Published by marco on
I just read/scanned through the article Living in Switzerland ruined me for America and its lousy work culture. The article is quite accurate and well-written in the material that it addresses. The reaction at Reddit was more uninformed than usual. My notes below.
Cost of Living: The commentaters at Reddit noted that the average salary of 90k per year in Switzerland is eaten up by the cost of living. Well, of course it is. Switzerland doesn’t offer more bang for your tax dollar, more maternity leave, better unemployment insurance and retraining, low-cost or nearly free higher education, better commuting, better work/life balance, more vacation and 2-3 times as much disposable income, you greedy, ungrateful fuck.
That said, you only eat through 90k per year (especially by yourself!) if you eat all of your meals at restaurants and are constantly on the go in clubs, bars, etc.—especially if you live in a big, expensive city (e.g. Zürich or Geneva). At Encodo, we eat in the office three times per week, dining out for lunch only twice per week. We (almost) never eat at our desks, though, preferring a communal eating area inside or on an outdoor terrace, weather permitting.
People here generally eat at restaurants a lot less. It’s a cooking culture. The salary covers even a lifestyle that isn’t trying to save, but you can save a lot if you adjust your lifestyle a bit. People bitching about having used up every cent of their salaries would do so no matter how much they were paid.