Don't just look at the list of things not included either. Actually look at the numbers.

A Silicon Valley total compensation can easily be double that in the UK. That pays for a lot of cost of living, healthcare, time off, etc. It actually is an impressive difference.

It's more than double. The engineers on my team in Portland earn more than 2x the experienced senior engineer we have in the UK. The engineers we have in San Jose make 1.5x what most of our Portland engineers make. And we are not a FAANG.

> A Silicon Valley total compensation can easily be double that in the UK.

Sure, but that's comparing one specific area known for tech, including many big players with a whole country. SV is not the US, like Canary Wharf is not the UK.

A junior after Georgia Tech, zero experience, 4 years ago, would receive an offer of $90k in Atlanta.

> Once you consider the cost of living, health coverage, days off, sick days, long service leave, parental leave, and lots of other benefits, it's actually not that impressive.

You don't think that tech workers in the US get most of that? Software engineering in the US is a pretty cushy gig. A lot of the problems you hear about for regular middle class Americans don't really happen if you're working in tech. It's not fair, but it's the current reality.

The ones I worked with some time ago did not. So it seems really dependent on the job.

But even if you do currently, there's a lot of peace that comes with: it's not company's goodwill, it's a requirement and company's goodwill goes on top of that.

People keep saying that, and I keep not believing them. AFAIK American companies tech offer comparable benefits to salaried employees, even though it's not required by law. And more and more of the "lifestyle" perks are disappearing, e.g. people are working more and more (8-6, 10-10 etc.) but still not getting paid US-style.

The only real deal-breaker, for me, is the risk of health insurance - I'm sure I'd be getting top-notch health insurance for myself and my family, but will it be useful when I need it? Will I know which provider to go to, is "in network", will bill me correctly, insurance company won't reject the claims, ... (but I guess these things are solvable, otherwise top-paid US employees would complain a lot, or emigrate). And of course the fact that I'm paid EU-style (well, better than EU-style as I work in finance with shittier quality of life, but still below US salaries) so I'm guessing US employees would either try to underpay me.