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"cheap EU labour" tends to apply more to fruit pickers than AI PhDs I suspect



Tech salaries in continental Europe are significantly lower than in the US or UK. Even the most highly developed economies like Germany and Denmark often provide 50% of what you might make in CA or NY for a similar role.


But not 50% of what you might make in London and that's what this is about.

And the EUR goes a lot farther in say Berlin than the GBP goes in London these days (see rent, eating out prices etc)


> Tech salaries in continental Europe are significantly lower than in the US or UK.

With the exception of Switzerland.


Nope. Eastern European brilliant minds would flock to London and get paid far lower salaries than they were worth. Ukranians, Lithuanians. The legacy of communist math is alive and well - they were generally better than any western european talent you could get and cheaper. They would always get the top jobs, but the regular influx of new blood meant salaries were stuck.


But Brexit hasn't really changed that - most of Eastern Europeans you're describing aren't EU citizens and needed work visas even before Brexit.


Baltic countries. Romania, Bulgaria. There was a lot of talent available from the old Iron Curtain. The only example I can think of were Ukrainians and Bielorussians and even then I met a few people from Belarus.




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