50k EUR/year for me would be like 2900 EUR/month after all taxes. Monthly expenses in the part of Spain I live in are ~800 EUR (rent + food + electricity + water + 1Gbps internet).

2900 - 800 = 2100 EUR to do whatever I want with. Even if I decide to put half of that into savings, that's still ~1000 EUR to spend freely, and any unspent money would go into savings too at the end of the month.

Or in other words: With a salary like that I would be able to pay a family member's full monthly expenses if they are in rough times, and still have leftover for myself.

Fair enough I’m just saying I live in Germany and just entered my first software position and get 73k, and I don’t live in Berlin or anything. I suppose in Spain living expenses are much cheaper. Your monthly expenses including food are less than my rent. Tho I still think I have more than 2100 left over after expenses

I am active in DACH space since 2003, and I am surprised that isn't between 50k and 60k for a junior position.

More to you, but that isn't a common entry level, at least for companies whose main business isn't selling software.

DACH is like the reverse Silicon Valley?

Including healthcare, vacation days, maternity leave, no calls after work or during vacations, not being on call unless paid for and is on the contract, unions,...

Yep, the exact opposite.

Maybe you just have no experience with Silicon Valley or just hate it for whatever reason, but the only thing in that list that doesn’t apply to SV is the unions… Not sure the point you’re making.

Does it? It isn't what usually surfaces in the US press.

73k as a junior? (your first software position)

that sounds like a major exception. the average for juniors in germany is 50k or below.

I have a PhD, maybe that's the difference. I asked for 65k but they refused and gave me 73k

ah, yes, that's probably it. also typical german. don't pay for the role, but for the formal qualification.

Yeah to be fair I don't live in a big city or any touristic location where monthly expenses could easily double, but it's still nice and comfy enough that I don't plan on moving even if money weren't an issue.

It certainly is for those of us in Southern Europe, many people have no idea how good they have it.

I’m referring to specifics in the article. The interview was for a remote job paying €50K/year.

50k for a junior dev isn't much, but it isn't low either. Software companies and larger ones might pay a bit more, smaller ones and those that have a small IT staff a bit less. That's the salary situation in the country. It's not the USA.

I live in Germany

really? i have seen very few positions in europe offering more than 50-70k a year, and i looked at hundreds. that includes seniors.

I assume you haven't looked at Switzerland?

As someone that lived two years in Switzerland and still goes there regularly, don't forget how much things actually cost, the high value is artificial given how much even basic supermarkt good cost.

> the high value is artificial given how much even basic supermarkt good cost

Compared with which location?

My experience is that you're way better off in Zurich than, say, London where you'll end up having similar costs. https://livingcost.org/cost/london/zurich illustrates that. Zurich seems similar to San Jose: https://livingcost.org/cost/san-jose-us/zurich.

Prices in most supermarkets are high, but I've come to understand this as most consumers being price-indifferent for groceries, at least in Zurich, because it represents little of their overall costs anyway. If you want to save on groceries, Lidl is way cheaper than Coop/Migros, but many consumers prefer convenience. That's not even including the case of people living in Basel / Geneva who buy groceries in Germany / France such that Swiss prices don't matter to them.

i have only seen few offers from switzerland, and i didn't see anything that stood out. i am only looking at remote jobs though. that may skew my perception. i did notice that switzerland had a higher average compared to the rest of europe when looking at statistics.

Well it's all relative dude

Median household income in the UK is €41k (£34.5k).

Top 5% richest income in UK is €81.3k (£68.4k).

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/personal...

Europe has quite low salaries actually. While in the US you can very easily earn 200k++ as a completely average tech guy, that achievement is basically impossible in Europe.