[nemo44x]

As a hiring manager (not at Google) I would say yes, and significantly so. EU employees make far less than equivalent USA colleagues when factoring in job title and location. It costs a lot to employ someone in the EU and the workers are well protected. I can not easily terminate an employee in the EU like I can in the USA. Taxes paid to employ someone in the EU are significantly higher than in the USA.

This cuts both ways as you can see. You'll make far less in the EU generally but you have better job protection and the additional taxes we pay to hire an EU employee hopefully go to government programs you like. However, if you're an in-demand employee who does good work you're going to make significantly more money in the USA generally speaking.

The good news is the UK is compensated better than most EU countries in my experience. But still significantly lower than USA employees in the same role.

However, you get health care out of that and can retire early with a lowered risk in terms of health issues.

[electrograv]

> However, you get health care out of that and can retire early with a lowered risk in terms of health issues.

I’m not aware of any major tech company in the US that doesn’t offer excellent health insurance and retirement plans. And the quality and availability of healthcare in the US is arguably the best in the world, if you are insured (that’s the ‘catch’ I suppose).

[jeffwilcox]

Modern American tech firms only offer insurance while you work for them, it is not a lifetime benefit. As a result, you stop working, you need to go hunting and paying for your own healthcare.

[jekdoce]

If you decide to retire early (say 50), before medicare kicks in (at 65), then you are on the hook to buy insurance yourself. That's maybe the difference between US and Europe that the above commenter refers to.

[foldr]

You still have to factor in the cost of medications, doctor's visits, etc. etc., which can run pretty high even with a good plan.