Standards of Living in Poland

Well, life is strange, sometimes: I didn't apply, but some head hunters got wind of the fact that I am about to switch jobs. Anyway, I actually got a job offered in Poland! Yes! Never thought I'd see the day this would happen :) It's supposed to be in Szczecin and is meant to be building yet again a new call centre for a well known American company. Targeted income would be about 2100-2300 Euros (don't know how much that is in Zlotys, they only mentioned it in Euros) ex bonus and bens. I have a feeling though that I would go backwards salary wise, but I haven't decided yet. But just out of curiosity, I had a few questions:

- how much would I get to keep of this after tax? My contact says it would be somewhere around 1400-1500 Euros; is that correct?
- with what salary level in Western Europe would this be comparable?
- would this be enough to make a decent living in a city like Szczecin?
- how about insurances, like life insurance, health insurance and so on (these are very important to me!)
- how about communications? Will I be able to manage with my English, German and handful of Polish words, or do I need a full blown Polish course in order to merely survive?

I'm sure I have much more questions once the decision has been made whether I take this job or not, but for now, these are the basic questions that will help me form a decision (besides the obvious questions of do I want to live there and so on)

Any answers on these questions are appreciated. Thanks guys!

Edit: the mentioned salary is per month of course - before some jokers get the wrong idea ;)

>^..^<

M-G (miraculous ways)

1350-1400 Euro or 4500-4800 zł if you earn 1500 Euros.


A 5000 Euro salary in Germany or 3500 Pounds in UK.


Its high enough to live comfortably (alone, and i know you dont have a girlfriend since you're a fag) anywhere in Poland.


You're in a sh*tter, unless you're working with a team thats fluent in english, also everyday life would be a bytch, in other words dont move here :))))

Mr MareGea. I thought that you were part of the music industry, not the call centre scene. What happened? surely you should be discussing this with your potential employers and not Polish Forums? What do you think?

hmmm....it all depends, but Szczecin is visited by many tourists, so I don't think that that should be a problem since you might find some who speak English , but not to a large degree. You need to ask yourself if you can live in a country where English is not the first language first.

Szczecin is a fairly nice city, close to Berlin, so if you need to get away you can always visit it on weekends - it is 1.5 hour away from Szczecin.


not bad at all, as Sok said that would be enough to have a comfortable life including rent and all necessities.

It's 3.9 to the Zloty, so 2100-2300 Euros would be 8190-8970 PLN, so yeah that's a very good wage here. The average wage is about 3500 gross or something (I don't know exactly now).


5460-5850 PLN is enough to live a very comfortable life but it really depends on how you use money. I know people who come out with nothing after 8000 per month but that can be said for any country.

I don't know much about Szczecin, so I am not sure if I am qualified to answer questions about it.
Doing a Polish course is a good idea anyway.


I'd have to check and I'll get back to you on this but it is about half.

Good luck on your new adventure, you probably know more than most, my advice is to go to Szczecin for a holiday and see if you like it.

And if you get to krakow you'll love it :)

Well, the team is gonna be fluent in English anyway as it's an American international company and English will be the business language. Also, since it's gonna be a dependance of the Warsaw centre, there's gonna be boys and girls from all over (Eastern-) Europe, so English would be necessary anyway. The majority of the hires would be Polish though and I am sure they will help me find my way around as long as I don't speak Polish decently. But I haven't received the operational blueprint yet, but it would mean employment for at least 125 locals.

So I could live comfortably off this salary. Good.

How are the insurances arranged in PL?

Thanks for the info, btw.


Music is my hobby, I make a living building call centres. And actually I already work for this company, so there is no prob there.

>^..^<

M-G (tiens)

good idea, this way you will get a feel of the city.

Indeed a good idea, I have some days left anyway. But it has to wait until the planes start flying again...And right now that doesn't look too good as they have found glass in some engines of militairy planes, due to the ash of the angry volcano.


Well, I'm at an age in which you don't hang out in nightclubs every freaking weekend anymore :) Besides, I'm pretty good with money, so I don't think that will be a problem.

>^..^<

M-G (thanks again)

Well theres a shock! An American call centre where everyone speaks Swailli! Come one MareGea you did not have a job offer you have just made it up, come clean!

It looks very pretty.

