Ireland vs UK quality of life

lufties

Hey all, just wanted some opinions on the above topic. I guess it's all subjective. Anyway, I've just moved back to Ireland in Jan after 3 years in London. For various reasons I left London, poor pay, high rent etc.

I've been offered work back in England (not London), and am thinking of moving back, as the T&c's are good. Since I moved back to Ireland, I've had two jobs, both sucked. I would argue that life is a bit better in England, as I hate the Irish attitude to work, basically work your hole off and be glad of it. It's great to be around family and friends but my gut tells me England is a bit more rewarding if you are a middle income earner. Granted this is a fine margin. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks!

Danye

lufties wrote: »

Hey all, just wanted some opinions on the above topic. I guess it's all subjective. Anyway, I've just moved back to Ireland in Jan after 3 years in London. For various reasons I left London, poor pay, high rent etc.

I've been offered work back in England (not London), and am thinking of moving back, as the T&c's are good. Since I moved back to Ireland, I've had two jobs, both sucked. I would argue that life is a bit better in England, as I hate the Irish attitude to work, basically work your hole off and be glad of it. It's great to be around family and friends but my gut tells me England is a bit more rewarding if you are a middle income earner. Granted this is a fine margin. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks!

I've never worked in the U.K. although I've been offered work over there very recently. What I would say is, go with your gut. It already sounds like you know the correct answer. Your just looking for somebody to validate it for you.

lufties

Danye wrote: »

I've never worked in the U.K. although I've been offered work over there very recently. What I would say is, go with your gut. It already sounds like you know the correct answer. Your just looking for somebody to validate it for you.

Hi Danye, yeah I guess I am looking for someone to validate it. Having trawled through some old threads, most people say Ireland is better. People say Ireland is more laid back, perhaps it is compared to working in London, but jobs I've had here in Ireland in recent months, have paid peanuts and expect you to live and breathe the job. Its an attitude, the English know its just 'a job', whereas in Ireland it seems to be a vocation that you define your whole self with.

recipio

Being happy in life is a complex subject. I would say that most people need a few basic things - a mortgage, a car, a good health service, an honest police force and an efficient civil service. All of these are taken for granted in the UK but we struggle with being the third most expensive country in the EU and with poor services.All of this despite relatively high taxes but of course we have plenty of wastrel politicians to spend it. ( Irish water anyone ? )
I also think the British have a better community spirit with festivals in virtually town and many of its laws are more liberal than here.If the State doesn't like something here it tends to ban it outright. Lastly , you can retire a year earlier in UK at 65 but that is set to change.
If you can live away from the criminally expensive London area I think you will be healthier and wealthier if you make a life in the UK.

zweton

lufties wrote: »

Hey all, just wanted some opinions on the above topic. I guess it's all subjective. Anyway, I've just moved back to Ireland in Jan after 3 years in London. For various reasons I left London, poor pay, high rent etc.

I've been offered work back in England (not London), and am thinking of moving back, as the T&c's are good. Since I moved back to Ireland, I've had two jobs, both sucked. I would argue that life is a bit better in England, as I hate the Irish attitude to work, basically work your hole off and be glad of it. It's great to be around family and friends but my gut tells me England is a bit more rewarding if you are a middle income earner. Granted this is a fine margin. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks!

what part?

lufties

zweton wrote: »

what part?

near gatwick

Wompa1

Only worked in the UK at customer sites or on projects with English counterparts. I actually prefer the Irish work environment BUT I have never worked in Dublin. Working in Galway was great fun. The Brits and Americans are very difficult to deal with when it comes to business, imo. If you'd be happier in England, I'd go for it. If you'll be miserable but would prefer the work, I'd say give it a miss. There's more to life than work. Also, if you're in Dublin have you considered trying somewhere other than Dublin?

fits

If it's Crawley. It's not my favourite place in the world but very easy to get to London or Brighton. Crawley itself is very meh though.

lufties

Wompa1 wrote: »

Only worked in the UK at customer sites or on projects with English counterparts. I actually prefer the Irish work environment BUT I have never worked in Dublin. Working in Galway was great fun. The Brits and Americans are very difficult to deal with when it comes to business, imo. If you'd be happier in England, I'd go for it. If you'll be miserable but would prefer the work, I'd say give it a miss. There's more to life than work. Also, if you're in Dublin have you considered trying somewhere other than Dublin?

