Salary for a senior software engineer in Poland

@Atch Excelent advice! Thanks so much. I'll let you know if any sort of development occurs :)

Hi,

I am being interviewed for a Test Architect for the largest Telecom vendor company in Poland (I dont want to quote the name). My experience is around 11 years.

I have absolutely no idea what the standards for this position is but here are my corresponding figures from India.
Net - 170000 Indian Rupees which is ~ 11000 PLN
Savings - ~4000 PLN

I have read this entire thread but I couldnt find anyone asking about a similar job profile.

Comparing to the current salary of mine, I would need around 12k PLN net salary - which means around 18k gross.

Do you think that would be fair to ask this?

PS - Like I said, the company is a very big one

You will not get 18K pln gross.

@terri - I guessed so.
What do you think would be the ideal gross salary per month for an architect in a place like Wroclaw

@asrao84

If you are making 11,000 PLN net in India, there is simply no point in even considering Poland. You're only going to find better jobs in richer countries than Poland.

Hi, I recently got an offer in Poland and i am offered 15,500 Gross salary , how much does that mean in Net ?
we are family of 2 , me and my wife , is this salary sufficient to have a comfortable life

10866

Hello,
I am prabu.I am from India.I am working in india.
I want to work & live in Poland.I have doubts in Poland visa.poland visit visa is it possible to change into temporary residence visa (up to 3 years)

@mechprabu

Read the answer I just gave to one of your countrymen in the thread entitled "how to find an employer in poland, willing to process work permit".

You should get 10k to 15k zloty depending on company area in poland etc. I wouldn't settle for less than 12k

15k is enough for a family to live comfortably but you won't be able to afford some higher ticket items or buy a decent sized house. You'd be surprised to find that many nice homes go for 400k usd plus in poland which is roughly 1.6 million zloty..

Hi,
I am married and we are expecting baby in Feb. Right now i have an offer of senior consultant post in warsaw with 14K gross zloty salary per month. I have 8 years of exp of a niece technology and working for various International banks.

Do you think i should take this offer ?

Some Pointer:
1.)In my current job i am able to save 3K zloty per month in india after all expenses.Here i don't have to spend money on air travel for home trip. Expecting some onsite assignment in future where should be able to save more than 5K zloty per month.

2.)Earlier i use to work in Apac region where i use to save 6.5K zloty per month as saving after all expenses, tax and decent life style.

let me know if i should take this offer. if not what salary i should i ask for.

@Ritesh
Hi Ritesh,

you will get between 9.5k to 10k net in your hand if you get offer of 14k gross,
According to your point 1 and 2, you will not find any major difference in terms of your saving(even less saving then what you are getting) but definitely you will get opportunity for europe countries after staying 2-3 yrs in same country.

you can try to negotiate the offer till 16k if possible, now a day most of the employer has started to offer around 17k to 20k in warsaw.

BR,
Harry84

Thanks @Harry84.

If i negotiate it to upto 17K, do u see this as a good offer . My thinking is that only if i save atleast 5.5K zloty , then only i will relocate to warsaw.

is it easy to get job offer and work permit from poland for other european country like Germany/Ireland etc ? i am having indian nationality.

Also how is the medical facility as my wife's due date is in Feb'18

@Ritesh

Actually even 14k gross is good offer in poland.
you have to consider other factor as well other than your saving like lifestyle, living environment, etc..

your employer will take care of your medical package and you will need to enroll for your spouse by paying minimal amount.

Overall medical service is good, even we are expecting the baby by November month.

BR,
Harry84

@ Harry,

I prefer decent life style which currently i am leading. By saying that i mean 1 Bed room apartment in good area, use to go decent restaurant for dinner and lunch on weekends otherwise home made food, require maid for 1 hrs each day for cooking.

I am occasional drinker- use to drinks once in a while like for office party and all.

Do u think with 14k gross, and with aim of saving 5.5K zloty , me and my wife would able to carry above life style.

Yes, You can save 5k based on your lifestyle description otherwise 3 to 4k can easily save it.

BR,
Harry84

@Ritesh

17K is a very good salary by polish standards. That puts you prolly around the top 5% of income earners in pl

No, you are not going to be able to save 5.5 K złoty on that much.

