Hello everyone. I’m a 26M with a PhD and one year of postdoc experience. After realizing that academia isn't the right fit for me, I’ve decided to transition into industry this year. I’ve received two offers for AI researcher roles, both from startups:
- Tokyo: 15M JPY base salary
- SF Bay Area: 160K USD base salary
Both offers include equity options, but it’s difficult to compare them directly. So, focusing only on the salary, is 15M JPY considered a good salary for a generative AI researcher with a 1 YoE PhD in Tokyo? I’ve checked platforms like levels.fyi and opensalary, but they don’t seem to have much information about generative AI researchers in Japan. I understand that the income tax rates in Japan (33%) are somewhat similar to California (31.39%), but besides income/resident taxes and social insurance, are there any other significant deductions I should be aware of in Japan?
Personally, I’m an anime fan, so living in Japan is pretty appealing to me. However, I’m still hesitating due to the salary difference and concerns about future career opportunities. While generative AI is hot right now, and there are some famous researchers in Japan (like hardmaru), as well as big companies with branches in Japan (like Google/DeepMind Japan, OpenAI Japan, etc), it seems like the overall progress of generative AI in Japan is lagging behind compared to other countries.
What other factors should I consider when weighing these two offers?
Thank you in advance for your advice!
by improfmeow