US decidedly in the lead in the tech industry. This is not so much of an issue if you're not here for the long run, though.
bravura|1 year ago
* You persuade your manager that this is okay and name the country.
* BigCo Inc. terminates you and BigCo Lda. or Srl. or whatever there subsidiary in that country makes you an offer letter.
* Your base salary in the new offer is 1/3 less, because "the cost of living" is less. If you ask them if you should do 1/3rd less work, they give you a puzzled look. If you ask them if they discount their prices to customers in low COL countries, they will get mad.
* The non-cash part of your compensation (stock, etc.) should not get impacted much, except that when you get taxed you'll pay more tax. Money isn't everything and you're obviously contemplating this move for other reasons.
* You will accept the offer and follow the immigration procedure of your new country. BigCo will have immigration lawyers they retain to ensure they can hire the candidates they desire, for example you.
* You will chill for a little time, maybe a month, while the immigration process goes through.
* Congratulations, you now have a work visa, benefits, and all the privileges that being a legal employee in that country confer upon you.
Slightly worse are arrangements in which you work through a subcontracting company, don't get benefits, and/or have to fight for the visa yourself.
The other ideas you are contemplating probably don't work, and if you don't understand why you should ask a chatbot not HN.
tech_lizzard|1 year ago
* It's not about the money, I'm looking at moving for other reasons. I'd like to live reasonably without scraping by though. I heard COL in Dublin, Ireland and Netherlands was comparable to Seattle , WA. if this is true, and taxes are higher, my goose is cooked. However, on considering Cost of Living, I think I have it distorted a bit since the average wage is 55k in Dublin , and Google says it can rent out a decent 2 bedroom apartment, and live comfortably.
* Netherlands is facing a housing shortage, not sure if it's decent to move there.
* it looks like pay in FAANG does drop with country.
* I know the other ideas won't work - A work visa is required. Digital nomad possibly, or a Work Search Visa, but that seems more risky.
scarface_74|1 year ago
GaryNumanVevo|1 year ago
bot403|1 year ago
In practice there's a tax treaty that let's the u.s. recognize the taxes I pay where I live and don't have to pay the u.s., but I still have to file. It gets so complex I pay someone who specializes in u.s. and "e.u" tax situations.
GaryNumanVevo|1 year ago
leoh|1 year ago
youreth4tguy|1 year ago
youreth4tguy|1 year ago
The best of both worlds is if you get a contractor role based in the US with a US salary and live in Europe. You will still get the higher tax rate and as a US citizen pay taxes in the US. The Netherlands has a way to self-sponsor your visa, it's called DAFT.
What's the reason that you want to relocate to Europe? It's not looking good right now. Our economies have been stagnant for years, morale is low, division seems to increase, and there is a lot of cognitive dissonance regarding Russia and the new US presidency.
dismalaf|1 year ago
tech_lizzard|1 year ago
* Digital nomad visas only last 1-2 years. I assumed I'd need something more if I were to pick up my life and move somewhere... I suppose I could just live on the edge and not forget about renewing? Netherlands has an MVV thing, but it's tied up in some paperwork. There's a list of digital nomad places on Google, such as Spain. I'm wondering about renewal though, is 1 year stay enough? should i place my bets that it is renewed?
* the Netherlands MVV: https://localnomads.com/digital-nomad-visa/netherlands/#rene...
* Norway's Digital Nomad:
https://www.etias.org/blog/norway-digital-nomad-visa The digital nomad visa can be issued for up to two years and it can be renewed while living in Norway at a local police station.
* Holy cow this idea could work! Technically fulfilling the idea to keep my job and remotely work.
username135|1 year ago
kalib_tweli|1 year ago
American living in France for 5 years. Previously worked in NYC startups earning a similar salary to you. Made lots of mistakes that, if I had known better, I could've saved myself some time and money. That being said, I am doing far better financially even if I make less on paper and I just bought my first place (unthinkable in NYC). I work as a software contractor technically, though I work full time for an American company.
Your first question is what your longterm goal? Permanent relocation or experiment for a few years? In other words, where are you planning to retire? You want to make your social security payments to the correct country. Your tax paperwork will stress you out for the first few years if you don't figure that out.
In either case, I'd suggest you try to keep your American job and go fully remote. You don't need a work visa if you don't work for a European company. But if you move permanently, you should do the paperwork to replace your American employment contract with a European contracting company like I did. It's more paperwork but earning an American salary in Europe gives you a significant purchasing power advantage even if you pay more in taxes. The real killer is the paperwork. European bureaucracy sucks.
If you don't keep your American job, you should apply for jobs before moving ideally. Most EU countries have reasonably low bars for skilled worker visas. Spain and France I know are very simple. The Netherlands are a bit more confusing. Regardless, you roughly need an offer of 50 000 € and a college degree to get one.
EDIT: saw discussion about housing shortages. France has tons of housing (https://pap.fr). I had a two-bedroom apartment with a balcony in Paris proper for 1 900 €.
exabrial|1 year ago
Which EU country specifically?
4ndrewl|1 year ago
tech_lizzard|1 year ago
unknown|1 year ago
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yapyap|1 year ago
tech_lizzard|1 year ago
tech_lizzard|1 year ago