As a Swede who's been in the US for 5 years, what you say is true, but it's more nuanced than that. If you're poor, Sweden is so much better than the US, not even in the same league. As a software developer though, you'll earn roughly twice as much, enough to cover all the benefits of living in Sweden and probably quite a bit more. Engineers and technical people are not paid what they're worth in Sweden, I have no idea why.
But then again, you'll be wealthy in a hugely unequal society. The benefit of the Swedish system is that everybody gets those benefits and safety net, improving the society as a whole.
Here are a few other benefits of living in the US:
- THE place to be if you're in tech, there will never be an Apple or Google coming out of Sweden unfortunately
- More interesting career opportunities, you can do anything you want (if you're prepared to move around)
- Much more, better and affordable food
- Going out, eating, drinking, doing stuff in general doesn't break the bank
- You're not patronized in the same way (systembolaget, overbearing regulations etc, "we know what's best for you")
- Better weather (depending on where you are)
- A society much more friendly to immigrants (maybe counter intuitive). This is a big one. As a native Swede, you don't realize how much discrimination there is in Swedish society, even for highly educated professionals. People have to change their last name to something Swedish-sounding just to get an interview. In the US, nobody gives a shit where you're from, as long as you know what you're doing.
All in all though, I've decided to move back, for many of the reasons you listed, as well as a relatively sane political system, move vacation, parental leave and ease of travel. The biggest factor though is being closer to family and friends.
That's what probationary periods are for, if you can't evaluate a person in 6 or so months of actual work you are probably doing something drastically wrong.
But then again, you'll be wealthy in a hugely unequal society. The benefit of the Swedish system is that everybody gets those benefits and safety net, improving the society as a whole.
Here are a few other benefits of living in the US:
- THE place to be if you're in tech, there will never be an Apple or Google coming out of Sweden unfortunately
- More interesting career opportunities, you can do anything you want (if you're prepared to move around)
- Much more, better and affordable food
- Going out, eating, drinking, doing stuff in general doesn't break the bank
- You're not patronized in the same way (systembolaget, overbearing regulations etc, "we know what's best for you")
- Better weather (depending on where you are)
- A society much more friendly to immigrants (maybe counter intuitive). This is a big one. As a native Swede, you don't realize how much discrimination there is in Swedish society, even for highly educated professionals. People have to change their last name to something Swedish-sounding just to get an interview. In the US, nobody gives a shit where you're from, as long as you know what you're doing.
All in all though, I've decided to move back, for many of the reasons you listed, as well as a relatively sane political system, move vacation, parental leave and ease of travel. The biggest factor though is being closer to family and friends.