14,000 gross a month is about 9000 PLN net.

Off the top, you will have to deduct for your relocation to Poland, that means plane tickets, all associated travel and shipping, visas and permits. Divide the total by 12 and deduct from your monthly income. This should be about 1000 PLN for two people, so that brings your balance down to about 8000 PLN.

Next is housing. A modest one bedroom (two room) apartment is going to cost you from 2000 to 2500 a month all inclusive: rent, administration fees and all utilities except internet/phone/TV. That will bring your balance down to 5500 to 6000 PLN.

Food and regular household supplies will set you back another 2000 PLN or so for a family of three. Less if you cook all meals at home using cheaper local ingredients, more if you eat, drink or snack away from home or use more expensive ingredients. Baby formula and food is quite expensive. So that will bring your balance down to 3500 to 4000 PLN, at best.

Then there are occasional purchases such as clothing, furniture and electronics, as well as recreation, hobbies and vacations. That's going to cost you about 1000 PLN a month at least, as you and your family will need good winter clothing and solid shoes. Baby clothes and diapers are rather expensive, too. so bring you balance down to 2500 to 3000 PLN, and probably a little less.

Then there are city transit cards for you and your wife, as well as cell phones and internet service. That will be about 500 PLN a month maximum. So your balance is now 2000 to 2500 PLN a month.

So no, there is no way that you will be able to save 5500 PLN a month.

The biggest problems with Poland are 1) wages are low; 2) cost of living relative to wages is rather high, especially if children are involved; and, most importantly 3) savings potential is very low.

To meet your savings goal you would have to earn at least 20,000 PLN a month gross, and probably a bit more.

My advice is to focus on finding work in richer countries where savings potential is much higher than in Poland.

Thanks DominicB, Dirk diggler , Harry84 for your reply.

Today i got call from recruiter that they are trying to get approval for 17K gross salary. Plus they will also take care of my initial 2 week accommodation, initial one time relocation expenses like plane ticket, visa cost, extra baggage charge, airport transfer etc.

I have also been contacted by some company in Netherland and Ireland but i don't know whether i will be able to clear the interview or not.

Plus i am thinking once i committed my alliance to one company, should i try in parallel for other company..this is one thing which is bothering me a lot.

Regards,
Ritesh

Its always good to have a plan b but I think your set dude. Good luck in pl. You'll be able to enjoy life and also save money on a salary like that. Be sure to put away some of it though for a rainy day and also network. If you can manage to put away even 1k USD a month that'll be good

I'm not sure what "committing your alliance" means.Unless it means signing an actual contract, it doesn't mean anything much.

Don't put all your eggs in one basket. You have no obligations to prospective employers until you sign the contract. It's perfectly fine to apply and interview for several different employers, and then pick the best for you. After all, it is highly unlikely that you are the only applicant any of these companies is interviewing for the job. They are interviewing several and picking the best for them.

Also one other thing I would budget at least 3k sloth for housing. 2K 2.5k doesn't get you much anymore unless you're far from an urban area or in a poorer part.

@ DominicB .. by committing i mean i have vouched that i will accept the offer and will join them. I have not signed any contract. Whenever they use to call me they use to reconfirm or use to ask me that i should not try other option. Earlier during salary negotiation i told them i hv other offer as well and after listening that their tone of conversation was not that polite and they were saying that I should be transparent and should let them know if i am trying somewhere else as well.

Could you please let me know in case if my Poland work permit process from this company is in progress and i got selected by Netherland/Ireland company as well and i choose to Netherland/Ireland offer and ask my prospect employer to start work permit process for netherland/ireland as well, will there be any issue.

@Dirk diggler thanks for update.

Appreciate effort of all guys helping me out to reach to a conclusion.

Yes, you can very easily save that.

That's very unprofessional behavior on their part, and very unfair. Actually, it's downright nasty. Whether you are trying anywhere else is none of their business, and you have no obligation, legal or ethical, to share that information with them. Do you really want to work for a company like this?


