Relocate to Lodz Poland

hi everyone,
i am single Muslim guy from the middle east, i reveived an offer to relocate from a multinational company with a net salary of 4600 pln in Lodz, so is that enough for me to earn a good living and could i easily adopt there and practise my normal life.

It's not great. You could live on it, but you'd have to share a flat and be very careful about expenditure..

Learn the local lingo as close to fluently as humanly possible and remember to respect the practices of your host as you would expect them to respect your culture as well:-) Don't necessarily expect your host(s) to speak English either. Accomodation to "Think global, act local!" will save you a lot of grief, believe me. Also, what I've been given to understand by Polish natives, acquaintances of mine, Lodz is not Warsaw, even though a fairly large city, I've been told, and so don't be surprised if your neighbors or colleagues have had little to any contact whatsoever with a practicing Muslim. Poland remains one of the most conservatively Catholic countries in Europe today. This proviso is by no means meant to discourage you, simply to alert you to potential stumbling blocks, should you not look BEFORE you leap:-) And on that final note..........

Best of luck!

Jon, I think he mentioned that the amount is net, it should not be that bad if that is net amount :) of course the position and experience might change the view on it.

In practice, from what I have seen, Polish employers mostly give the gross amount, they try to avoid giving any net amount.

About adaptation, might be hard, especially when I see you said that you are Muslim - if you are connected with Islam values, Poland might not be the best choice.

@istannbullu34
@Lyzko

Hello guys, thanks for helping

I would like to add that i am currently working in multinational company in Oil & Gas in my home country and my net salary now in my home country is about 2300 as an net amount, however i am living with my family so i am not paying for accomodation and meals even, except when very rare times on weekends and when i go out with friends, regarding the title it's the same, i am purchase to pay specialist now and that's also the title of Poland offer

Then you are probably better off in Egypt than you would be in Poland. Accommodation and food are going to cost you more than the extra wages you will be making, and then there are your relocation expenses to take into account. It's not worth giving up your home court advantage for.

@DominicB
Thanks alot for your information.
Can i ask you how much will it cost me for Accomodation, Food and transportation per month as a minimum puting in consideration that i am single

Another info that i will be given hosing allowance for 3 months and lump sum of 2 months with the first salary, that's the relocation package that they offer.

is that fair enough or i should reject this offer, by the way it's their final offer.

Much appreciate your help and assistance.

It's certainly above average for Lodz, and he can live in it, though it won't be a luxurious life.

Everything depends on whether he thinks he'll get good experience for his job. If he's young, he can manage on that well.


There are certainly othe Muslims in Lodz, and I don't think this would be an issue, although most of the meat is pork, and of the other meats, most aren't halal. If he meets some of the other Muslims (there's a website for Muslims in Lodz) they will be able to tell him where they shop.

A studio apartment will cost you about 1500 PLN a month all inclusive (rent, administration fees, and all utilities except phone/internet.TV). A one-bedroom apartment will cost about 2000 PLN.

Food and regular household supplies and expenses will cost you about 1000 to 1500 PLN a month. Less if you cook and eat all meals at home using cheap local ingredients, and more if you eat, drink or snack away from home or prefer foods with more expensive or non-local ingredients.

Monthly public transportation pass will cost on the order of 100 PLN.

Don't forget to budget for clothing and other occasional purchases. And for entertainment, recreation and travel.

Also, don't forget to factor in the combined and total cost of your relocation (tickets, visas and residence permit).

You can do it if you are you are careful and frugal, and you avoid alcohol, tobacco and girls. It won't be the high life, for sure, but you won't starve, at least. Serious savings are, of course, out of the question.

@DominicB
@jon357

Thanks alot, for all these valuable info.

Jon,
I am 27 years old now, i think that i would be a good experience for me to be working in a multinational company in a European country, however as i said above i am currently working in a multinational oil & Gas company but with a temporary contract "outsourced"

Dominic
I am smoker also, about alcohols i rarely drink in times of extreme depression , according to your above note i could save about 1300 PLN monthly without doing any entertainment activties, occasional purchases & clothes.

Your Help & assistance is much appreciated.

Thanks

That won't last long. You'll get tired of the monk's life very quickly, and cut back on your savings just to keep your sanity. You will have no choice but to buy a good set of winter clothing. It does get pretty cold in Poland during the winter for a good part of the year, so having quality winter clothing is a good investment. And winter shoes, as well.

I highly doubt that you will save 1300 PLN a month. Even half that would require discipline.

Go for it. There's a lot of opportunity in Poland for progressing in your career, and if you are any good, you can expect to rise quite quickly through the corporate ranks.

Hi, 4600 zlotych netto is a lot. It is a good salary. No more than 10% people will earn more than you. A studio apartament you can find by less price than 1500 zł. If you want to rent a room, you will pay about 600 zł. On food you will spend about 600 zł. Maybe 700, if you will often eat out. 1600 zl you can safe without any effort, but if you are determined to save money, you will save 3000 zloty. Poland is not expensive coutry. If I were you, i would come to Poland.

