[RestlessMind]

Sure and the salary differential probably trumps those extra vacation days. According to levels.fyi[1], median compensation package for a software engineer in SF bay area is $237,000. That is a very big number even accounting for health insurance premiums, California taxes and the cost of living here. Can you please share a few European locations which offer a better deal than this? AFAIK: London has shitty salaries and slightly lower CoL than SF, Paris / Berlin / Barcelona have even shittier salaries with much lower CoL but higher taxes, Zurich has comparable salaries and lower taxes but as much or higher CoL.

[1] https://www.levels.fyi/Salaries/Software-Engineer/San-Franci...

[ginko]

What's the point of all that money when you don't get any time to spend it?

edit: I know this sounds flippant and like sour grapes, but I'm actually in the process of looking for a new job. Many of the best fitting job offers for my qualification are in the States, but the lack of vacation days, long work hours, etc. are a MAJOR deal breaker for me. With 15 vacation days I could see my family back home once per year during the Christmas holidays and maybe have 1.5 weeks for some short trip somewhere during the year. That's it.

[exceptione]

Why don't you negotiate those extra days? If the offer is good enough you may even agree to take extra days off as unpaid leave.