None at all. Like I said, you have no obligations toward them until you sign an actual contract. Nor do they have any toward you. Their world is not going to end because you find another job, and the money and effort they invested in recruiting you is just a normal business expense. Don't feel bad about it. They certainly won't feel bad if they decide not to hire you and hire another candidate instead.

Do let them know, however, as soon as you have accepted another job, so they can stop spending money and time on you and focus their attention on the other applicants they have for this job. Rest assured, they have several other applicants interested in this position.


No, he can't. Even with great difficulty. And I explained in great detail why that won't be possible.

Without specific information about your skill set it's hard to determine exactly what your salary could be in the other countries you mention. Don't know about the Netherlands but in Ireland salaries in IT are generally very high, much higher than Poland. So I imagine that if you're being offered the equivalent of 50,000 euros gross in Poland, then you will be likely to be offered about 70,000-80,000 in Ireland but it could be more. Here's a link to one of the top recruiters in Ireland with a list of salaries for the different roles, maybe you can identify your own earning potential from it:

morganmckinley.ie/article/2017-it-permanent-salary-guide

As you can see the salaries vary by city with the highest being in Dublin which is the capital, but then Dublin is also the most expensive in terms of rent. If you take a job in another smaller city such as Galway, be warned that there is virtually no public transport and unless you live in the heart of the town, you may need a car. The main problem with Ireland is that the cost of living is very high and rents are absolutely shocking. You can pay 2,000 euros for a two bed apartment in Dublin.

Here's a link to the most popular property site for renting:

daft.ie

On the plus side, Ireland is a friendly place and very clean, healthy air for raising a newborn :)) even Dublin has low levels of air pollution and miles of beautiful coastline and beaches with a train running along it so very easy to access.


Having a maid in just to do your cooking every day is very unusual in Europe though it is normal for professional couples who are out all day at work to get somebody in to do some basic cleaning and house work for an hour or two a couple of times a week. Must say, as a woman myself, if I were home all dayI really couldn't justify getting somebody to do my cooking for me unless, God forbid, I were disabled and not capable of doing it. If you want somebody to cook Indian dishes you will struggle to find anybody in Poland who can do that. Your wife would have to spend so much time showing them how to do it that she might as well do it herself! :))

Yea I agree with atch. Comparing Irish and dutch salaries with polish isn't a apples to apples comparison. Also one thing to note is in poland usually international corps tend to pay more than polish ones.

Theres nothing wrong w u playing hardball. They became 'unpolite' bc perhaps now they'll have to work harder to get you if they rly want you. Did u get the 17k gross?

@Dirk diggler

For an expat, comparing salaries is not all that useful in and of itself. Nor is comparing cost of living. Their only significance is how they affect the only financial figure that matters: how much you are able to save at the end of the month. All other things being equal, the job with the greatest savings potential is the best offer.

And yes, there is no reason not to "play hardball", to look out for one's best interest. If you show weakness, inferiority or desperation, the potential employer will walk all over you.

HR just messaged me that the approval for 17k is taking some time and will get in touch soon. Mostly i think i will get the offer in 1-2 days.

Thanks you all for your suggestion.

Do baby delivery cost (medicine, doc consultation, vaccination, c-Section surgery etc in case if required) use to get covered in medical insurance ? In india all IT company use to provide insurance plan which covers all major things like things like hospitalization and c-section surgery cost.

Also Poland climate being quite cold compare to India would it be quite difficult for my wife to adjust there as she is pregnant ?

Kindly bear with me as I am asking lot of question . Hope you all will understand my situation as its a very big move for me to relocate to Poland while my wife is expecting baby.

I don't know but I highly doubt ull be put in the zus program right away. I could be wrong but I'd assume youd have to pay out of pocket till you're covered. Medical practice in poland is very cheap and professional though.

A lot of Indians move to poland to work it engineering and other hard skill jobs for corps in poland. However few stay as they go westward. Personally idk why because yeah in say the us or w Europe you may make 70k to 120k USD depending on your skill level experience type of company and location but expenses are far more. Imo itd probably be easier to save money on a high salary in poland than w Europe. Although some countries like Ireland don't have very high costs of living like London or Paris. Berlin and the rest of Germany was like that too for a long time although I'm sure the migrant crisis has created more of a housing demand hence increasing costs.