3500 PLN gross - not happy with my salary (working in Warsaw for an international company)

Hi all,

I live and work in Warsaw for a international company and I am of course a native Dutch speaker and I am doubting if my salary

is ok or if I have to ask really fast for a higher raise. I am earning at the moment 2450 zł netto that is around 3500 gross and

when I compare my salary with friend of my in other companies with the some experience like me in the sector (Customer service)
they earn like; 5000 - 7000 zł in Warsaw, Krakow or even in Katowice.

I am one of the hardest workers in our team and my boss told me this and she is really happy with me in the team and that i

why she gave me a permanent contract but I am doubting about my salary and for the duties that I do and the high amount

of productivity for the company (inclusive overtime, administration) I think I deserve as native speaker at least 3,500 zł netto.
Do you guys think this is a realistic request? Or do you think it is not realistic and should not even think about it? Friends of

mine earn almost double what I earn.... and I do not want to leave my company because I love my team and work!

I am looking forward for advice :)

At that rate, there is little reason for you to be in Warsaw at all. And it is unlikely that they will substantially increase your pay, as you have already demonstrated that you are willing to work for peanuts.


Without knowing your qualifications and experience, it is impossible to say whether your request is realistic or not. It doesn't matter what your friends earn. It simply has zero relevance to your case.


You will have to leave if you are only making 2450 zł netto. The only possible reason to stay for that pay is to get experience and have fun slumming it as a poor recent graduate. And experience in working for a call center means very little on the job market unless you have an outstanding proven sales record or substantial managerial experience. As an ordinary call center worker, you might as well be flipping burgers or stocking shelves at the supermarket.

Also, in "customer service", which I understand as "call center", the most difficult and unpleasant jobs (cold-call sales) are the ones that are paid the lowest. Companies relocate customer service jobs to countries like Poland specifically so that they can pay very low wages. That is their primary incentive.

It seems giving a 'permanent contract' is one of the most frequent 'motivators' used by managers in Poland. It's scam :)

Unfortunately, one of the fastest way to get a big raise is to hop to another job. Start looking.

Yes


Yes.

You don't say how old you are. If it's an entry level job then it's a very different waggonload of monkeys to being further down your career. It doesn't look like they're going to give you more (and a 'permanent contract' is not as important for you as it would be for some) so you should start looking for other jobs.

Would it not have been wiser to negotiate a better deal before signing a new contract.I have employed both Dutch and Poles in the past,from my experience the motivator for Dutch people is to sign a full time contract and then express how unhappy they are about the salary. With Poles they will ask for more money before signing the contract as this is normal in Poland. Holenndrem, once you have signed a contract in Poland you are seen as being locked in its a cultural thing. Your option now is to find a better paid job inform your manager you are leaving, give her the facts and if they value your work they will negotiate a higher salary based on your offer from new employer.

I know of someone with a masters in economics doing some very important full-time work for a bank in this city and barely scraping in 2900 after tax. The person's whole life seems to have been taken over by the hours of the job, and is also on a temp contract where it has been indicated by management that the role is unlikely to continue. Despite this, ever hopeful even for this low salary (low in my opinion anyway) they continue to be jumping through hoops in the hope of even retaining this job. This person gave up a much easier role abroad for x5 this salary. Doh!

That is what you should do.

Thank all for the replies.
Leaving for me is not an option because I like to work for this company - I am first going to talk with my manager and talk about my

salary and see how they will reply on my request to give me a raise to 3000 - 3500 netto and then I will think about leaving. I know

the salaries of people in my team and they are higher then mine so it should be easily possible to discuss this first :-).

OMG! i came to know that my fellow colleagues are making around 7500PLN gross a month! native dutch speaker and some basic IT skills, here in Krakow!

You are well underpaid! Dutch speakers are the top earners- excluding the Scandinavian!i would tell you, tomorrow, go to your office, tell me your price, if they don't accept, then don't work for them! just post your CV on linked in- mention that you are looking for a job, and millions of companies would be after you!

Quite a normal wage in Poland I know lots of people on less.

I will really do that - I have spoken with many natives in Gdańsk, Warsaw, Katowice, Wroclaw and also Krakow and they earn all minimum 3200 - 3500 netto so I really think I get underpaid.

I will plan a meeting with my manager directly after my holiday to discuss it - I am happy that I am good friends with her in private and at work so it make it easier to talk about it.

@Local_fela Are that also call center jobs or different kind of jobs? Have to compare it a little bit with my situation :-)

Well, might be you can get a call center job with a basic of 6500PLN (gross), but Call Center is not only about picking calls, as, the inside of the business is really wide, specially in IT related stuff!

