Salary expectations for CAE engineer in Poland?

Hello,

I am a mechanical engineer who is about to finish my master thesis at Daimler in Germany. I am an mechanical engineer with a masters degree in computational mechanics. My main field is FEM simulations and I have experience in related tools (Ansa, Abaqus, Ansys, Ls-dyna, Meta post, etc..). I am fluent in 4 languages, German, English, Swedish, and Norwegian. My polish skills are very basic.

I have gotten job offer here and salary is 60000 euros+bonuses.
For many personal reasons, i have considered moving to our eastern neighbours. I know that I have to expect much lower than what Daimler is offering from the reasearch I have done. But further information on the internet is very scarce so I hope some kind soul can shed light on my question.

@CAE Engineer

You'd be lucky to get a third of that in Poland, half at the very best. But it is not wages that are important as much as how much you are able to put in the bank at the end of the month, and that's going to be a lot lower.

On top of that, Poland is a country with low R&D investment, so jobs of this sort are usually in outsourced floor production, which is boring and poorly paid.

The opportunity loss in terms of savings potential would make any job in Poland rather unattractive. The reason you are finding so little information on the internet is because very few western engineers are tempted to come to Poland, especially for entry-level jobs.

Good opportunities exist only for highly experienced, high qualified engineers with management, administrative. consulting or highly specialized technical experience who work for western companies and are willing to be transferred to Poland at western wages. But if you are just starting out, then it will be at least ten years before you would be considered for such a position.

What are the "many personal reasons" you speak of? If that means a member of the opposite sex, forget about it. Their chance of making it in Germany or elsewhere in the West are astronomically higher than yours of making it in Poland.

I am aware of the fact that in Poland, research and development is not the highest priority. However, there are plenty of job ads that do fit my profile very well. And with my qualifications in mind, i am aiming for at least 10 000zl/month. Am i aiming too high? The simulations that i have done here at Daimler during the last 12 months are many times more advanced than the simulations that the senior engineers are doing. So even though i might be "entry level" on the paper, i do believe that i have alot to bring to the table. There is a reason why a top car manufacturer is offering me 60000 euro a year. Moreover, i am glad that you worry about how much i can save, etc etc, but this was not the topic.

The reason i am considering to move there is because my fiance is from Poland, and she needs to move there for 12-24 months because of family reasons. I do not understand though how this is relevant to the topic. Neither do i understand how my ability to attract women is relevant to the topic. Judging from your posting history, you seem to be very bitter and toxic. If thats how you "roll", thats fine. But if youre unable to skip the toxic remarks, dont bother answering the topic.

I can tell you for a categorical fact that she won't leave once she returns. She might say "Oh, it'll only be for 1-2 years", but then the family puts pressure on her to stay and that's that. If you want to follow her, do it with the expectation that she will never leave.

As for the salary, I doubt a junior engineer is going to take that kind of salary unless you find a job in a very specific place.

@delphiandomine

Thanks for the answer. I am not ruling anything out, i like Poland so if the job is good, i might consider a longer stay. As for the salary, its very hard for me to go any lower than 10000, especially considering how much i am leaving behind in Germany.

Any CAE engineers that can shed some light over this?

That's a long shot. Entry level engineering jobs generally pay 5000 or 6000 PLN. 10,000 PLN usually requires at least some managerial or technical specialist experience. You could always ask and see if they bite, though. Since that is your rock-bottom limit, there is not reason not to ask for that much. They're still getting you for less than half of what you would receive in Germany, so there is no need to be shy about naming your price.

As for the girlfriend, it's a story I've seen played out time and time again during my twelve years in Poland, and it's a common theme on this forum, ad nauseam. Polish girlfriend misses her family and wants naive foreign boyfriend to move back with her, telling him that he can easily find work there. It practically never works out for a whole bunch of reasons: He can't find a good job, he can't manage living in close proximity to the "in-laws", he's socially isolated and dependent because he can't speak the language.... and so on. Usually, the relationship ends on a sour note. I've had too many guys crying on my shoulder over nonsense like this.

If you think you can be one of the exceptions, knock yourself out. You might been because at least you have some saleable qualifications in contrast to most of the poor suckers who fall for this line. And a big plus is that you can cut and run back to a well paid job in Germany if things go sour. Another big plus is with 10,000 PLN a month you won't have to put up with any BS from the in-laws.

One last thing: find that job BEFORE you move. Don't count on finding one after you move.

Thanks for the responses. I am aware of the private difficulties here, but they are of more private and specific character than career challenges, therefore, i choose to not discuss them in detail.

I will consider this very carefully and see what happens. It all really depends on the job, if i get what i want in terms of salary and type of job, i move. Otherwise, i will probably stay.