Yes that's partially true imo. Perhaps not so much the quality of work but more the scope/scale of work is not as large.. We often also forget that in the US/Europe the consulting landscape is very different, for e.g. there you can graduate and live in SF but be asked to relocate to NYC (which also explains relocation bonuses). Apart from that, fed/state income taxes are significantly higher than what we have here (gross salary of $70k erodes to around $50k after tax), higher costs of living, etc.