Working in Europe or Singapore?

[jericholic]

Hi PEXers,

I am agressively looking for opportunities abroad. If you were to choose, where would you want to apply for work? Do you want to work in Europe (e.g., UK, Germany) or Singapore? Medyo out muna ang US since their economy is bad nowadays. I made a list of pros and cons dito, na based sa opinion ko lang. :)

Working in Europe:

PROS
1. Salary is in Euro, which is higher in exchange rate
2. Professional work environment
3. Nice places to travel

CONS
1. High tax
2. High cost of living compared to Singapore

Working in Singapore:

PROS
1. Lower tax
2. Lower cost of living
3. Closer to the Philippines, therefore air fare is cheaper

CONS
1. Much lower salary in terms of exchange rate to peso
2. Congested
3. Very small area, therefore limited travel when you have free time

I know I missed some things here. Pag me gusto kayo idagdag or me suggestions kayo, please post na lang dito. TY! :)

[shybaby]

hi...

FYI...High Cost of living pu sa Singapore since I already went there but the salary is much higher that here in Philippines..No tax as well..

[council]

"Congested" is relative... compared to, say, MNL or HKG.

Had no problems moving around in SIN.

[kamurayaw06]

1 advantage of sing is that mahal ang bisyo dun.. so healthy living ito :D

[sunpower]

I think Singapore is more Asian-friendly nation. Yeah congested pero dami Pinoy dun.

[team slick]

i know this maybe a bit out of topic but wouldnt you actually do the pros and cons weighing when you actually have the options on hand (meaning that you got a job offer to work in either places?) that way it would be more feasible/personal/applicable to weight the pros and cons?

Back to topic:
Been able to work in both places (personal preference is still asia). Long term would probably like to return back to asia but short term wise it would be good to live and work in europe.

[LimpBwiZit]

singapore's too small to be compared to europe. specify mo dapat kung anong country sa europe. EU notwithstanding, europe does not have a homogenous culture. sobrang magkaiba ang germans at italians, or dutch and spanish, or greeks and swedish.

one thing you have to consider also is the language.

i can only speak about europe. wala akong experience working in singapore. i'll give insights lang sa mga categories mo about europe:

1. high cost of living - put it in a proper context. mataas ang standard of living sa europe, meaning, mataas din ang sweldo and ma-afford naman ng ordinary workers. wag lang i-convert sa peso kasi mahal talaga ang kalalabasan, or i-compare sa pilipinas ang presyo. mura naman ang food sa supermarket, halos sing-presyo lang sa pilipinas kung i-convert mo. or better yet, sa flea market, bagsak presyo talaga dun, mas mura pa sa pilipinas ang kalalabasan. rent is quite expensive compared to manila, pero depende din sa city. mahal din ang pamasahe, pero masarap mag-bike kasi hindi polluted and malamig naman. sa akin lang, kung i-gauge mo sa savings, mas malaki ang masi-save mo sa europe pag inuwi mo sa pilipinas ang pera. pero kung doon mo balak for good, medyo mahihirapan ka rin. tingnan mo na lang mga bahay dito ng mga DH sa italy, parang walang sinabi ang manager ng bangko sa pilipinas.

2. professional work environment - hahaha! depende. swiss, germans, austrians, dutch, medyo eto, professional at strict. italians, french (to a certain extent), spanish - masaya sila kasama pero professionally, parang pinoy din sila sa work - late, tamad-tamaran, tulug-tulugan. minsan, iisipin mo, immigrants lang talaga ang bumubuhay sa companies nila dahil masisipag talaga ang mga immigrants. they can be very tentative - magsi-set ng deadline and completely forget about it, or worse, magpapanggap sila na hindi sila contented sa output mo para lang hindi sila ma-embarass na hindi sila prepared to give feedback on your work. the worst i've seen, pasahan din sila ng sisi.

and as always, face value counts a lot. ganun talaga buhay, mas maganda, mas malayo ang nararating.

3. high tax - depende uli. bigger country, bigger budget to run the government. switzerland has one of the lowest tax rates in the world, kaya andaming mayayamang italians, germans, french, and even americans na nag-a-adopt ng residence doon, meaning, italy, germany, and france - di ko alam kung anong angal na lang ng mga tibak sa pilipinas pag taxpayers sila sa mga bansang ito. austria, mababa din. kung su-swertehin ka at makakha ng employment sa mga tax havens, zero tax rates doon (san marino, montecarlo, liechstenstein).

one thing you missed is the abundance of holidays in europe. pag pinag-ipun-ipon mo lahat, pwede kang magbakasyon ng 6 weeks in a year. if there's something that all europeans agree on, it's holiday. they celebrate life. iba ang pilosopia nila sa buhay. ika nga ng mga french, better be poor but healthy than rich and sick. or sabi naman ng iba, you work to enjoy life, not live to work. kaya pag may non-working holiday, mukhang ghost town ang mga cities (at mukhang palengke naman ang touristic cities).

normally, 7 hours ang regular work per day and 2 hours ang lunch break. ika nga nila, you should eat good food, and good food takes longer to prepare (they usually shun junk foods like burgers, etc.). and since you're eating good food, you must enjoy the food, so eat slowly and savor the food. medyo sobrang haba ng lunch break, at nakukuha ko pang managinip during my mid-day nap.

and last, i like the diversity. from all over the world ang mga colleagues mo and andami mong matututunan from them (professionally and culturally). above everything else, tini-treasure ko yong experience ko working with people from all inhabited continents of the world. ibang klase. and it kind of pushes you to do well, kasi feeling mo, ikaw ang nagdadala ng bandila ng pilipinas.

yon lang.