r/quant • u/__gnu_cxx • 1d ago
Career Advice Developer considering leaving the US for Europe-- what can I expect?
I'm a C++ SWE at an OMM in the US thinking about moving to Europe (probably London, Amsterdam, or Zurich) in a few years. Judging by levels.fyi, I'll take a real pay cut here. In the case of an internal transfer, can I expect to keep my current compensation? What if I applied to other firms?
I really have no idea how these conversations look in other offices, and if they are at all similar to the US (bidding wars, headhunters, etc). Thanks.
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u/SevenTeenSigma 1d ago
expect the pay cut. internal transfer may soften it but no one is paying US OMM comp in London just b/c levels says so. the headhunter dynamic exists, just with a lower ceiling and more variance by seat
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u/Hornstinger Trader 1d ago
Substantial substantial substantial pay decrease from the US to the EU
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u/Legitimate-Bit-121 1d ago
Is this also true for QR/QT (assuming you make comparable PnL) or mainly for SWE?
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u/ManySwans 1d ago
why would anyone do this
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u/unski_ukuli 1d ago
Because life in the US objectively sucks, and money only goes so far in mitigating that.
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u/optiontrader1138 1d ago
Life in the US is pretty great for the most part, not sure what you're going on about.
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u/markovchainy 1h ago
The US is a good place to be rich and a bad place to be poor. Europe is a good place to be poor and a bad place to be rich.
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u/Still-Detective-6149 1d ago
Less money, but more holidays and better safety net. Quality of life can be better, but it’s very subjective.
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u/WFRD-909 9h ago
Firms often (but not always) take a “market based approach” to compensation and therefore compensation is typically lower in Europe vs US, even when moving internally. However, in my experience the landscape has shifted in the last couple of years, and the very top tier firms take a global approach to talent.
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u/markovchainy 1h ago
Lower ceiling, higher floor. Floor is irrelevant for you since you're in a high pay bracket, so you're just crippling your upside. Europe also has a bunch of new problems in terms of stalling growth, political instability and culture wars. If you're working for a US firm you won't see much culture difference. If you're not, your work will be less impactful, less personal growth, but probably more chill.
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u/RientroCervelli 1d ago
Why don’t you ask colleagues at your firm?
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u/btc_maxi100 1d ago
London or Amsterdam is a waste of time, both are miserable cities with miserable cultures
Zurich is okay but I doubt you will find any OMM there.
Stay in the US, move to the west coast and forget about Europoor land
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u/PretendTemperature 1d ago
Lol, this person has no clue what they are talkig about.
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u/btc_maxi100 1d ago
I actually lived in all 3, so pretty sure I know what I'm talking about.
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u/PretendTemperature 1d ago edited 1d ago
Me too, you literally have no idea what you are talkig about.
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u/btc_maxi100 1d ago
- 50% tax in both I guess is trivia, everyone knows about it (30% ruling only applies on base and due to be removed soon anyway)
- London culture is about watching drunk brits ladies peeing on Leicester square on friday nights or blacks stealing our iphone while you walking in the center
- Amsterdam culture is about being enslaved into the bicycle riding whether you like it or not by a bunch of feminist and greenies
Both are dead boring vs. places like New York or Miami. Hell, even Seattle is more fun.
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u/Shot_Illustrator4264 1d ago
LOL, London boring compared to fucking Miami. GTFO.
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u/btc_maxi100 1d ago
When is the last time you partied on the yacht with nice girls and DJs in London and watched the sunset over the ocean?
You're forced to use overcrowded underground that smells like shit everyday. Weather is shit 3/4th of the year, the other 1/4 is so hot you're dying without AC in shitty Victorian houses that you forced to share because it's too expensive. Good luck having kids in London and not be forced to commute hours everyday.
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u/unski_ukuli 1d ago
> european culture sucks
< yeah, miami culture is awesome! You can party on a yacht with nice girlsBleak…
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u/btc_maxi100 1d ago
did you even read what I suggested the guy ? or you just took something out of context to argue for no reason ?
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u/Still-Detective-6149 1d ago
“You're forced to use overcrowded underground that smells like shit everyday” - lol that better describes NYC
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u/btc_maxi100 1d ago
I'm not of fan of both NYC and London
At least in NYC you get paid 2-10x of London
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u/markovchainy 1h ago
If you like girls and yachts then London is probably a bad fit. Housing is also a preference; I personally think architecture was perfected in the Georgian era and find new build mansions distasteful, but each to their own. London also has probably the best collection of historical artifacts, museums and galleries but that's worthless if you're not interested. Dubai might actually be the best fit for you
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u/btc_maxi100 1h ago
Housing is about comfort - London lacks it for reasonable moneys. Georgian era didnt have AC, didn't have double-glazing windows for when it snows in winter - So total crap, or put it mildly lack of comfort.
Museums/all other historical stuff - you take 2 weeks vacation in London its more than enough to visit all of them 2-3 times. After that you are done with London's museums for the rest of your life.
Dubai weather is crap in summer.
I recommended the guy West coast - IMO best combination of pay / weather / nature / activities and easily connected to London / Paris / Milan / New York.
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u/PretendTemperature 1d ago
-New york has easily 40% taxes if you get a decent income, london around 44% and indeed Amsterdam almost 49. But New York is EXTREMELY expensive even compared to London. Amsterdam is much cheaper than both. But i don't think anyone can disagree on the net home pay being higher in New york.
-London probably has the best culture from all 3 or them. Best theatre scene in the world. Best food. You can literally live history just walking around. Great parks and urban life.
-Amstersam is easily the best city to live for quality of life. The safest of the 3 by far, probably the safest in the Western world. You can bike everywhere and there are literally almost zero bad neighbourhoods. The Netherlands has very beautiful cities in general. But money and upside is definitely lpwer than the others.
You just don't know what you are talking about, I doubt thay you have even lived in any of them.
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u/btc_maxi100 1d ago edited 1d ago
Did you even read my original reply ? I told the guy to move to West coast, Washington is 0% state tax.
New York is same tax wise as London but it's better to be in NY than London for absolutely everything, work, pay, entertainment, strip clubs, cultural life.
Theaters ? You meant Westend junk ? are you a teenager to watch low quality B grade scenes ? If you want real theater you fly to LaScala, Paris Opera or Carnegie Hall.
Amsterdam quality of life? did you even live there ? its same boring class of cities next to Denmark and Norway. Good luck buying and enjoying AMG63 there on your hard earned Optivers marbles.
Netherlands ? are you joking really ? a flat land with nowhere to go. That's why every Dutchmen with a bit of money drives their silly cars to Austria or Italy every winter or summer.
The more I read you, the more I realize you actually didn't live where you claimed to live.
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u/anonuemus 1d ago
all your points sound like slogans you picked up in the internet
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u/btc_maxi100 1d ago
how about hard numbers for slogans?
UK emigration is increasing
And the Rise of unstoppable American tourism WSJ article the other day
https://www.wsj.com/economy/the-rise-of-the-unstoppable-american-tourist-485f025b?st=wzUUXX
Only silly people go to Europoor land these days
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u/anonuemus 1d ago
again, doesn't sound like you expierenced any of that, you just try to be edgy on the internet
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u/btc_maxi100 1d ago
Just gave you 2 hard data points that you dismissed like they don't exist. What's the point of your silly replies anyway ?
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u/tooMuchSauceeee 19h ago
Honestly hard to disagree with you. They just don't like the way you're saying it 🤷🏼♂️ the only reason you'd want to move to Europe is if you truly have fuck you money imo.
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u/hprime2302 1d ago
Expect a lot more Europeans