[wbhart]

I wonder if this is because Google is having trouble recruiting people to the US, due to the crazy political system there, or because of visas or because of people with concerns about surveillance, gun control, the death penalty, lack of whistleblower protections, etc.

[geodel]

Or it could be just because they want distributed teams with multicultural talent in different timezones.

[sotojuan]

From what I've seen there's a ton of research or computer science-y talent in Europe. Makes sense for Google to try to get some of that.

[chrisper]

It's (probably) cheaper to open an office in an area where people are willing to work in tech than to try to move the talent. Believe it or not, not everyone wants to move to the US and leave friends and family behind.

[spacecowboy_lon]

why would they do that when they can get their pick of european talent and pay them 50% less than they would in SV

[delroth]

50% less than SV in Zürich? You're greatly mistaken. Last I checked I'm paid more here than what I would get if I were to do the same job in Mountain View.

[saiya-jin]

for me it's 1:1, depends on after-tax money (which is real salary, anything else are just some imaginary numbers). now go out for a dinner, go get car repaired, try to buy house in countryside and we can talk about comparable

[jpatokal]

Have you looked at housing prices anywhere near Silicon Valley recently?