Pros
Tldr; It's amazing. Apply now.
Why Uber:
- There are just a few tech companies, where you work on problems of such scale (petabytes of data, 50k+ QPS etc).
- There are even fewer companies where you solve problems in the real world, ie. you're not helping people share cat memes, you're providing millions of partners from hundreds of countries, a livelihood.
Why Uber in Amsterdam:
- Impactful work: This isn't just another satellite campus. Uber Engineering in Amsterdam works on problems, that are essential for business.
- Work/life balance: Maybe this applies to more places in Europe in general, but you're encouraged to pace things in a way you're comfortable.
- Phenomenal compensation: almost 50-100% more than competing firms in Amsterdam, while this might be less absolute money than offers in SF or London, the cheaper cost of living in Amsterdam ensures you have a very comfortable life.
- Great Benefits: Apart from regular things like insurance, and gym membership, you also get about ~300 EUR of Uber credits a month, you can use them on rides or to order food from Uber Eats, you can basically get away with never cooking dinner.
Why Amsterdam:
- Beautiful city, amazingly located especially if you want to strike off over a dozen travel locations from your bucket list.
- Everyone knows English and is very friendly towards expats!
- Theres a tax benefit for High Knowledge immigrants in the Netherlands, that'll bring down your effective tax rate to about 25% (from 50+%.)
Cons
At present growth opportunities (for positions beyond Sr. Engineer) seem limited as opposed to SF.