[xii23]

You're getting around 34 hours per week for German employees assuming they don't get sick. US employees in these tech companies either get unlimited time off or generous vacation time anyways, and in average I doubt they take less than 15 days off a year (versus 25 per law in Germany). I don't know how many public holidays you get in the US per law, if any, but still --- the wages in the US are basically double what you'd get in Germany, so I don't think this day difference would justify it.

[mrweasel]

After having worked they my US colleagues for over a year now, I can safely say: Americans have more time off than people in Northern Europe. They more public holidays, contractually they have more vacation time, because it's assumed that the vacation required by law in Europe is always very high, so when your country falls below that expectation, then you easily end up with tech companies being more generous in the US.

[resolutebat]

Seriously? In eg Finland the legal minimum is 5 weeks and it's very common for people to take a month off in summer. I've yet to see a US company that matches that ("unlimited" vacation doesn't count), much less one where it's normal for people to completely disconnect for a month.

[mrweasel]

Same in Denmark, technically 25 days, because weekends, but my American colleagues get 30 days. 25 is absolute minimum and most companies will give you 5 days extra, but the accounting is different from the 25 days required by law. That means you can't transfer them to a new employer, they are accounted for in a different cycle than first 25 and the employer can technically tell you when to use them, say between Christmas and New Years, or one of the in-between days in the public holidays in spring. Most just let you use them whenever, if you're an office worker.

[natebc]

I in the US but I work for a (private) university. I get 27 personal days per year and we have 11 public holidays per year. Each year of service my personal days goes up by a few hours a month.

[chmod775]

> (versus 25 per law in Germany).

Most software engineer position in Germany have around 30 if they're at all competitive on the market. In total you get around 220 days where they actually work, vs. 260 days you're paying them for (assuming no sick days).

[xii23]

That's not my experience! I'm currently on a very competitive on the market company (I'm paid way more than most devs I know), but since it's an American company and they can't offer unlimited time off in Germany by law, it seems the amount of days was an afterthought and they just went for 25.

[0xBDB]

I agree this isn't really it, but I'm finding it a bit hard to square 25 days off a year with the fact that every European I've ever worked with has been on vacation the entire month of August, except the British, and they do all right too. Although come to think of it I think I have not worked with Germans.

As an American doing cybersecurity in a non-tech industry, I work about 45 hours a week and get 10 days of vacation, 5 sick days, 7 holidays, and 5 floating holidays (basically vacation) per year. I could take it all, but that would be culturally weird and possibly career limiting. If I were at a FAANG I would expect significantly more hours per week with more vacation time and fewer holidays, but it works out to the same expectation that I would take about 15 days per year including sick days and holidays.