> If they want to attract more tech workers they really need to up their salaries.

Having a good salary is important but the work-life balance is just as important, if not more. I lived in Japan for a years (not as a dev, am now); I can make do with a lower salary due to healthcare being mostly sorted (you pay 30%, government pays 70%) and a good standard of living (better than London IMO), but I don't want to work absurd hours and deal with a toxic working culture, alongside a low salary.

I've met many talented women in Japan via Meetups and Women Who Code Tokyo and there's definitely no shortage of great developers. People just want a fair work-balance and an honest salary, which they are more likely to find at a gaishikei (foreign-run company)

I hear that the seniority is so strong there. Added with commute, bad working hours and mandatory parties after works, I don't think good developers will want to work there.

Yeah I agree on the work-life balance that is why I find it interesting that China banned the unpaid 996 culture. It was one of the reason I placed China as a lower option then Singapore for me personally. In Singapore you have more western companies so maybe they also use more western work culture.

I was thinking of maybe work a couple of years in a Asian country when the world starts opening up again hopefully somewhere in 2023~2024. So that I why I did some minimal research on salary.