You can check my private threads! Ive posted some few tips and all that

thts very very low get a new job else where they are ripping you off

Dud - my sister is in the same boat u are - but she makes 3500netto in ww - seriously - get out of the dead end customer service S*Hole they offered you - because the next thing you will see is it is 6 years later - and you do not make nothing & in the same job...

Please - don't do this to yourself - I have seen it happen - and don't let these bastards take you for a ride. U luv ur company now - they will be bought out in 6 mths - u will be forced to signed a ****** contract - mgmt will change & ur buddies will leave like rats on a sinking ship... Imagine how you will luv having to pick between paying rent or buying food when u are 31... This is the position you are putting yourself in...

even though they pay you such crap money?

Leave man, leave now.

Yeah I am thinking about leaving but I first want to see if I can raise my salary.
Native speakers what should they be worth? Just 3500 - 3800 netto what I am supposed to ask?

Best thing to do would be to play 2 jobs off each other.
Do some interviews, you'll get a job offer pretty quick, I can't imagine Warsaw has that many Dutch speakers....get that offer, add a 1000 to it and tell your current job you want them to at least match it or you're outta there.

Will probably work in this situation but remember that is a stunt you can only pull once in your career. After that your reputation will go before you. Are you sure the people offering more money are more stable firms and treat their employees better ? I had a few people leave for 1000 zloty more in the boom years only to end up out of work 6 months later

Come to Krakow- or if you want just forward me your CV or a PM - I will contact the recruitment team.

You have signed a contract and agreed the terms, they won't just give you more money because your friends are earning more at other firms.What are you going to base your demand on, PF members informing you your being shafted.Think one more time.

I think they low balled you and you took it i would just find another job asking for a raise never works they may string you along for a few months telling you its going to go up soon blah blah blah I get more than that teaching part time

I appreciate others may have other opinions but I hope people are looking at this through your eyes in your situation and not theirs.
If the following things are true:

- You're not happy with your salary.
- You're aware others in similar circumstances are making much more.
- You really enjoy where you're working.

...then if you're going to demand a raise then make sure you stick to your guns and quit if you don't get it by x date. They may flinch at the last moment, and if they don't you can't care. If they don't give in to your demands then that tells you how much they value your work. At present they don't seem to value your work that much. I would use that in the coming negotiation.

Personally I would just be honest and say that I enjoy everything about the job but feel I am making too little money and cannot stay if it doesn't go up retroactively. I would say all the things I like about working there and I would say why I want to be there in the future but tell them I made a bad choice in accepting that money and have too much self respect to continue to take such a low wage.

You can ask why you're being paid so low (that's very very low btw) but in my experience that has only led to long winded and confounding explanations that in the end didn't raise my bottom line.

If you let managers here pay you the minimum, then they will do just that. You already have a precedent for this; see exhibit A, your salary.

Anything short of your net demand with no complicated clauses should be your sign to quit.

If it's bothering you then you have to go after it.

Thanks for your reply!
I have mailed my manager (as I work from a city 10 KM away) that I wanna talk with her as soon I return from my holiday,

and told her where to talk about and she said: No problem - lets meet each other when you are back so it sounds positive,

I am still calculating my salary on the things that I do for the company and all things - I will just ask for a amount of 3500/4000 netto

and if she will not pay me that at least I will smoothly let her know that I will not stay for a long period then anymore and just

start applying for a another job :)

you keep mentioning "native speaker". is Dutch the official language of your company? trying to see how being a native Dutch speaker has anything to do with your salary.

Well if your not happy with the pay but love the job I suggest get a side job teaching english...

I taught when I lived in Warsaw for average just 8 hours for the entire week, while going to school, and made well over half your netto monthly. Find a language school and get paid 50zl an hour or offer private English lessons. There is a popular website where people offer private lessons (forgot the name) and post an ad there. You can charge 70+ zl for private one hour lessons.

Hope that helps

I am working for an international company that has a European headquarter in Poland - 98% is Polish and I am the only Dutch speaker in the company.

For the rest there are only 2 or 3 native speakers in some other languages.

you didn't answer the question.

again....why should the company pay you more for being a native dutch speaker?

What an idiotic question to ask.
Let me explain, slowly for you.

Why would a company pay a lot for a Dutch native speaker....?
Hmm...let me think.........maybe, just maybe it's because they need a Dutch native speaker?
And I bet they are in short supply here in Poland, so you may have learned in basic-level economics class, supply has a direct influence on demand, the less there is of something the more you can charge for it. Ergo, he can sell his services for top dollar.

You're welcome.
Have a great day brother.

+1

A native speaker knows the language much better then a Polish person that studied in Poznan or Wroclaw. Natives know more insides of the language and they usally get more paid.

I heard that IBM pay native NL speakers 4000 gross and Polish-Dutch speakers 3000. If I had a company I will always prefer native speakers. There are many reasons why they should

paid a native speaker more.