I hear something like that from other Americans as well and do not doubt that what you are saying is true, but why is it like that? Isn't the unemployment rate in the US low (around 3.5%) right now?
I live in a country where the unemployment rate is pretty low (2.5%) and the situation is kind of the reverse of what you are describing. Companies are trying to entice potential employees, not the other way around. Give me 6 weeks of paid vacations and do not even think about over-times; you look at me funny and I am gone... there are 10 other companies where I can start tomorrow.
I am now trying to relocate to Spain and it is not like that there - but I get why; because their unemployment rate is really high so employers have the power over employees. But in the US? I am sorry if that is a naive question - I've not been to the US since 2002. A lot has changed, apparently.
Its very easy to fire people in the US, so there is likely considerable more stress involved in the US workers day to day as they don't know if they are going to be randomly let go tomorrow. US companies will often lay off hundreds of people to make the bottom line look better. We generally make good $ but it could all end tomorrow so we are always thinking of the next position. In addition, we get used to the money so while we could probably easily get a lower paying job if we have to, many of us [not al] also are not that great at financial planning in the US so the stress is maximized. On top of that our health insurance for our family is provided by our jobs.
So in the US its a perfect storm of stress and reliance on our jobs that can be taken away at any moment.
> our health insurance for our family is provided by our jobs
I was not sure how this worked. I knew that the US does not have universal health care (not having it is one of those famous American things) but I assumed that it works on a private basis - you chose an insurance company if you want (and can afford) to be insured, you pay them $X per year and you are covered. Having this tied to your employment gives your employer terrible leverage over you. That would certainly stressed me out.
Generally your employer provides you a fixed set of say 1 - 3 options, each better but more expensive than the prior. Our insurance policies generally also include a deductible, an amount you have to pay out of pocket before coverage kicks in. For example $3,000 per year. The higher the monthly premium, the lower the deductible. The employer pays ~50% - 70% of the premium and the employee pays the rest with pre tax money. The cost increases as you add children and spouse to your policy. Spouse is generally a higher premium bump than kids.
You should doubt it, because it’s wildly exaggerated. The overwhelming majority of software engineers in America are not speaking at conferences, blogging, or maintaining open-source software beyond possibly toy projects.
> Isn't the unemployment rate in the US low (around 3.5%) right now?
Remember that the "unemployment rate" in the US is very particular. If you haven't searched for a job within the past 4 weeks then you're not unemployed.
Unemployment being low in the US is not so directly correlated with how workers are treated because there are so few labor protections in place and those that do exist are rarely enforced.
For a tech industry example, what Elon Musk did with layoffs and worker treatment at Twitter in his relentless efforts to demonstrate his incompetence would be illegal in most of Europe and quickly face the ire of unions and regulators. In the US, by contrast, his behavior was seen as aspirational by a number of other tech CEOs, who quickly followed suit to demonstrate that they were just as “smart” and “tough” as Musk.
I live in a country where the unemployment rate is pretty low (2.5%) and the situation is kind of the reverse of what you are describing. Companies are trying to entice potential employees, not the other way around. Give me 6 weeks of paid vacations and do not even think about over-times; you look at me funny and I am gone... there are 10 other companies where I can start tomorrow.
I am now trying to relocate to Spain and it is not like that there - but I get why; because their unemployment rate is really high so employers have the power over employees. But in the US? I am sorry if that is a naive question - I've not been to the US since 2002. A lot has changed, apparently.