US vs UK Contracting & IT Salary Rates

[MarillionFan]

"rent of a flat would be $650 instead of £650. So you don't need to earn as much."

All expenses are paid for.

[Cowboy Bob]

Just remember that in the US the working conditions are really bad. You'll be in a cubicle with 7 days holiday a year max and will be expected to work 14 hour days, 6 days a week.

[Not So Wise]

When Jobswerve suddenly started inundating me with job ads from the USA after Christmas, the rates were low for my line of work.

Don't forget to take into account cost of living, general rule of thumb, don't go by exchange rate, go at a $1=£1 comparison to get it balanced out.

Barring NYC, the cost of living in the whole of the USA is cheaper than the UK and even NYC is only comparable on rent prices. Also further south you go the cheaper it gets.

Not that much of a contractor market in the states though, they have such crap employee rights that they don't really need to hire contractors, they can just hire and fire permies with relative ease instead. Also from what I know virtually impossible to get H1B visa sponsorship for a "contractor" approved.

Another thing to factor in, in the US 6 day working week, 9/10 hours per day is so common it is pretty much the standard for IT (even though your "official" hours will 40/45 hours per week, the extra will be unpaid overtime)

[sunnysan]

6Days

When I was there the guys didnt work weekends, where does this 6 day week come from? News to me

[andy]

You are miskaten. Nobody in IT works for 6 days a week in the entire world.

[Francko]

You are miskaten. Nobody in IT works for 6 days a week in the entire world.

Milan works 8 days a week.

[andy]

Milan works 8 days a week.

excluding tape changing profession

[MarillionFan]

Fish and Barrel springs to mind.