Ask HN: A good source of salaries at FAANG in EU/UK?

I spent 3-4 years wooing an Apple VP at trade shows twice per year, which was the entire point (the exit strategy) for what we were doing - video asset management in the film industry. This particular VP wanted "Asset management" in photos and figured that video was harder than photo, so we'd be a good fit. We were actually aiming for "Final Cut" but we got "Aperture" instead. It got to the point where he'd send me a calendar slot to appear and demo the latest work/progress on the stuff we were doing at both IBC (Amsterdam) and NAB (Vegas) every year. They eventually decided to buy the (small) company and as part of that we had to come out and work in CA, which to be honest, wasn't too big a problem :)

As for how it started, myself and my co-owner took ourselves out to Amsterdam, walked up to an Apple stand at IBC and said "we've got something we'd like to show you. Can we have a slot with someone with the capability to make the decision ?" This actually worked (!) It still took a few years to persuade him, but I've since been at the company for 16 years. Sometimes you have to take the risk and tell yourself that being told "No" isn't the worst thing in the world - and I was pretty sure we'd be told 'No', but hey, we weren't.

You are comparing unpaid holiday to paid holiday. I think we are done talking right here since you are not likely to be reasoned with, but I will still reply to your rubbish.

Majority of people can afford one non-local vacation every year, if you can't afford one you are in a large minority in which case you are talking about extremes. In the extreme example you are choosing between having money but not being able to take holiday and having holiday but not being able to go anywhere. The choice is obvious. In non-extreme examples, in the UK I have 28 PAID days of holiday allowance every year. In the US people get two weeks of UNPAID holiday. Nothing else needs to be said.

"New mothers can have up to 3 years break from work, except this means that there's rampant discrimination against women of child bearing age."

Women in the UK get 41 weeks PAID maternity leave. Women in US get 10-12 weeks UNPAID. For the record, WHO recommends minimum 16 weeks for mothers to stay home with the children after birth. Nothing else needs to be said.

"public spaces What do you mean by this?"

A percentage of tax collected is being spent on public spaces; parks, playgrounds, squares, pedestrian zones... in the US these mostly belong to a development, which is a private area. Exceptions are large projects in NYC and Boston. Public spaces directly affect and increase the living standard and "happy index".

" tax incentives That 99% of population can't take advantage of."

This is complete nonsense. Every UK resident receives tax-free allowance per year, depending on the income tax band, which they can use to earn extra money on the side without paying any tax. In majority cases that amount is £12k pa which is not negligible. Every resident also has the option to open a S&S ISA where they can deposit up to £20k every year and use that money to invest in stocks and other financial instruments without paying any tax on the profit. Every house owner has the option to sell the house without paying any tax on the profit. There are so may more such schemes that Americans can only dream of.

"> tuition University is not free in the UK either. From what I found quickly, in-state tuition in public US universities is comparable to tuition in England."

No it isn't free any more in the UK, but it is in most of Europe.

"> healthcare Left my favorite to the last. Yeah, it's free. But need to get something done?"

This again is complete nonsense. Having free healthcare doesn't prevent you from paying for private healthcare. They are no mutually exclusive. If you can afford it you can have both, but in the US you don't have that choice. You have to either pay or die.

Tonsils, gallstone... are not acute life threatening conditions. You don't have to wait to have an urgent operation. But you can get non-urgent medical procedures done "free" should you wish to wait. Because healthcare is a basic human right in Europe, whereas in US it's a luxury and a privilege because you not just need to be able to afford to pay for it, you also need to be HEALTHY before you can apply for one. There is a screening process when you apply for healthcare and if you are sick or are likely to inherit a medical condition that will require long treatment you will NOT be granted healthcare. If you have chronic condition that needs to be treated but can't be cured, you will only be entitled to a certain amount of medicine before on your policy. After that you are on your own. Pay or die.

This barely scratches the surface. I haven't even mentioned pensions, worker rights, public transportation. Every American that came here through internal transfer in our company decided to sta...