European Gigs

[Addanc]

Looking at Jobstats there are some very high average rates on the continent; for example Germany £87/hour, Belgium £67/hour and Netherlands £63/hour (linky here). How do these figures breakdown to the specific areas e.g. Finance, Realtime embedded (especially interested in this area), Tape changing, etc?

How much would you need to budget for accommodation (presumably hotels) and other living expenses? Particularly interested in examples for Germany (Berlin, Munich).

How difficult is it outside of the work environment when you don't speak the native tongue?

[Joe Black]

Some of the JobStats figures I think need to be taken with a pinch, or two, of salt.

Perhaps some years ago, certainly on sites like JobServe and others - from which the figures are based, the majority of positions (both contract and perm) were quoted with rates or salaries. This is much less the case these days, and rarely was the case on their European equivalents.

As for the idea of the 'average' hourly rate in Belgium being near €100 per hour (€1000 p/d for Germany ), all I can say is that it would have a lot of people here rolling on the floor with laughter...

[Addanc]

The page is dated 4th Jan 2008; I share your scepticism of the numbers. Does anybody have an links to any other stat sites?

[BarbarianAtTheDoor]

Rates for J2EE

Before I came to London for contracting, I've looked around Europe (I also speak german, so it was Germany, Switzerland, Ireland, Austria) and they usually offered the money in €s what they're offering in London in £s.

Granted, this might only have been true when I was comparing these stats, but being offered 400 €s a day in Dublin (where the living expenses are very much comparable to London) was just about the norm for senior Java SOA jobs.

I've been offered very much the same amounts for Gerrmany also since.

/non-representative, pulled out of my lower-backside, personal impressions, yada-yada

[darmstadt]

The page is dated 4th Jan 2008; I share your scepticism of the numbers. Does anybody have an links to any other stat sites?

gulp.de have very good statistics for Germany.

[AlfredJPruffock]

Some of the JobStats figures I think need to be taken with a pinch, or two, of salt.

Perhaps some years ago, certainly on sites like JobServe and others - from which the figures are based, the majority of positions (both contract and perm) were quoted with rates or salaries. This is much less the case these days, and rarely was the case on their European equivalents.

As for the idea of the 'average' hourly rate in Belgium being near €100 per hour (€1000 p/d for Germany ), all I can say is that it would have a lot of people here rolling on the floor with laughter...

Aye Joe

And I thought I was doing well on 5 euros an hour ....

[SteveV]

Munich Apartment rentals
http://www.mrlodge.de/englisch/e_home.htm

[BlasterBates]

In Germany average rates are somewhere EUR 60-70. A few years back rates dropped considerably. Major banks were paying EUR 40-50.

[tim123]

Standard embedded work in Germany pays 50-70 Euro ph. Obviously if you have something really special you can get more than this, but then you can in the UK.

IME Germany pays the best rates in Europe, say to someone in France, Benelux or Scandinavia that you want 70 (Euro) ph and you will not get the gig.

tim

[DS23]

Looking at Jobstats there are some very high average rates on the continent; for example Germany £87/hour, Belgium £67/hour and Netherlands £63/hour (linky here). How do these figures breakdown to the specific areas e.g. Finance, Realtime embedded (especially interested in this area), Tape changing, etc?

How much would you need to budget for accommodation (presumably hotels) and other living expenses? Particularly interested in examples for Germany (Berlin, Munich).

How difficult is it outside of the work environment when you don't speak the native tongue?

i'm on €137.5 ph so it certainly is possible. ultra niche has has its upsides but also its downsides...

tbh a european is no different from any other gig location - it just contains a few more variables in terms of travel, accommodation and tax. you need to check all these factors out and decide whether an all-in rate is better or not. i budget £2k a month for all expenses but that's me in this location, others will need a lot more.

you need to be prepared to hang out on a limb for the first few months or so as you will probably be starting to work your third month (and maybe have expenses into the fourth) before payments start coming in. a nervous time indeed! make sure you check out the whole business chain from agency through payroll to the end client. trust nobody because you can get right royally shafted if things go pear shaped.

france excepted language is generally not an issue as long as your end clients are decent sized corporations because most will use english as their business language.