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As a foreigner living and working as a long-term resident in Portugal (with a Portuguese salary and paying Portuguese taxes, of course), my impression is that t
by 13415 5y ago
As a foreigner living and working as a long-term resident in Portugal (with a Portuguese salary and paying Portuguese taxes, of course), my impression is that the problems are systemic and long-term. There is no overnight solution but things are slowly improving. Salaries are still abysmal so many highly skilled workers migrate outside of Portugal. At the same time there is a ton of favoritism which leads to an abundant amount of incompetence in leadership positions, resulting in low motivation. People tend to work a lot, often they are forced to work longer than official work hours and there are long lunch breaks, but they do not always work very efficiently. My impression is that client-related businesses and the public sector (funcionários) are overstaffed. This is especially noticeable in shops, where there are often 3 or 4 people standing around with nothing to do until one of them draws some invisible short straw and takes care of you.
I don't think there is an easy recipe to change systemic problems and I don't have any quirks with the current government. They're doing a fine job. Portugal used to be a rural society and have textile industry. I doubt it's going to turn into a high tech innovation hub anytime soon, but everyone is trying. The currently biggest problem are the increasing rents and stagnating salaries, as well as the brain drain mentioned above. But perhaps the biggest problem is favoritism and very pronounced social hierarchies, I've heard horror stories about psychopathic bosses. I've even met such people at university so I believe they have a grain of truth in them.
- jrib 5y agoI'm curious: if your don't mind sharing, what attracted you to living in Portugal as a foreigner?
- 13415 5y agoPure coincidence, I got a exceptionally good postdoc grant there that fit my research profile and decided to stay after it ran out. I really came to like the country and its people the longer I've stayed.
- EL_Loco 5y agoSorry to ask, and you don't have to answer if you don't want to, but do you live there by yourself or do you have a family? I have a wife and two kids, and I'm trying to figure out how much does it cost to live in Portugal, per month. I'm planning to move there, not now but in the short future. Could you give me an idea of the cost, if you're familiar with this situation (family of four). Thanks in advance.
- andrepd 5y agoDepends on the kind of lifestyle that you want, but two 2000€ salaries (before tax) can support a very comfortable upper-middle class life.
- odshoifsdhfs 5y agoI'm portuguese, happy to help you there if you give more details. Where will you be living? Rent can range from 500/600 euros in the Porto Periphery to 1500+ in Center. Will kids go to private school (200/300 per month is common, but 'better' schools can go up to 800/1000 per month for the likes ofUBS, CLIP in Porto) or public school (free). If you don't want to live a lavish lifestyle, I think 2000/2500 after taxes should be more than enough. Average Household income is around 1600 Euros (which is quite low tbh) but livable.
- EL_Loco 5y agoThank you for the help. I might be able to earn around 3000 euros (after taxes), would live in a smaller city, maybe close to Porto but wouldn't need to live in Porto itself, and not a lavish lifestyle by any means, just a comfortable life for the kids, no eating out much, no fancy car, etc. I keep thinking that I should wait until I can earn more, that 3000 might not be enough, but a friend who lived there for some time told me this is just my fear of not being able to provide my kids with a good life, and I guess he's right. I keep thinking it might not be enough for a comfortable life for them (again, not lavish/rich, just a good quality of life for them).
- odshoifsdhfs 5y ago
- arijo2 5y ago"I doubt it's going to turn into a high tech innovation hub anytime soon .." I wouldn't be so sure: Remote raises $150m and becomes Portugal’s fifth unicorn - https://sifted.eu/articles/remote-unicorn/ https://sifted.eu/articles/remote-unicorn/