The author has 30+ years of experience and was applying to jobs paying less than 6 figures a year (USD). His expectation were modest, compared to the average US developer.
This is also not realistic (if other people in his position aim for much more). Wouldn’t you wonder “why is this person with 30 years of experience applying for this role? Maybe got confused? Maybe they’re troubled in some way? Maybe they’ll stay for 2 months and get bored and leave?”.
>> This is so sad. If I ever had to get paid 5 figures after 30 years I worked literally switch careers.
It's Sweden / Stockholm, not Silicon Valley / San Francisco.
I've looked up real estate there just to point out how ridiculously inflated prices are here. A nice looking 67 square meters apartment, 15 minutes from city center, was selling for some €190,000. By comparison a 50 square meters rather communist-looking apartment here (Romania) sells for €160,000 - €180,000.
A 5-figure salary in the €80,000 - €90,000 range is fairly outlier both there and here. €7,500 gross translates to about €4,400 net both in Sweden and here. To buy an €190,000 apartment here, the mortgage is in the €1,200 per month. In Sweden as far as I know, a rent is in the €600 - €1500 (depending how far from Stockholm city center). So a 5 figure salary goes a long way: you can buy, rent and live, on a single salary. If your wife is also getting top 5 figures, you're settled.
This is pretty accurate. Price/salary ranges are much more stable than the US. His salary ask for 30 years is not as far fetched as the Americans here think. Source: live in Norway.