They're not much smaller when one factors in the extreme taxes we have to pay in Europe. 49% of a salary for a senior SRE position vaporizes in taxes before it reaches me. That's a salary that would be decent but not great for the same title in the US subject to US taxes. And my union told me they've never seen such a high salary with that title before when I sought their counsel during negotiations.
It's hard to tell, but I think there may be a big difference between "51% of a salary that would be decent but not great" and "literally paying people five times less than a decent salary", which is what the article described. Like, maybe a factor of two. And in Europe you get something extra for those taxes, while generally in South America public services and infrastructure are worse than in the US, not better.
