Of course, a company that currently depends on crazy overtime, etc, isn't suddenly going to be looking to hire people who aren't going to do that just because they are hiring remote.

Let's not imagine that widening a hiring pool is going to change top-down company cultures.

I work in Silicon Valley at a FAANG and that doesn’t describe the culture I experience at all.

You’re the minority. That mirrors what I observe pretty well.

Which FAANG probably makes a big difference. When I was at Google, most people were out of the office by 5-6.

European companies don't have equally nice office, free snacks or pay as top American companies.

Companies that hire young driven workers and have a good environment can get a similar amount of overtime and the work all the time attitude.

European salaries are lower, for sure. But nice offices and free snacks are everywhere in the IT-field.

The place I just left had a wonderful rooftop terrace, overlooking central Helsinki, complete with an amazing sauna, a foam-pit, and gaming spaces too. That's a bit of an outlier, but there are a lot of amazing spaces across the whole of Europe.

Not so sure about that. I know plenty offices in Stockholm with free food, drinks and entertainment for employees.

Visited the Bloomberg office in London. If you rent a Bloomberg terminal they gave free training on multiple features. Encouraged to visit the cafeteria, all free for staff and clients with visitor pass. Good stuff. Salads, fruit, cakes, sandwiches.

Looked around.

No chairs. This was in vast contrast to my employer at the time where lunch was a practical siesta.

Ok.. "so you take this back to desk?" I asked someone.

Yes.

QED that.

For context this was early 2000s.

That was the most shocking thing for me too.

Join a company in London. They have no seats. I'm not talking about free food or a company restaurant. Just having a place to sit with a table.

This is a total tangent, but I'm an American with a partner from Stockholm, and we're interested in maybe moving over there when that is possible again. Do you have any suggestions or resources for getting to understand the tech scene around Stockholm, especially AI/computer vision stuff? Thanks!

I'm not really sure that I would be the best person to answer but if you would like to ask anything please do. I've work with over 250 clients and agencies over the years mostly in stockholm. Why not make it an Ask HN?

Good point! I can try but it's hit or miss whether it'll get any traction. I guess a couple questions you could help with are (1) are there any good resources for scoping the job market beyond putting "[whatever] jobs stockholm" into search engines, and (2) do you have any do's or don'ts for applying as an American not currently living in Sweden?

Thanks a lot for your perspective!

Same in London, UK. And you need to overwork yourself to eat then.

And they stay in office after 5pm to take advantage of the perks?

Possibly, but the ‘young driven worker’ dynamic in Europe is just completely different, where you do not need to compete all that hard to have a comfortable life.

Free snacks would put me off, it's a terrible idea from a health perspective.

Snacks could mean e.g. fruit, which doesn't sound too bad.