Use the search thingy on this site too e.g. Anyone living in Szczecin?

If you have nothing to vent besides jealousy, I'd rather have you didn't participate in this thread. I have built up a very good reputation in this industry and if you have, yes, it happens that you get offers like this.

Indeed, Sean, it looks very prettty, yes. I will have a look at that search thingie...

>^..^<

M-G (tiens)

Its supposed to be a nice city.

One person I know said it was dirty but everyone else really liked it.

Don't give him ideas.


I could sponsor 8 Polki with this amount.I cannot believe a person like you gets in such a heaven.Life is so unfair.

€1500 on €2200

I think there is a guy in Lodz on here that builds up call centers and can probably tell you if the salary is decent.

It's close to the sea as well - I like that.


You think this has fallen just out of the blue sky? I've been working for decades to come to the stage that I actually get offers like this. And like I said, I am not sure if I will take it.


Guess I will wait for him to come around.

>^..^<

M-G (has to shop now, see you later and thanks so far!)

Sorry, I don't really mean to be belligerent, I apologise. I was just a little surprised that you discussed salary online, rather than elsewhere. I wish you well and am please for you really.

Westminster offers olive branch!

what ideas. The hight point of living in Szczecin is the proximity of Berlin. Good for shopping and entertainment.

You mean full of gay bars and clubs and a city where even the Burgermeister is gay.
I would stay in
Sczeczyn in any case or try to visit Poznan clubs in weekends full of Poznaniankas.

A few godd ones in Szczeciń. Though not nearly as many as in your country.

MareGaea

As for the money, Szczeciń is a little cheaper than 'Western' Europe, but the gap is narrowing and the taxes are high - also good accommodation isn't cheap. Have you considered living just across the border and commuting?

Are you saying it is cheaper for him to live in Germany and commute to Poland? Really?
I thought Germany would be more expensive, unless you have family there.

well, in case you did not notice, or failed to notice since you always concentrate on shaggin and other similar perspectives, Berlin is a capitol city of Germany, with lots of museums, art galleries, great restaurants, great music clubs, great underground scene, great shopping, used to be one of the largest construction sites in Europe and as a result, some interesting architecture - new, renovated and old. Oh, and one does not need to know German go get around really, which the OP speaks anyways.

So there is more to the city, but if you go there to get you gay fix- good for you.


that is a good suggestion as well, but the renting prices need to be compared and in this case I am out of touch. There have been cases of Polish people moving across the board and commuting to Poland since at one point the real estate prices were more attractive then n Poland, but that was in the past.

Better accommodation for his money.

And shopping trips on the Szczeciń side of the 'border' for those (increasingly fewer) items that are cheaper. A lot of people do that.

Ossi panelaks are nicer than Polish panelaks?

true. There is also more variety.


Only part of Berlin was Ossi, there is a huge Wesi population, or rather original Berliner population living in Berlin, it is really a mix of both worlds and I find it really interesting. Great city overall.

In my opinion Berlin is quite a repressive city. Children are allowed in the city on certain days of the week, preferably not weekends, only if they sit outside, even when temperatures are below zero. Dogs are allowed in the city by invitation only, (no mongrels of course).

Apart from that some good things to see, but only for a weekend.

Talking about over the border, Berlin is a bit of a stretch for commuting. West Berlin is a wet dream straight out of the 60's. Like a bunch of little brothers to the monstrosities in Marzahn. And then you have the crown of west berlin....Neukolln. Seems like most of the older nice apartments are in the East. I lived in Pankow, loved it.


My lab didn't have an invitation.

I agree, but he is better off living in Szczecin then is some Ossi small town on the border.


so true.


Cannot agree more. I spent many weekends in Berlin and there is never enough time. Not many people know that there are many water channels and taking a boat trip, even though it is quite tacky is a lot of fun.


ha, how I envy you!!!!!

Ah! he was probabably born in Berlin. I forgot to add that any animal of Berlin decent has the automatic right of residency in the city, over and above any migrant to the city, and especially any child of Berlin decent.

Economic migrant from the Czech Republic.

I wish it were true what you said about kids though. I would move back in a heartbeat. In fact, any city without hordes of little sex trophies walking would be great.

ha, ha.....I presume you referring to Poland lol good one. ha, ha..........don't forget the single red rose .......so true.......