[matthewmacleod]

I can assure you that there very much is a competitive market for engineering talent in the UK. Salaries are generally lower than the US market, but a £60k salary still puts someone in the top 10% nationally in terms of income.

[stickyricky]

Does it make the situation better if everyone is mistreated? Part of me wonders if its a bunch of old money Lords and Ladies bank rolling these businesses. They just crush you and tell you its a "competitive market".

What do I know. I'm literally making stuff up on a Saturday morning. At his experience level and skill set you can make triple in America.

[matthewmacleod]

This suggests that you're also probably overestimating the average income of tech workers in the US generally; people's views of this are often distorted by the headline figures from big tech companies, which aren't terribly representative of the diversity of roles across the country.