5 ms·

You can work in English in most tech companies in Madrid and Barcelona. In fact, if some company discard you because of that, it would be a good thing for you.

You can work in English in most tech companies in Madrid and Barcelona. In fact, if some company discard you because of that, it would be a good thing for you. I know people working for more than 10 years in Madrid and Barcelona with just English, without speaking Spanish (most people is not nationalist, so you'll not feel strong social push for learning the local language/s). In fact, most people will appreciate it, so they can improve their English (coffee breaks, lunch time, etc.). Available jobs: - Pharma industry - Car manufacturers (industrial software, automation, etc.) - Misc manufacturing (again, automation, robotics, plant/line planification) - Finance, insurance. - IT consulting, logistics, start ups, etc. Pretty similar to everywhere, plus industrial stuff. Best paying jobs: finance, Pharma industry, car design-related (3D, materials, aerodynamics, etc.), SAP consulting, import/export logistics. Before getting too much depressed with salary figures, note that "before taxes" salary is not the full salary. E.g. someone making 40.000€ "before taxes" means the company puts additional 13,000€ for retirement and Social Security, being like making near 50,000 USD in the US (plus with 100% medical coverage, no matter how expensive is, e.g. a cancer treatment, or any other expensive treatment). Of course, if you come from making 130,000-200,000 USD / year, you'll feel "poor" in comparison. For better salaries, New Zealand and Australia may be better options.

pvaldes 9y ago
> salary is not the full salary... And a month or so each year of paid holidays, by contract, if you work in the same company for some time. This does not apply for freelancers or small temporal jobs, of course.
- faragon 9y ago
  Yes, right. Contractors/freelancers, despite having universal health-care coverage like salaried people, don't have paid holidays. Anyway, you can make lots of money as contractor working in Madrid or Barcelona (six figure income, before taxes). E.g. doing the exactly same work you can make 2-3x as contractor.
tehlike 9y ago
Absolute number wise, it's probably hard to beat the united states. Life quality wise, probably that changes. I make well above the ranges you were mentioning in the US, and still feel poor in comparison :) If your end game is to come back to USA after 2-3 years, it might be ok. But if you want to come back after 20-30 years, you might be losing on quite a lot of income. That assumes, you know, you want to work as an employee for that time. All bets are off if you want to start your own company.
- faragon 9y ago
  Also, universal medical coverage in Spain covers you and all your family members, without additional cost. E.g. if you're married and having 4 kids, all 6 people would be 100% covered by the public health insurance. E.g. If you have a child with problems requiring medical treatments costing 2 millions of USD (e.g. unlimited surgeries, unlimited hospital time, unlimited treatment), it would be covered.
  - majormajor 9y ago
    My question: what happens if you lose your job as a foreign worker (say, too sick to keep working)? The family scenarios are all also covered by my US employee-based coverage, with a small-compared-to-the-salary-numbers out-of-pocket annual max, but in the US where you can get screwed is if you get too sick to work.
    - Mediterraneo10 9y ago
      After you become a permanent resident in a EU country, you are no longer legally a "foreign worker" but rather state services treat you the same as any native-born person.
      - majormajor 9y ago
        So googling says this is available to apply for after 5 years for Spain. Which suggests that the health care benefits may not be substantially better for quite some time after moving. Especially if moving from the US and giving up several tens of thousands of dollars per year in salary. The last part of this sentence makes thing increasingly unclear-sounding: > You have to prove that you have adequate financial resources to provide for you and your family (if applicable) – such as pension, scholarship or salary – and proof of public or private health insurance with a company authorised to operate in Spain. Why would you need health insurance of your own if you'd end up on a state plan?

pvaldes 9y ago

> salary is not the full salary... And a month or so each year of paid holidays, by contract, if you work in the same company for some time. This does not apply for freelancers or small temporal jobs, of course.

faragon 9y ago
Yes, right. Contractors/freelancers, despite having universal health-care coverage like salaried people, don't have paid holidays. Anyway, you can make lots of money as contractor working in Madrid or Barcelona (six figure income, before taxes). E.g. doing the exactly same work you can make 2-3x as contractor.

tehlike 9y ago

Absolute number wise, it's probably hard to beat the united states. Life quality wise, probably that changes. I make well above the ranges you were mentioning in the US, and still feel poor in comparison :) If your end game is to come back to USA after 2-3 years, it might be ok. But if you want to come back after 20-30 years, you might be losing on quite a lot of income. That assumes, you know, you want to work as an employee for that time. All bets are off if you want to start your own company.

faragon 9y ago
Also, universal medical coverage in Spain covers you and all your family members, without additional cost. E.g. if you're married and having 4 kids, all 6 people would be 100% covered by the public health insurance. E.g. If you have a child with problems requiring medical treatments costing 2 millions of USD (e.g. unlimited surgeries, unlimited hospital time, unlimited treatment), it would be covered.
- majormajor 9y ago
  My question: what happens if you lose your job as a foreign worker (say, too sick to keep working)? The family scenarios are all also covered by my US employee-based coverage, with a small-compared-to-the-salary-numbers out-of-pocket annual max, but in the US where you can get screwed is if you get too sick to work.
  - Mediterraneo10 9y ago
    After you become a permanent resident in a EU country, you are no longer legally a "foreign worker" but rather state services treat you the same as any native-born person.
    - majormajor 9y ago
      So googling says this is available to apply for after 5 years for Spain. Which suggests that the health care benefits may not be substantially better for quite some time after moving. Especially if moving from the US and giving up several tens of thousands of dollars per year in salary. The last part of this sentence makes thing increasingly unclear-sounding: > You have to prove that you have adequate financial resources to provide for you and your family (if applicable) – such as pension, scholarship or salary – and proof of public or private health insurance with a company authorised to operate in Spain. Why would you need health insurance of your own if you'd end up on a state plan?