Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Should I move to Berlin?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

1–10 of 80 posts

Ask HN: Should I move to Berlin?

#1

Post by narmak »

I am a Pakistani, currently in Dubai working as an Engineering Lead and have been offered a job today from a company in Berlin for the position of Senior Software Engineer (PHP) and here is what they are offering me:

- 5000 Euros/month salary (I have been told that there is 38% tax, not sure if it is more)

- 24 holidays per year

- No ticket back home yearly

- 1500 euros for relocation

- 800 euros yearly educational budget

For my current position I am getting following

- Getting almost same salary (but it is tax free and I save around 4000 euros per month)

- 13 salaries in year

- 24 holidays

- Ticket back home yearly

Given that, I am happy at my current company. My only concern about Dubai is

- You can stay here in Dubai as long as you want but you will never get the permanent residency

- There are small number of good companies so I am not sure about the future here in Dubai if I ever have to leave my current company.

Having looked at the comparison above, if you weigh the pros and cons between Dubai and Berlin, would you recommend me to accept the offer? I don't know much about Berlin, could anyone please tell me how much could I save with 5000 Euros a month of salary

I am really confused and would love to know what would you recommend given your experience in Berlin Germany?

PS. I am a single person, a typical guy, no girlfriend, no night life, spend most of my time on my laptop hacking around. And most of the time, all I need is food and bed. Considering all of that, in a salary of 5000 Euros per month, how much could I save per month after my food and rent expenditures?

Re: Ask HN: Should I move to Berlin?

#2

Post by mark_edward »

I'd say go to Berlin. There is a security for you and yours in a country like Germany that no amount of money can buy in a place like Dubai.

I wish I could explain it better, but my family is a migrant family from the Caribbean to the USA and their move involved costs/benefits similar to yours, and that's my overall impression.

Re: Ask HN: Should I move to Berlin?

#3

Post by xytop »

Your net salary would be about 2900 euro monthly. Then you'd need to pay for an appartment, it would be at least 400-500 euro. Then you have to eat and sometimes buy new clothes since it's a cold country :) This would cost you maybe another 500 euro. So you could save about 2000 euro each month.

Re: Ask HN: Should I move to Berlin?

#4

Post by mschulze »

I am living in Berlin. I would say with 5000 gross income you should be able to save ~1000-1500 Euro in a month. According to http://www.brutto-netto-rechner.info/ you should get ~2917.05 Euro net.

I think with 60k income the taxes are 28%, but there's health insurance and social security insurance, too.

I heard that finding a flat is currently not easy in Berlin. Bergmannstrasse is a lovely "Kiez" (neighborhood).

The scene in Berlin for programmers is nice, lots of meetups (if you are interested in that).

Re: Ask HN: Should I move to Berlin?

#5

Post by noncoml »

xytop wrote: post #3

Your net salary would be about 2900 euro monthly. Then you'd need to pay for an appartment, it would be at least 400-500 euro. Then you have to eat and sometimes buy new clothes since it's a cold country :) This would cost you maybe another 500 euro. So you could save about 2000 euro each month.

€500 for an apartment in Berlin? Are they really that cheap?

Re: Ask HN: Should I move to Berlin?

#6

Post by a254613e »

>in a salary of 5000 Euros per month, how much could I save per month after my food and rent expenditures?

You'll have around 2900 after taxes, and you'll probably spend around 1500 for the normal cost of living (apartment, food, etc). However this varies a lot from person to person, for example sharing an apartment is way cheaper. Rent prices vary by location, and so on.

I'd suggest visiting Germany and seeing if it's something you'll like, the culture, the language, and so on.

Re: Ask HN: Should I move to Berlin?

#7

Post by darklajid »

German here, living abroad.

- 5k/month -> 60k/year sounds reasonable in general. You might be able to get more, but honestly I don't think that's a bad salary for programming position. Tax sounds about right.

- 24 days of leave seems on the low side of things. I'd expect 28-30 OR more pay. I had 30 in Germany.

- 1500 for the relocation seems low as well. What are you supposed to pay for with that? Flight is covered by the company? What about housing (usually you have 1-2 month of rent to deposit, that might eat a large chunk of this amount already)?

Can't comment on the neighborhood or the current cost of living situation in Berlin, but I feel that I'd stay in Dubai if I were in your shoes. You earn quite a lot of money for later - 12*4k + 5k means that you basically nearly save all the money Germany offers before taxes. You are happy at your company. You fly home for free - no idea how expensive flights between Dubai and Pakistan are, for me this is quite expensive (Singapore -> Germany).

Let me turn this question around: What is it that you _like_ about the offer? Just getting out of "Can never stay forever" Dubai/a different tech zone alone or is the job/location itself interesting?

Re: Ask HN: Should I move to Berlin?

#8

Post by mikkelam »

I’ve lived in Dubai for a year as a white person. I hated it, people are very pretentious and pretty much only care about money, I guess that can be expected as that as mostly the reason people go there.. One thing I noticed a lot is the insane work hours Indians go through there, and down right racism, I know that the germans work hard too but quality of life has to be better in Germany.

Even considering all of this you are losing out on a lot of money moving to Berlin. I left Dubai to work remotely in CPH and love it so far

Re: Ask HN: Should I move to Berlin?

#10

Post by alexfi »

Berlin is way better than Dubai. Berlin has more atmosphere and is not that "american" like Dubai. Berlin has a big developer scene and millions of startups and meetups. But remember, weather is not that nice in Germany :D
Post reply on HN