I give you a piece of advice: avoid a Limanowskiego Street and Bałty district :)

You should take it Ahmed. International experience always looks good on a CV (and is very important in Oil and Gas officework - it can open a lot of doors). The money is slightly higher than the average for Lodz.

You can save 1000zl certainly if you live carefully and cook at home quite often. 1300zl is also easily achievable. To give an idea of prices of food if you eat out, a shwarma costs between 10 and 15zl, and a meal at McDonalds with drink is about 16zl (and is halal). There are also cheap Chinese/Vietnamese places where you can get a nice meal for about 15zl - one good place in Lodz is run by Uighurs (Chinese Muslims) and sells halal food only. But try the local food - it's very good.

Don't worry about winter clothes - you will certainly be able to afford some!

If you're worried about settling in, there's a place where Muslims go to pray on Pomorskie Street where you may meet people from your country and make new friends. These links might be interesting for you (they're in Polish, so you'll need to translate the websites via google or bing):

ummainlodz.fora.pl/faq.php
islam-lodz.webnode.com/o-nas/

How do you count it? 2000 zloty per month is enough to life in Lodz on a good level.

Remember he'll need to pay for a flat or room, and as an expat, he'll have expenses (and expectations) that locals don't. Even a local can't live well on 2000zl a month if s/he has to pay for somewhere to live and bills, and isn't as mean as mustard.

Agreed, around 2800-3000 zlotis at least will be needed to be spend every month for regular expenses.

@istannbullu34

And then there are non-regular expenses and the cost of relocation to take into account, as well.

His salary should cover that.


And the cost of relocation!! He's a young single man - his cost of relocation is a suitcase.

I sometimes get the impression that Dominic is failing to understand the differences between being a young person and having significant responsibilities.

And airfare and other travel expenses, and visa fees, and the fees for his residency permit. All of which have to be covered by his earnings.


He's in the workforce now, not a student, so he does indeed have significant responsibilities, all the more so if he is going to be living abroad. Not all young workers want to live like backpackers. flitting from place to place on a shoestring budget without a care in the world. Many have plans to get married, have kids and get a place of their own, or to further their own education. Or to send money back home to support their families, or, as is often the case, to pay debts. Saving money for achieve those goals is a high priority for them.

I think you are failing to understand the difference between young people from rich Western countries, who can afford to goof around, and those from less privileged backgrounds.

Airfares aren't expensive from Egypt, even if you book for next week on a one way ticket. Schengen visas aren't so expensive, nor are residence permits.


No sign of it being a high priority for him. More to the point, nowhere has he said that he wants any of the things that you mentioned. You've put the words in his mouth and used it to try and put him off Poland. His salary might not be so high in the beginning, but there's no reason why he can't double that salary within 3 years if he applies himself. He'll also be in Łódź, which means that he can easily apply for far better paying opportunities in Warsaw. He'll figure it out if saving money really is his priority.


I understand them perfectly, which is why moving to Europe makes a lot of sense from his point of view. Poland offers huge career opportunities right now, something that will be in short supply in Egypt.

Did you not read that he will receive an allowance for settling in? Anyway, a ticket from Cairo to Warsaw is cheap as chips.


Many have to, however on that salary he need not be one of them.


Yes. And in his field, the admin side of petrochemicals, having overseas experience distinguishes his CV from those thousands who don't.

Yes, and the fact that they're paying an allowance suggests that he is in demand.


Dominic will no doubt be along soon to tell us that he needs to live in a luxury apartment block with a swimming pool.


There's certainly plenty of opportunity in petrochemicals in Poland for someone like him.

Even (especially) in the Middle East where the IOC jobs are, experience in a European setting outside one's own country's or a nearby country's NOC, speaking English daily at work and having proven experience with European/American work ethics and work practices pretty well guarantees your CV will be shortlisted rather than shredded - hence this being a potentially very ood move for him.

Yes, the thing here is that you know exactly what you are talking about when it comes to the oil and gas industry.

Yes. there are a lot of people chasing the same jobs, anywhere where there are petrochemicals. When they hire a non-national, the IOCs are particularly keen to avoid the problems they have with nationals working for the NOCs they cooperate with, hence the thing about overseas experience.

Even the larger and more developed NOCs (like Aramco, ADco etc) tend to favour Arabic speaking non-nationals with IOC or Europe/US experience.

Merged:

Moving to Łódź

I got a job offer from Łódź (3500 gross). I want to know if with that salary is enough to live there or if i will struggle.

I also want to know who is the city for foreigners.

Thank you for the help :D

@AlbimKrug

That's 2500 PLN a month net. Hardly worth coming to Poland for. Yes, you will struggle. You will have to rent a room in a shared apartment, and even then, your savings will be dangerously minimal. If you are from outside the EU, you will have trouble breaking even, taking your travel and relocation costs into account.

2500 is what you will pay just to rent the most basic apartment let alone have anything left over for food, transport, savings, gas, bills, a car, etc... that's like $700 or so a month... not worth it - no freakin way esp not in lodz