zlacker

>I'd seriously question the judgement of any engineer that chooses e.g. the part time job that gives you 42k net over the full time job that gives you 56k net (= significant difference of possible living conditions/disposable income) _purely_ on the basis that you earn "far" less per additional Euro.

Of course not just because of that. They look at the money they earn, the money they need to live and see that if they reduce their expenses a bit, they can easily do with less hours. The 66k really is interesting, because starting wages are below that (my first job was 55k), but with experience you can easily get into that range. If that happens your income before taxes significantly increase, but your hourly compensation after taxes not as much and so you obviously have to ask yourself whether the additional hours are worth it or whether you can make do with less.

Additionally it makes employers where you generally work less hours (e.g. VW) more attractive. But obviously this has an effect on productivity per person.