[plandis]

Even with the higher cost of living in SF/NYC/Seattle, tech pay at FAANG is pretty high. Senior software positions are pretty much start at $300k/yr across all of those companies. Plus these companies generally have excellent healthcare plans and good vacation policies.

At those income levels pretty much the only thing you’re really priced out of are nice single family homes, but I suspect that’s the same in Zurich.

[908B64B197]

> At those income levels pretty much the only thing you’re really priced out of are nice single family homes, but I suspect that’s the same in Zurich.

You'll never pay it completely but if you can afford a mortgage you'll build equity into it and probably be able to resell it at a profit.

[sho_hn]

Sounds like it! :-)

I have a Senior Principal position and make products you've probably read about on Ars/Verge type sites recently, at an established tech company in Berlin - for about half of those 300k. And it's not a bad deal for the region.

[cameronh90]

What's a good vacation policy in SF? I'm tempted to move from London, but I currently get 28 days holiday a year + 8 public holidays + birthday + Xmas to NY (so about 40 days give or take). I know there's a lot of "unlimited" holiday policies - but would they really be okay if I took that kind of holiday?

I earn a lot here in London, but moving to SF would be a significant bump. However, I very much value my time off.

[scubbo]

My Anecdata - I moved from London to SF ~4 years ago (working for the same FAANG company before-and-after), and have never even bothered looking at my PTO accrual because a) I wouldn't even spend it fast enough to run it down, and b) my managers have always been very clear that I should take whatever PTO I want whether or not I officially have hours accrued.

Officially, though, I (just found out that I) have 20 discretionary days per year (plus American holidays).

[dougmwne]

2 weeks is considered minimal/entry level, 3 weeks is average and 4 weeks is quite good for the US.

[topkai22]

Not SF, but at my big tech employer it’s 3 weeks of vacation, 2 floating holidays (which are really just vacation), 10 company holidays, and 2 weeks sick leave. After 6 and 12 years you get another week of vacation. So total is 27 to start, not including sick leave. I’ve heard more experienced new hires can sometimes negotiate in more vacation (up to 5 weeks) but I haven’t experienced that directly myself.

There are also all sorts of special purpose leaves (jury duty, infant care, bereavement, etc...) that can become quite substantial.

All that being said I’ve almost never had a boss who cared about tracking my vacation too closely, and I’ve never felt pressured to not take time off when I want to, other than a half dozen critical weeks a year.

[mandelbrotwurst]

It's very much a mixed bag.

The "unlimited" thing became popular in California in part as an attempt on behalf of companies to avoid having to issue payouts for accrued time off to employees leaving their organizations.

I'd suggest simply being very up front and specific in interviewing and negotiations about how much time you plan to take and see what kind of reactions you get.

[bearmcbearsly]

At my company in the Bay Area, we get 30 days vacation plus 10 holidays. For the first few years, it was a bit less vacation.

[nerdponx]

When the associate data scientists are making $100-150k, and the product/graphic designers are lucky to be getting $80k, that's pretty fucking top-heavy and absurd.

[candybar]

You're not comparing apples to apples. Senior designers and data scientists also typically make 250K+ (and often 300K+) at these companies.