11–20 of 141 posts
Sounds quite similar to Italy. About politics: you can loathe it all you want, but unfortunately, you'll need to get your hands dirty if you want to fix things - and even then, even if the laws and economics are better, it'll still take time. Just leave the actual discussion of politics to some other site:-) They finally passed a very weak-sauce, complicated version of a law that some of us are pushing for here in It…
Sounds quite similar to Italy. About politics: you can loathe it all you want, but unfortunately, you'll need to get your hands dirty if you want to fix things - and even then, even if the laws and economics are better, it'll still take time. Just leave the actual discussion of politics to some other site:-) They finally passed a very weak-sauce, complicated version of a law that some of us are pushing for here in It…
I left Portugal in 2003 to work in the games industry. There were still plenty of jobs in Lisbon then and salaries were not so bad.
At the time I thought I would be away for a couple of years "just to get some experience".
I would love to go back to be closer to my family and old friends, to enjoy the weather the beaches and nice food, but as another expat told me, our jobs just do not exist in Lisbon.
Setting up a business is hard with the asinine tax system currently in place ( taxes are complicated, very high and if your business has zero profits it pays a special tax ), a culture of late payment by clients ( it is so common to have unpaid invoices that you can give these to your bank in exchange for a loan ), the absolute aversion to risk taking by most businesses, the ingrained idea that what is foreign is better and the implied notion that to win a contract you need connections to a politician or a civil servant.
I know a lot of professionals in knowledge based industries that have left, some with their entire families. In a recent poll, more than half of university students plan to leave the country.
At this rate Portugal will become mainly a touristic destination.
We just opened up in PT http://appsalad.com/appdesign/nieuw-appsalad-portugal-is-een... (Dutch) and we'll be opening a second office in Faro soon. Most devs want to stay in their country and we don't mind giving them that opportunity. I never understood why people would leave what they love though; be that India or Portugal or whatever; there is plenty to do and live for if you are resourceful and the Portugese I met…
Sounds quite similar to Italy. About politics: you can loathe it all you want, but unfortunately, you'll need to get your hands dirty if you want to fix things - and even then, even if the laws and economics are better, it'll still take time. Just leave the actual discussion of politics to some other site:-) They finally passed a very weak-sauce, complicated version of a law that some of us are pushing for here in It…
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There may be some tax issues with that, though, if you live and work at home, but have your company in the US. It's something to be careful about.
In Spain people a few years ago said stupid things to justify not moving to other countries where salaries were like 3 times Spanish ones: weather, food and «quality of life».
There is another factor for this delayed and flood-like emigration... FAMILY!. In all Mediterranean countries family is very a strong influence. I even can say that individuals doesn't exists as they are in other countries. A 18 years old in Spain is like a 13 years old in UK. You can be in your 30's and the family will still be pushing you to be in the «right path».
For many, many years family decided that the best prospect for their young college graduates was, without any doubt, working for the government. In Spain it means a decent salary and a job for life (you cannot be fired under ANY circumstance, ANY AT ALL, you kill someone, go to jail and when you get out your job will be there waiting for you!).
Once this absurd situation ended (the government in Spain duplicated its work force in 3 years) the «family» didn't know how to react. But the government knows better, in the last 3 years the tv programs «Spaniard around the world» showing happy people living in other countries. So now, the «family» is pushing their children to go outside.
My company is hiring people in London and we only receive CV from Spaniard and Greeks. My boss told me that 1 year and a half ago it was really rare to find people from these countries in selection processed but that now the recruiters are flooded with their CVs.
I suspect that the mediterranean IT guy/pal will be the new Polish plumber in UK
We just opened up in PT http://appsalad.com/appdesign/nieuw-appsalad-portugal-is-een... (Dutch) and we'll be opening a second office in Faro soon. Most devs want to stay in their country and we don't mind giving them that opportunity. I never understood why people would leave what they love though; be that India or Portugal or whatever; there is plenty to do and live for if you are resourceful and the Portugese I met…
And while this author notes Portuguese contacts headed to the UK and Germany, I've noticed the same but with several leaving the UK for the Bay Area (with zero going to the rest of the EU).
My question is, where is the ultimate cause? what about USA people? Are they heading to China? :)
Same situation in Spain, incredible brain drain of IT people. In the last months ~ 40% of my IT colleagues in Spain have decided to move to other countries (UK and Germany mainly). In Spain people a few years ago said stupid things to justify not moving to other countries where salaries were like 3 times Spanish ones: weather, food and «quality of life». There is another factor for this delayed and flood-like emigrat…
That actually made me laugh. I will be a stereotype!
Same situation in Spain, incredible brain drain of IT people. In the last months ~ 40% of my IT colleagues in Spain have decided to move to other countries (UK and Germany mainly). In Spain people a few years ago said stupid things to justify not moving to other countries where salaries were like 3 times Spanish ones: weather, food and «quality of life». There is another factor for this delayed and flood-like emigrat…
I don't think that's stupid. I get seriously depressed when it's gray, gray, gray all the time, which is one of the reasons I moved from Oregon to Italy many years ago. I also like how some interpersonal dynamics are here: all my 'nerd' friends here have always fit in pretty well, and don't seem to have the stories that people do in the US about cliques and being excluded and intellectual achievement being looked down on. Maybe some teasing, maybe not being the most popular people, but they all seem to fit in pretty well.
It depends on who you are and what you like, and how much you're willing to sacrifice. Currently, the sacrifice is much larger because of how poorly things are going in many Mediterranean countries, so it makes more sense to leave.