7 ms·

Work in Lithuania

39 points by ignasl 7y ago

xeeeeeeeeeeenu 7y ago
It's weird that this website seems to target people from countries much richer than Lithuania.
- fyfy18 7y ago
  From the footer: "Work in Lithuania is an initiative of the Foreign Investment Development Agency Invest Lithuania which aims to encourage professionals from abroad to pursue their careers in Lithuania."
- scottlocklin 7y ago
  Why is that weird? Specialists could form a nucleus around which more jobs form. If I were looking for work I'd rather work in Lithuania than San Francisco.
  - xeeeeeeeeeeenu 7y ago
    Because salaries in Lithuania are much lower than in Western Europe (which has much lower salaries than SF). And no, the lower cost of living doesn't completely offset that. Unfortunately Eastern Europe is still less developed and poorer than the West.
    - scottlocklin 7y ago
      Average salaries and individual salaries are not the same thing.
  - m0rbz 7y ago
    I guess it depends what makes you happy. Personally even if work/life balance is shit and rent is very expensive, I'm much happier with California weather and proximity to the sea/parks/entertainment, but to each his own. I couldn't live in Vilnius weather, where it rains every other day.
hackerm0nkey 7y ago
The big question is that how much pay cut are you willing to take? Surely this will not match what people are getting on other richer countries in the EU.
- sametmax 7y ago
  Not to mention remote work for the US. You get 5 time the french pay in the bay, 3 times if you remove health insurances, taxes and retirement savings.
  - hackerm0nkey 7y ago
    And then one can live anywhere they please :)
    - hackerm0nkey 7y ago
      Maybe get a remote job for the US and live in Lithuania. Win Win.
      - vageli 7y ago
        > Maybe get a remote job for the US and live in Lithuania. Win Win. Only if the company is willing to go through the legal hoops to make this happen.
        sametmax 7y ago
        It's the same as hiring an immigrant on US soil. Something companies in the Bay are happy to do, since their hiring can't keep up with their needs. But for other companies, you can make it easier: just frame it as a freelancer gig.
        vageli 7y ago
        What do you mean they are the same? Hiring an immigrant who is legally authorized to work in the country is different than figuring out the target country's tax laws. It's the same reason American companies tend to disallow remote work from places they don't have a physical presence.
lewisj489 7y ago
I can't help but notice the absence of minorities on this website. Edit: Like it or not, people of different colours bring culture and a welcoming variation to a city. I get it, the French are minorities in Lithuania but you're nitpicking, being ignorant and missing the point. There are 12 picture with exclusively white people. Why would any who isn't white want to move there is that's the only group represented.
- zzzcpan 7y ago
  What do you mean by that?
  - lewisj489 7y ago
    Non-whites
    - ThePawnBreak 7y ago
      Lithuania is not the US. You saw Swedish and Italian people on the website, in Lithuania they are minorities.
      - lewisj489 7y ago
        So ignorant.
- chomp 7y ago
  What do you mean by "minorities"? Do you mean "non-white" people? If so, then sure, but most of eastern Europe is fairly homogeneous in terms of skin color. I take argument, and actually some offense to your comment because there could definitely be maligned groups in the website. Polish people deal with discrimination in many parts of Europe even today, and Lithuania has a history of this (read about the Lithuanization of the Polish). I have Polish ancestry and have been in situations where I've been told to keep quiet to avoid problems. Skin color doesn't always show the battles that people fight against discrimination every day.
choperius 7y ago
I moved to Vilnius from Sweden four months ago and enjoying it a lot so far. A lot of the things from the website are true - low costs (I pay 500e for 2-rooms in city center), very safe city, lots of green. Can get anywhere within 30 min and I walk to work every day. Working in here might be a pay cut but the low costs make up for it. Tech is much more well-compensated here than other industries. My perception is that Lithuania (and Baltics in general) is suffering a lot more for its reputation than it should. Society has developed very quickly the past 10 years and the reputation doesn't reflect today's reality here. If anyone is interested to learn more, feel free to pm me. We're also currently hiring Fintech Industry Manager to my team: https://careers.google.com/jobs/results/102620285653394118-industry-manager-financial-technology-english/ https://careers.google.com/jobs/results/102620285653394118-i...
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- nakkht 7y ago
  Fellow Lithuanian here living in Denmark. Did you try exploring Lithuania, like visiting other cities? If so, did you like it? It's flattering to hear that Vilnius is improving and you are enjoying living there.
  - choperius 7y ago
    Haven't had the time yet, but will make sure to make it out to the seaside this summer. Looking forward to visiting Klaipeda and Nida!
- osrec 7y ago
  I'm Indian, and I've been considering a nomadic working lifestyle. Do you see a lot of ethnic minorities there? Is the culture welcoming to other ethnicities?
  - choperius 7y ago
    It's still fairly homogeneous society compared to many other European countries. The language is also very different to other European languages, so it helps to pick up a little bit of Lithuanian to understand more here. I believe it's slowly changing and you can see some non-Europeans coming for study exchange and to work for international companies, but it's far from what it's like in e.g. Sweden, Netherlands or Germany. However, Lithuania is quite diverse in the sense that it's a crossroad between Central Europe, Northern Europe and Eastern Europe. Having many influences from Nordics, Russia, Poland and Germany. Many people in Vilnius speak several of the following: Lithuanian, English, Russian and Polish. All young (below 45) people speak English, older generation (45+) might speak Russian instead of English as second language.
cleansy 7y ago
So Lithuania is cheap and all, but the website and the job offers clearly fail to mention how much you get paid. Also, of course living in the city center of Vilnius is cheap, but compared to a similar 500k pop city in let's say Germany* and adjusted for the wages, it's absolutely not special. Plus the lower absolute wage will be a problem when you want to retire in a western European country. The financially smartest (IMHO) way is to live in .lt when you have a remote job/contract. * I pulled up numbers about Nuremberg which has roughly the same population, average income and average apartment costs are, relatively speaking, the same. However as mentioned above you will safe less towards retirement in absolute terms, limiting your choices later on.
- zzzcpan 7y ago
  For software development jobs across Europe you typically make at least as much or more in cheaper countries, as salaries are not significantly lower. Things are not in your favor for other fields though.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]

