It’s one 🇪🇺 labour market, but pays €83k in one country and €15k in another.
Factor in cost of living, and...
...the gap doesn't change.
Europe works like one labour market, but the same talent is paid very differently depending on where it is:
→ 🇱🇺: €83k
→ 🇩🇰: €71k
🆚
→ 🇮🇹, 🇪🇸, 🇵🇹: ~€30k
→ 🇬🇷, 🇧🇬, 🇷🇴: ~€18k
👉 Some workers in Europe earn US-level salaries.
Others earn salaries closer to top emerging economies: 🇲🇽, 🇨🇱, 🇧🇷
🗣️: "You need to account for cost of living!"
→ 🇱🇺: €83k / 78 = 1.06k
→ 🇩🇰: €71k / 78.9 = 0.9k
🆚
→ Southern Europe: ~€30k / 53.9 = 0.56k
→ Eastern Europe: ~€18k / 45.4 = 0.4k
👉 Even after adjusting, real earning power is still ~2x higher in top-paying countries.
So are we really converging… or just making it easier for companies to hire the same talent at very different costs across countries?
--
Source: Eurostat, OECD; Numbeo.