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Ask HN: Who has moved from the U.S. to Europe?

181 points feraligators | 1 comments | 25 Jan 22 15:44 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source

I've long considered leaving this country for a multitude of reasons.

I'd be curious to hear some first hand experiences of those who've made the move to Europe and what you think of the process and considerations one should make.

A few questions to start the conversation:

- Where do you live?

- What's the biggest sacrifice you had to make (i.e. pay, housing, friends, etc.)

- What have you gained?

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wheels ◴[25 Jan 22 16:22 UTC] No.30073675[source]▶
I moved to Europe from the Midwest near the beginning of my career (20 years ago).

It's very difficult to compare things like housing, social life and salary without knowing where you're coming from and where you're considering going. Countries in Europe have GDPs per capita ranging from under $5,000/year to over $100,000/year.

Really one of the few things you can say context-free is: you'll have more vacation in virtually any European country.

It's also very likely the healthcare, social systems (unemployment, day-care, etc.) and public transit will be saner. But again, you're comparing two very large, diverse places, and it's hard to reason about them in such generalities.

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rootusrootus ◴[25 Jan 22 16:45 UTC] No.30074048[source]▶
> Really one of the few things you can say context-free is: you'll have more vacation in virtually any European country.

In tech, at least, this probably is no longer true. In my experience most of the bigger companies have been moving to unlimited vacation. I'm pretty sure that someone in upper management did the math and concluded that employees granted unlimited vacation actually end up taking fewer days than if they are metered.

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oaiey ◴[25 Jan 22 16:54 UTC] No.30074183[source]▶
I think the key is: paid vacation days.
replies(2): >>30074649 #>>30074989 #
boc ◴[25 Jan 22 17:22 UTC] No.30074649[source]▶
You still get paid for unlimited vacation days.
replies(1): >>30084576 #
1. oaiey ◴[26 Jan 22 12:11 UTC] No.30084576[source]▶
And fired at will when you do not deliver. So it is basically not a thing. But if you do perform you can get quite some days. If you do not perform, you are fired and have no vacation maybe.