I actually live in Paris and get your point, but at some point you have to face the reality of the market/industry and really try your best to get good folks to join, especially in the current climate where US researchers may be looking for greener pastures.
Sort of yes. But it's nowhere near as much as some would like to believe. It mostly concerns those who have unclear immigration status, had their funding cut off, or don't care about money.
Now, that is quite a lot of people. But not nearly enough to reverse decades of brain drain.
US software companies (Google, Meta, MS, etc) have offices in Paris and they pay way more than that. Especially if you take into account total comp (Mistral is private so any stocks you get are "locked" until IPO or sell out)
Yes 90k is more than most French software companies pay, but the salary needs to be competitive with those US companies.
When I was in Germany a few years ago, I was browsing jobs available in France and most software development jobs were under $55K USD. I don't know how you're supposed to survive on that. You can probably make more money as a waiter.
Germany is not so great either in that sense though at least in crypto sector, the pay was reasonable... Though as a job it was total BS.
UK was pretty good at some point (though all the really good jobs were gate-kept by IR35 regulations), The Netherlands was pretty good (especially contract roles thanks to big tax discounts for foreigners). But IMO, one of the best countries outside of the US for software work has been Australia. I actually came back to Australia because of it. Though it's not quite as lucrative today but it's certainly still much better paid than France and has potential.
That said, if you want to do your own startup and you do not have special business connections or pedigree, then the US is the only real option IMO.
I think it comes down to easy money. Easy come, easy go. To be rich enough to invest in startups in France, you need to be born into old money or be a complete freak of nature. These kinds of people don't part with their money easily. They need a guaranteed return and they can't rely on any media channel to bring traffic. If you live outside of the US, all media channels are essentially working against you; you can literally feel that and so everything is riskier. It's like playing the same game with a massive handicap.
> When I was in Germany a few years ago, I was browsing jobs available in France and most software development jobs were under $55K USD. I don't know how you're supposed to survive on that. You can probably make more money as a waiter.
Salaries are calculated differently in France, Germany, US etc. For example working in Germany you're likely to fork a huge amount monthly to your health insurance. It actually makes it difficult to negotiate comp across borders.
$55k USD brut in France is around 2.8k EUR / month after taxes in France, which counts as the upper bracket of Middle Class in most of the country outside of Paris. Paltry when you're used to tech comps but decent for the vast majority of people here.
On the whole I agree that it's not competitive regionally or globally, and as for myself I'd leave for Switzerland or Australia if I had the opportunity.
In Australia, house would be at least 50% more, apartment would be maybe 70% more. Beef is cheaper (about half price) and tastier (from my experience). Bread is probably half price and way tastier in France though.
Actually, after living in Europe and coming back to Australia, the quality and price of meat is what surprised me most. A lot of times in Europe, I would order a burger and the patty would basically taste like sausage meat; tough and flavorless. In Australia, beef is really good and cheap.
> UK was pretty good at some point (though all the really good jobs were gate-kept by IR35 regulations),
Then we got a PM, who's father in law is the founder of Infosys, who changed the law to favour the likes of Infosys (by making it too risky for smaller players to hire contractors). Scandalous corruption
Contracting was going to be my plan for buying a better house and early retirement, but that's gone now. Thanks Rishi
My wife and I love British culture, architecture, parks, etc... But compared to Australia, I felt like it was still feudalism over there. It's like everyone knew their place. I could feel the class system; the software contracting 2-tier system (inside IR35 vs outside IR35) really emphasized that.
Similar vibes in Germany though a more modern version.
The Netherlands seemed relatively egalitarian for Europe. It's what I like most about Australia. In Australia, there are no artificial social barriers, no class system.
After failing at startups after a decade, I had to live somewhere I would not be seen as a second-class citizen.
Britain is its own worst enemy. I'm convinced if there was a movement to destroy the intangible class-system the economy would grow big time. The lack of investment comes from old-farts getting away with lack of reinvestment due to a lack of competition - and nobody talks about it.
But you should be able to hire most of the people you want, not just some that happen to pick Paris.
Also, if given a choice of 90k eur in Paris vs let's say 2m usd in US I'm pretty sure suddenly most of the issues people have with US would suddenly disappear ;)
None of my machines or most other machines used those tactics to install it. We installed it because it was heck of a faster browser in times when others sucked.
wow. your comment is also lunacy, tbh. autistici runs at a small deficit and is a passion project. so they are “yacht people” because they have some computers, a godforsaken server somewhere, and maybe an iphone? and where the hell is this russian money supposed to be?
your fantasy-world ideas do not help anyone grasp the gravity of the situation. they only show that you have zero facts and are filling the gap with random cartoon nonsense.
but sure, censorship of extremely small groups is becoming the norm, and you are here celebrating because the targets are communists, not your kind. where do you think this will lead?
to be honest, there's no interest in studying capitalism unless you study its mechanisms critically. and i fear yours was foucault-slop, pseudo-radical drivel that didn't even aspire to change anything. no change = no direction = no meaning.
there's some philosophical interest in the question, altho i cannot say exactly where. but if you start from a statement like that and your thesis is mostly a display of what you read, it's barely social science. it is social theory at best, and not particularly good social theory either.
the interesting questions - especially in social sciences - are the hows and not the whys. the mechanisms. that would have been more empirical and more interesting.
push it further and you'll find you're doing marketing research, which is applied sociology anyway: who buys what, and how, and maybe why, at the end.
but twenty years of foucault-slop isn't bad at all. at least you chilled.
the article is just sharing his positive personal experience... it’s not a sociological treatise. but i agree with you, he’s clearly talking from within a bubble.
this comment is insane...
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