
Ask HN: Which countries are best for software engineers? - markwaldron
I&#x27;m currently living outside of NYC and have for most of my life. I&#x27;ve always wanted to live in another country but I&#x27;m unsure of what other countries would provide a similar quality of life and would allow me to continue working as a software engineer. What other countries have strong tech hubs with well-paying software jobs?
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snicky
I guess it all depends on what you understand by the quality of life. If you
are talking about a high purchasing power you get in exchange for your work
then US is second to none, at least according to my research. I might be
wrong, because I've never lived in US myself, but I was based in both Europe
and Asia and it seems to me that IT salaries vs taxes and costs in your
country can get you much further than in other places.

Nonetheless, there are still some spots with decent wages like London
(particularly strong in fintech, but there's also lots of startups), Ireland
(if you prefer to work for a branch of an American big-co), Singapore and Hong
Kong if you'd like to change your environment entirely or even Australia. It
all depends on your experience and selling skills though, as in most these
places outside of US the difference between a senior's and junior's salary
might determine your ability to rent a 3-room apartment vs a 100 square feet
room in a shared-house with 8 flatmates :)

Most importantly, choose a place that you have a genuine interest towards. The
rest doesn't really matter that much. If you pick a crowdy place you'd get a
lower life quality in terms of purchasing power and living space, but higher
from a cultural/social point of view and more job opportunities as well, so
yeah, that's your tradeoff.

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aminozuur
The Netherlands has a high shortage of programmers. IT students are snatched
away by companies in their first or second year, and many of them are happy to
drop out because job security at large corporations is good. Human Development
Index is also very high.

I have an American friend who came here to work for Adyen (Amsterdam-based
unicorn) and recently bought a house here.

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mrcold
Is that why the pay is shit? You can get a higher salary in Eastern Europe
with a 5x lower cost of living.

Western Europe is horrible when it comes to the software industry. Underpaid
immigrants that are just happy to live somewhere with clean streets.

There is no shortage. Companies are just fighting for the same set of naive
students and juniors. And complain when their shit offers get refused.

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himlion
Do you think the pay is really that bad? As a dev working in Holland I've got
the feeling it's at the top end for Europe. I certainly never heard that cost
of living adjusted salaries are significantly higher in eastern europe.

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allenleein
In Asia, I would say Seoul > Tokyo > Singapore > Shenzhen > Taipei.

In Euro, London > Berlin > Paris.

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chairmankaga
Can you please elaborate on Seoul VS Tokyo?

I've seen the work culture (non programming) in both and as far as my friends
go.. I have a VERY difficult time seeing my korean friends vs my tokyo
friends.

As far as compensation, I'm not sure about Seoul but Tokyo wages for software
is very low I've found.

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davidf18
Israel. Startup Nation.

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tejasu
Ireland is the silicon valley of Europe.

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solipsism
No, it's the Rhode Island of Europe.

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mianasif
I think so in Pakistan you can find the best software engineers

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idnan
On which base you are saying that Pakistani's are the best Software Engineers?

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mianasif
I would say most talented people, Creative and innovative are the Pakistani
software engineers

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kingoflegions
Yeah jihadi suicide bombers.

