I don’t think you realize how hard it is to find good engineers abroad. And if you do find them, they’re already likely employed at a good job and would want a significant pay bump to leave.
A "significant pay bump" could be an increase from the equivalent of $100k to $130k. Well below west-coast tech salaries.
Anecdotally, I had a total comp of (roughly) $400k as a senior engineer at Dropbox with a tier-1 salary (Seattle area). I asked about moving to the UK. The move would result in my base being cut from $220k to £120k, which, at the time I asked, was equivalent to about $140k. So, just over a 35% paycut. Now, because I already had RSU grants from the US, I'd continue to do better than that, and would have been making an extra $150k/yr in stock, roughly -- but a new-hire in the UK wouldn't have that advantage.
And Dropbox is one of the best-paying non-finance tech employers in the UK. Most tech employers in the UK are paying <$200k/yr total comp for senior engineers. Most tech employers in Europe are paying even less. And I'm talking about top-tier companies in terms of comp, here -- Facebook, Apple, Dropbox, etc.
So, yes, good engineers may already have a good job, but unless they're at quant hedge funds, US-based employers can probably offer 30-40% less than they'd offer to a west coast engineer, and it will still be a huge increase in comp.
Anecdotally, I had a total comp of (roughly) $400k as a senior engineer at Dropbox with a tier-1 salary (Seattle area). I asked about moving to the UK. The move would result in my base being cut from $220k to £120k, which, at the time I asked, was equivalent to about $140k. So, just over a 35% paycut. Now, because I already had RSU grants from the US, I'd continue to do better than that, and would have been making an extra $150k/yr in stock, roughly -- but a new-hire in the UK wouldn't have that advantage.
And Dropbox is one of the best-paying non-finance tech employers in the UK. Most tech employers in the UK are paying <$200k/yr total comp for senior engineers. Most tech employers in Europe are paying even less. And I'm talking about top-tier companies in terms of comp, here -- Facebook, Apple, Dropbox, etc.
So, yes, good engineers may already have a good job, but unless they're at quant hedge funds, US-based employers can probably offer 30-40% less than they'd offer to a west coast engineer, and it will still be a huge increase in comp.