How do the working conditions differ for developers across the world?

I was wondering what it's like working in other countries as a web developer or programmer.

In the US, it seems like you're either stuck in a corporate job that pays a ton but never innovates and has no perks (besides cash). Or you work at a startup that pays less but has a more casual, open culture.

The language use seems to span across all the major ones (PHP, Ruby, C#, Python etc.) without much discrimination other than what place you'll find them (C# and ASP being more corporate while PHP/Ruby startup-y).

The job market also seems to be very inviting where the demand way outpaces the supply, meaning that developers can be picky and get paid a lot of cash.

As far as background, degrees are not required to work and make money.

So yeah, what is it like in other countries?