Could easily be that they have a bunch of people in Munich they can not fire since German labour laws are at least compared to a lot of places not that bad and they have to come up with some work for them. So having them work on this is still cheaper then having the people in the valley plus “useless” people in Munich.
Comment on Google layoffs: Sundar Pichai-led company fires entire Python team for ‘cheaper labour’
bob_lemon@feddit.de 6 months ago
Cheaper labour in the most expensive town in a country that is well known for high labour costs?
ture@lemmy.ml 6 months ago
btaf45@lemmy.world 6 months ago
You know where there is also cheaper labor? Other places in the US that are not in Bay Area CA.
erwan@lemmy.ml 6 months ago
I don’t think Google pays significantly less in other US cities.
Besides, the kind of people who has the right experience to be hired by Google isn’t cheap.
OpenPassageways@lemmy.zip 6 months ago
Maybe they will save money because they don’t have to offer healthcare?
geissi@feddit.de 6 months ago
Employers in Germany have to bear half of the mandatory social security contributions.
This is on top of gross salary and includes mandatory health insurance.Wiz@midwest.social 6 months ago
That was my first thought.
agressivelyPassive@feddit.de 6 months ago
Compared to Valley workers, Germans are still cheap. 100k is a very very good salary over here.
ReallyActuallyFrankenstein@lemmynsfw.com 6 months ago
When you have a much better social safety net, work-life balance and in general can expect to be treated like a human and not a work-battery to be used up and discarded, people are satisfied with much less money.
Should they maybe instead just try that in the US? Nah, of course not.
Yrt@feddit.de 6 months ago
Yeah, but you still have to pay social taxes on top for every worker. That’s why salary and labour cost are two different things. And boy is it a difference in Germany.
Evil_incarnate@lemm.ee 6 months ago
And as far as I’ve been led to believe, workers in the USA will be bullied into not taking any time off. Germans will take their entitled holidays and use sick leave when they are sick.
KevonLooney@lemm.ee 6 months ago
Workers in the US may not even have sick time. They do make more money though, probably because lots of European tech workers come to the US for better pay.
btaf45@lemmy.world 6 months ago
So is West Virginia or Oklahoma.
shikitohno@lemm.ee 6 months ago
True, but you also need to get enough people with the right skills/knowledge who want to live in West Virginia or Oklahoma when those same skills and knowledge likely make them highly employable in markets with more amenities and greater job opportunities without needing to uproot their life and move to a new town/city when the time comes to get a job with a new company.
cm0002@lemmy.world 6 months ago
If only there was a way to, like, have workers work on things without having to be anywhere near the office. Like distance workers or something, then you could hire people from all over the country in cheap places! Ah well, we need that face time though! ~Executives
zout@fedia.io 6 months ago
But salary does not equal labour cost.
agressivelyPassive@feddit.de 6 months ago
Even doubling the salary is far less than what you’d pay in the US, and as a rule of thumb, German labour, including all the indirect costs, is about twice the gross salary.
Buelldozer@lemmy.today 6 months ago
I’m certain there’s plenty of Python programmers available in the United States for less than $200,000 per year.
APassenger@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Take home or total cost?
For instance, is there a pension to be funded with costs not included in that 100k?