Work in Lithuania

39 points by ignasl 7y ago

xeeeeeeeeeeenu 7y ago

It's weird that this website seems to target people from countries much richer than Lithuania.

fyfy18 7y ago
From the footer: "Work in Lithuania is an initiative of the Foreign Investment Development Agency Invest Lithuania which aims to encourage professionals from abroad to pursue their careers in Lithuania."
scottlocklin 7y ago
Why is that weird? Specialists could form a nucleus around which more jobs form. If I were looking for work I'd rather work in Lithuania than San Francisco.
- xeeeeeeeeeeenu 7y ago
  Because salaries in Lithuania are much lower than in Western Europe (which has much lower salaries than SF). And no, the lower cost of living doesn't completely offset that. Unfortunately Eastern Europe is still less developed and poorer than the West.
  - scottlocklin 7y ago
    Average salaries and individual salaries are not the same thing.
- m0rbz 7y ago
  I guess it depends what makes you happy. Personally even if work/life balance is shit and rent is very expensive, I'm much happier with California weather and proximity to the sea/parks/entertainment, but to each his own. I couldn't live in Vilnius weather, where it rains every other day.

hackerm0nkey 7y ago

The big question is that how much pay cut are you willing to take? Surely this will not match what people are getting on other richer countries in the EU.

sametmax 7y ago
Not to mention remote work for the US. You get 5 time the french pay in the bay, 3 times if you remove health insurances, taxes and retirement savings.
- hackerm0nkey 7y ago
  And then one can live anywhere they please :)
  - hackerm0nkey 7y ago
    Maybe get a remote job for the US and live in Lithuania. Win Win.
    - vageli 7y ago
      > Maybe get a remote job for the US and live in Lithuania. Win Win. Only if the company is willing to go through the legal hoops to make this happen.
      - sametmax 7y ago
        It's the same as hiring an immigrant on US soil. Something companies in the Bay are happy to do, since their hiring can't keep up with their needs. But for other companies, you can make it easier: just frame it as a freelancer gig.
        vageli 7y ago
        What do you mean they are the same? Hiring an immigrant who is legally authorized to work in the country is different than figuring out the target country's tax laws. It's the same reason American companies tend to disallow remote work from places they don't have a physical presence.

