Since I'm considering those offers, I'm curious about the differences in work culture. I'm particularly interested in the experiences of Europeans who have worked for American companies, and viceversa.
I'm asking in the broadest of senses, so anything goes, from benefits through work politics to dos and don'ts.
- Do not talk about your salary. There are large disparities in income within the US and even within the same company for the same role, which is less common in Europe.
- Many American work environments have more of a hierarchy within the company, particularly in more corporate environments. US companies are often more stratified. Some to the degree of oil and water.
- As you already know, Americans value small talk more. They also tend to immerse more of their identity into their workplace. Avoid talking about politics. Opinions that are not left of center are essentially taboo to mention.
- A fraction of your co-workers will be on the prescription drug Adderall, or an equivalent, and you probably won't know. Adderall is common amongst those from upper middle class backgrounds. They often don't need it yet take it as a performance enhancer. Money matters more in the US, and there's more competition to get it.
- You will likely get less vacation. Not only that, you will be discouraged, though rarely explicitly, from taking it.
- Working in tech in the US can be much better than in Europe. You'll make more money. US tech companies, unlike say law or finance, do offer many benefits, and if you choose the right company you can work less than 40 hours a week. For example, I plan to quit my US tech job because the hours are from 9am to 6pm. If you have to show up before 10am and you're not paid a multiple of six figures it might be a bad deal. For tech, I'd prefer to work in the US.
US Politics are quite polarized right now, and US tech companies can work on being decidedly outspoken on the side of their employees (more supportive of the cultural left). Though of course, there's also a countermovement[2]
Sometimes it can instead of being part of a physical community, that my needs are more meant by the company mothership than the city I live in...
Like others have said, there's a lot of variation in US work cultures. I'm mostly thinking about the typical Silicon Valley Tech company moreso than
1 - https://www.impactplus.com/blog/what-is-hustle-culture-and-h... 2 - https://www.theverge.com/2021/5/3/22418208/basecamp-all-hand...
The american work culture is among the best: people want to work and want to get paid. Americans tend to be willing to work 40% more for 20% more benefit, something that few places in the world tolerate. This makes for very dynamic workplaces, with a greater sense of purpose and responsibility.
The smaller the company the more intense the responsibility. This does not mean 80hr work weeks (though this exists, I have never faced it) but the base line is much higher.
On financing, it is hard to fathom for engineers outside america really how much money there is in this space. A new grad developer that displays some level of skill can easily get 200k+/yr total compensation offers. Furthermore stock is always one of the biggest compensation factors, where it usually does not exist significantly outside the us. In this bull market, stock compensation is around 60%+ of liquid compensation for public companies. Small companies have a lot of equity to give so you can ask for a lot and you have to be patient for that to pay off. Even the winners can take a decade to IPO or exit.
Americans do think health benefits are very important, but it is mostly a tax benefit. I would only focus on PTO/parental leave if applicable as a remote engineer and forget about all else, pay it out of pocket on your end.
I jest, somewhat...
Aside from language and the obvious differences in food and so on that aren’t work specific, I think the big differences you might encounter are more working hours, more complicated (and expensive) medical benefits and care, and pressure not to take time off. Those factors vary widely too, though. Some American work places, especially in tech, look like catered playgrounds.
COVID has meant working from home part or full time for many Americans, so depending on the company you may not have much direct exposure to workplace culture.
One thing I’ve noticed working with foreigners in the US: Americans tend to focus on results and teamwork. I’ve worked with people from other cultures who have focused on blame when something goes wrong, where the American tendency is to fix, move on, don’t repeat the mistake. That’s a generalization of course. At the same time Americans believe in personal accountability and keeping commitments, which get expressed differently in other cultures.
Would you be taking the company's benefits? Another thing I've heard a lot of culture shock regarding is health care premiums from EU people who've relocated here.
This is indeed a valid question to ask as a part of interview. How would a company describe its culture, what would they choose to emphasize to you.
Likewise, in you own professional experience, what does stand out as important for you workplace culture wise.
As for the US companies, they are quite diverse in general and industry wide. Some companies may be quite "international" in that sense. Not sure which industries may have a larger Western European presence on work force, but anything related to academia or research may have a geater chance to encounter post-docs from Europe.