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Was approached by a headhunter for a role in Bratislava for Amazon. They were giving a 'generous' salary of €20k (net) per year (it was a few years ago). The he

Was approached by a headhunter for a role in Bratislava for Amazon. They were giving a 'generous' salary of €20k (net) per year (it was a few years ago). The headhunter was desperate and wanted to convince me that "this is a lot of money!!!" (for Bratislava). My simple counter was that "if I save 20% of my salary per month, I will have 4k in the end of the year. If I take an €60k (net) job in Frankfurt and again I save 20%, I will have 12k". Why would I 'sell myself short' for 8k of savings per year? It only made him angrier because my narrative did not match his sales-pitch. I never got to work for Amazon (or anyone else in Bratislava). Location matters. If you want €100k then don't look in Bratislava. If you want a 'slow calm life' (away from the madness of London/Paris/etc.) go to Bratislava or Ljubljana and be happy with the €40k. > You can't have it both ways.. No but people love to complain. PS/Addition: it feels like "bait and switch". It's like hiring me in Bratislava, giving me a small (net) salary and ask me to work from London. I wouldn't accept that. The employee would also feel cheated the other way around. And with that said this is my favorite cities' cost comparison: https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/comparison.jsp https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/comparison.jsp

sgtnoodle 6y ago
Ljubljana is lovely for a vacation by the way. Slovenia is a very beautiful country. Unfortunately we were sick with a cold for most of our stay and I didn't partake in the beer fountain or drink nearly as much wine as I wanted to. Our landlady was a bit uptight and got upset that we were hand washing clothes in the bathroom sink, but with the communication barrier I don't think she fully appreciated that we were dealing with sick baby throw-up 3+ times a day...
Viliam1234 6y ago
> it feels like "bait and switch". It's like hiring me in Bratislava, giving me a small (net) salary and ask me to work from London. Many IT companies in Bratislava hire local people for local salaries... and then make them travel to other countries exactly 49% of the year (so they still pay taxes locally); the remaining 51% of time working for a foreign client remotely from a local office. My friend had a job where he had to fly to a Western country every Monday morning, and fly back home every Friday evening, to maximize the number of working days within that 49% of the year. (This way you can work abroad for 36 weeks a year, instead of "mere" 26.) And of course he had to spend 8 hours working each Monday or Friday, so he left home on Monday soon after midnight, and arrived home on Friday shortly before midnight, so he basically spent the whole weekend sleeping. (He already quit that job.)

sgtnoodle 6y ago

Ljubljana is lovely for a vacation by the way. Slovenia is a very beautiful country. Unfortunately we were sick with a cold for most of our stay and I didn't partake in the beer fountain or drink nearly as much wine as I wanted to. Our landlady was a bit uptight and got upset that we were hand washing clothes in the bathroom sink, but with the communication barrier I don't think she fully appreciated that we were dealing with sick baby throw-up 3+ times a day...

Viliam1234 6y ago

> it feels like "bait and switch". It's like hiring me in Bratislava, giving me a small (net) salary and ask me to work from London. Many IT companies in Bratislava hire local people for local salaries... and then make them travel to other countries exactly 49% of the year (so they still pay taxes locally); the remaining 51% of time working for a foreign client remotely from a local office. My friend had a job where he had to fly to a Western country every Monday morning, and fly back home every Friday evening, to maximize the number of working days within that 49% of the year. (This way you can work abroad for 36 weeks a year, instead of "mere" 26.) And of course he had to spend 8 hours working each Monday or Friday, so he left home on Monday soon after midnight, and arrived home on Friday shortly before midnight, so he basically spent the whole weekend sleeping. (He already quit that job.)