lewisj489 7y ago

I can't help but notice the absence of minorities on this website. Edit: Like it or not, people of different colours bring culture and a welcoming variation to a city. I get it, the French are minorities in Lithuania but you're nitpicking, being ignorant and missing the point. There are 12 picture with exclusively white people. Why would any who isn't white want to move there is that's the only group represented.

zzzcpan 7y ago
What do you mean by that?
- lewisj489 7y ago
  Non-whites
  - ThePawnBreak 7y ago
    Lithuania is not the US. You saw Swedish and Italian people on the website, in Lithuania they are minorities.
    - lewisj489 7y ago
      So ignorant.
chomp 7y ago
What do you mean by "minorities"? Do you mean "non-white" people? If so, then sure, but most of eastern Europe is fairly homogeneous in terms of skin color. I take argument, and actually some offense to your comment because there could definitely be maligned groups in the website. Polish people deal with discrimination in many parts of Europe even today, and Lithuania has a history of this (read about the Lithuanization of the Polish). I have Polish ancestry and have been in situations where I've been told to keep quiet to avoid problems. Skin color doesn't always show the battles that people fight against discrimination every day.

choperius 7y ago

I moved to Vilnius from Sweden four months ago and enjoying it a lot so far. A lot of the things from the website are true - low costs (I pay 500e for 2-rooms in city center), very safe city, lots of green. Can get anywhere within 30 min and I walk to work every day. Working in here might be a pay cut but the low costs make up for it. Tech is much more well-compensated here than other industries. My perception is that Lithuania (and Baltics in general) is suffering a lot more for its reputation than it should. Society has developed very quickly the past 10 years and the reputation doesn't reflect today's reality here. If anyone is interested to learn more, feel free to pm me. We're also currently hiring Fintech Industry Manager to my team: https://careers.google.com/jobs/results/102620285653394118-industry-manager-financial-technology-english/ https://careers.google.com/jobs/results/102620285653394118-i...

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
nakkht 7y ago
Fellow Lithuanian here living in Denmark. Did you try exploring Lithuania, like visiting other cities? If so, did you like it? It's flattering to hear that Vilnius is improving and you are enjoying living there.
- choperius 7y ago
  Haven't had the time yet, but will make sure to make it out to the seaside this summer. Looking forward to visiting Klaipeda and Nida!
osrec 7y ago
I'm Indian, and I've been considering a nomadic working lifestyle. Do you see a lot of ethnic minorities there? Is the culture welcoming to other ethnicities?
- choperius 7y ago
  It's still fairly homogeneous society compared to many other European countries. The language is also very different to other European languages, so it helps to pick up a little bit of Lithuanian to understand more here. I believe it's slowly changing and you can see some non-Europeans coming for study exchange and to work for international companies, but it's far from what it's like in e.g. Sweden, Netherlands or Germany. However, Lithuania is quite diverse in the sense that it's a crossroad between Central Europe, Northern Europe and Eastern Europe. Having many influences from Nordics, Russia, Poland and Germany. Many people in Vilnius speak several of the following: Lithuanian, English, Russian and Polish. All young (below 45) people speak English, older generation (45+) might speak Russian instead of English as second language.

cleansy 7y ago

So Lithuania is cheap and all, but the website and the job offers clearly fail to mention how much you get paid. Also, of course living in the city center of Vilnius is cheap, but compared to a similar 500k pop city in let's say Germany* and adjusted for the wages, it's absolutely not special. Plus the lower absolute wage will be a problem when you want to retire in a western European country. The financially smartest (IMHO) way is to live in .lt when you have a remote job/contract. * I pulled up numbers about Nuremberg which has roughly the same population, average income and average apartment costs are, relatively speaking, the same. However as mentioned above you will safe less towards retirement in absolute terms, limiting your choices later on.

zzzcpan 7y ago
For software development jobs across Europe you typically make at least as much or more in cheaper countries, as salaries are not significantly lower. Things are not in your favor for other fields though.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]