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Poll: Full-time software engineer salaries in Berlin

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Re: Poll: Full-time software engineer salaries in Berlin

#31

Post by quarterto »

64mb wrote: post #27
dreen wrote: post #12

Developer here looking to possibly relocate from London to Berlin or other German (or Dutch) place, I have a question for anyone filling out this poll: I spend on avarage about £700 a month excluding rent, which allows for relatively comfortable life in London. What spending can I expect in Berlin? What about rent? (I pay £425 which is pretty cheap for London)

Whoa, where are you living on that kinda rent? I pay almost double.

> excluding rent

edit: Ok, so I should have read to the end. Yeah, £425 is ridiculously cheap for London.

Re: Poll: Full-time software engineer salaries in Berlin

#32

Post by gst »

dreen wrote: post #12

Developer here looking to possibly relocate from London to Berlin or other German (or Dutch) place, I have a question for anyone filling out this poll: I spend on avarage about £700 a month excluding rent, which allows for relatively comfortable life in London. What spending can I expect in Berlin? What about rent? (I pay £425 which is pretty cheap for London)

In which part of London do you get an apartment for £425? I had the impression that you have to pay at least 3x that amount to get a reasonable apartment in a somewhat central place.

Re: Poll: Full-time software engineer salaries in Berlin

#33

Post by DasIch »

sasvari wrote: post #14
levosmetalo wrote: post #3

Also, "without bonuses" part makes no sense, since in Germany some bonuses are contractually enforced and employer doesn't have an option not to pay them. For example, Weihnachtsgeld (Christamas money) is usually 1 or 1/2 of monthly salary and is defined in every contract. In addition to that comes the yearly bonus, which is rarely not awarded in its entirety. In my company it's about 15% of salary for previous year,…

For example, Weihnachtsgeld (Christamas money) is usually 1 or 1/2 of monthly salary and is defined in every contract. In addition to that comes the yearly bonus, which is rarely not awarded in its entirety. Nope. Weihnachtsgeld is not defined in every contract. Either you're working for a company bound by a union rate to pay Weihnachtsgeld or the company pays it voluntarily. There is no Weihnachtsgeld guaranteed by…

Weihnachtsgeld can become a "betriebliche Übung", if it is payed three times in a row, meaning your employer has to pay it, unless you have a contract that explicitly states otherwise.

Re: Poll: Full-time software engineer salaries in Berlin

#34

Post by Xylakant »

levosmetalo wrote: post #24
sasvari wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For example, Weihnachtsgeld (Christamas money) is usually 1 or 1/2 of monthly salary and is defined in every contract. In addition to that comes the yearly bonus, which is rarely not awarded in its entirety. Nope. Weihnachtsgeld is not defined in every contract. Either you're working for a company bound by a union rate to pay Weihnachtsgeld or the company pays it voluntarily. There is no Weihnachtsgeld guaranteed by…

Sorry, I didn't say that Weihnachtgeld is required by law, just that I don't know a single person that doesn't have Weihnachtsgeld guaranteed by employment contract.

In our company noone gets Weihnachtsgeld. We treat it as part of the salary and just include it in the monthly wage. But I agree: If it's granted it's more of a salary part than an actual bonus.

Re: Poll: Full-time software engineer salaries in Berlin

#35

Post by maciejgryka »

dreen wrote: post #12

Developer here looking to possibly relocate from London to Berlin or other German (or Dutch) place, I have a question for anyone filling out this poll: I spend on avarage about £700 a month excluding rent, which allows for relatively comfortable life in London. What spending can I expect in Berlin? What about rent? (I pay £425 which is pretty cheap for London)

I've just made the same move, feel free to get in touch if you have any more questions! I've only been here for about 3 weeks so far, so don't have much data, but €500/month for living costs seems easy.

Rent, depending on what you want, is probably about 80% of what you pay for a comparable flat in London. You can probably get 2 bedrooms (+living room) with all the bills included for about €800. Just be prepared for seriously unfurnished flats: sometimes you need to get your own kitchen! Also it apparently takes a lot more time and paperwork than in London to find something - people say 3-4 months is normal and I'm still looking.

Good luck!

Re: Poll: Full-time software engineer salaries in Berlin

#36

Post by phazmatis »

A little off-topic, but how hard is it for a US citizen interested in having lived in two countries in his life to get a dev job in the EU? I imagine most devs that come in from another country are coming from at least within the EU, and I was just wondering how unheard-of my case would be.

Re: Poll: Full-time software engineer salaries in Berlin

#37

Post by hazelnut »

dreen wrote: post #12

Developer here looking to possibly relocate from London to Berlin or other German (or Dutch) place, I have a question for anyone filling out this poll: I spend on avarage about £700 a month excluding rent, which allows for relatively comfortable life in London. What spending can I expect in Berlin? What about rent? (I pay £425 which is pretty cheap for London)

Lived one year in London and 5 years in Berlin. In general rent is much cheaper in Berlin. So with £425 you can find a good apartment. It depends a bit on the area, how much space and what kind of extras you need. Check out immobilienscout24.de, immonet.de or immowelt.de

Living costs are in general also cheaper. Take a look for Aldi or Lidl for cheap grocery. You can safe there up to 50%. With £700 a month you won't have any problems.

Re: Poll: Full-time software engineer salaries in Berlin

#38

Post by alexchamberlain »

gst wrote: post #32
dreen wrote: post #12

Developer here looking to possibly relocate from London to Berlin or other German (or Dutch) place, I have a question for anyone filling out this poll: I spend on avarage about £700 a month excluding rent, which allows for relatively comfortable life in London. What spending can I expect in Berlin? What about rent? (I pay £425 which is pretty cheap for London)

In which part of London do you get an apartment for £425? I had the impression that you have to pay at least 3x that amount to get a reasonable apartment in a somewhat central place.

I pay ~£1000 mortgage in a reasonable area within 15 minutes of centre. Renting is more expensive.

Re: Poll: Full-time software engineer salaries in Berlin

#39

Post by Xylakant »

DasIch wrote: post #33
sasvari wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For example, Weihnachtsgeld (Christamas money) is usually 1 or 1/2 of monthly salary and is defined in every contract. In addition to that comes the yearly bonus, which is rarely not awarded in its entirety. Nope. Weihnachtsgeld is not defined in every contract. Either you're working for a company bound by a union rate to pay Weihnachtsgeld or the company pays it voluntarily. There is no Weihnachtsgeld guaranteed by…

Weihnachtsgeld can become a "betriebliche Übung", if it is payed three times in a row, meaning your employer has to pay it, unless you have a contract that explicitly states otherwise.

This is why literally every contract nowadays includes the legal boilerplate that says so. To quote from our contract:

"Die Zahlung von Gratifikationen, Tantiemen, Prämien und sonstigen Leistungen liegt im freien Ermessen des Arbeitgebers und begründet keinen Rechtsanspruch, auch wenn die Zahlung wiederholt ohne ausdrücklichen Vorbehalt der Freiwilligkeit erfolgte. Etwas anderes gilt nur dann, wenn die Zahlung durch Betriebsvereinbarung oder Tarifvertrag geregelt ist."

If your contract does not include that boilerplate your employer had a shitty lawyer and should fire him.

Edit: fixed Umlauts which were broken by c&p

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