Hey, thanks for the reply. I've recently been offered an interview for a position in Leeds. The salary and perks are really good, in Ireland nothing compares as in my industry the pay is peanuts here. I'm currently working in County clare and it is bleak. My gut tells me that career wise a UK move is the best decision, as its a short hop from Ireland and you can actually earn and maybe even own my own house. Staying here just equates to wage slavery it seems. As much as I know work isn't everything, if working in a town like Shannon depresses you then there's no point in staying, as you spend most of your time at work.
Dublin would be an option if rent and salaries were reasonable, but they're not.
Having been away from Ireland for 8 years and recently returned, I can say we get shafted here. Tax is high, salaries are poor to mediocre. Then you've car insurance, health etc. From a spiritual point of view, I love being close to my family, but I guess I need to find a happy medium. Sorry if that sounded like a rant, it wasn't meant as such.

lufties

zweton wrote: »

what part?

There are two jobs on the table, one in Gatwick, one in Leeds.

Chuchote

lufties wrote: »

I've recently been offered an interview for a position in Leeds. The salary and perks are really good, in Ireland nothing compares as in my industry the pay is peanuts here. I'm currently working in County clare and it is bleak.

Friends who live there tell me Leeds is really lovely, and surrounded by nice countryside; laid-back, kind people.

And it's not just the wage - because Britain has higher tax and better social supports, you get a great medical service and all kinds of things that peasants like us pay through the nose for, for free there. For instance, you can study and get qualifications for free or cheap while working there.

If you get homesick, you've got a chance to come back with better qualifications and a nice CV.

lufties

Chuchote wrote: »

Friends who live there tell me Leeds is really lovely, and surrounded by nice countryside; laid-back, kind people.

And it's not just the wage - because Britain has higher tax and better social supports, you get a great medical service and all kinds of things that peasants like us pay through the nose for, for free there. For instance, you can study and get qualifications for free or cheap while working there.

If you get homesick, you've got a chance to come back with better qualifications and a nice CV.

Thanks a mill chuchote, yeah its early days yet as I'm only heading over for an interview next week. The job role is where I want to be going career wise. The options are, struggle in Ireland financially and be around family, or get good pay and conditions in England.

Sosurface

Am looking in the same direction myself. Even from scanning jobs on indeed, the perks and benefits for professional roles in the UK are light years ahead. Horrible working culture here. Bare minimum 20 days holidays by most companies. 39 hour week but your break is unpaid so you actually spend 42.5 hours there and thats before any "expected" OT. Wages only the bare minimum they can get away with paying and personally no hope of buying a property without absolutely stretching living standards to the last. All little sneaky measures that have been tacked in in the last few years. Ireland only works if you know the right people. You'd be driven mad sticking it out here.

Chuchote

Well, even if you're going temporarily and will bring your new skills back to your country later, it's worth travelling to get work, experience and a broader (hopefully) worldview.

And it's really easy to study languages in Britain compared to here; you could jazz up your French and German and get work on the Conty-nong for a bit too.

(Met a guy recently who was on the dole; he was 60 and wasn't aware that as he'd built up stamps while working in Britain for around 30 years he could probably get at least part of his pension entitlement now. Sent him off to consult Social Welfare about how to find his UK records; he was a happy camper!)

lufties

Sosurface wrote: »

Am looking in the same direction myself. Even from scanning jobs on indeed, the perks and benefits for professional roles in the UK are light years ahead. Horrible working culture here. Bare minimum 20 days holidays by most companies. 39 hour week but your break is unpaid so you actually spend 42.5 hours there and thats before any "expected" OT. Wages only the bare minimum they can get away with paying and personally no hope of buying a property without absolutely stretching living standards to the last. All little sneaky measures that have been tacked in in the last few years. Ireland only works if you know the right people. You'd be driven mad sticking it out here.

Yeah, I left 8 years ago for a reason, a reason that got covered with rose tinted glasses. Don't get me wrong, the feeling of being at home is great, the security it brings to know your folks or siblings are less than a 2 hr drive away.

Jesus though, the work conditions I've seen since coming back really suck, basically a wage slave until retirement if you even get there.One job offered 43k pa, No pension given, and expected to be on call every second week. This is in engineering which I've over 15 yrs experience. I know of one company where employees were bullied into voting out a good pension, and its expected to work two weekends a month ffs, we've only ourselves to blame. Although if you've kids to support there ain't too many choices, these companies know this only too well
Perhaps its just the industry I'm in, but I can hazard a guess its similar across the board bar politics, finance, and maybe broadcasting(rte). Its sad to say that working for paddy is worse than working for the English.

Chuchote

lufties wrote: »

Yeah, I left 8 years ago for a reason, a reason that got covered with rose tinted glasses. Don't get me wrong, the feeling of being at home is great, the security it brings to know your folks or siblings are less than a 2 hr drive away.

Jesus though, the work conditions I've seen since coming back really suck, basically a wage slave until retirement if you even get there.One job offered 43k pa, No pension given, and expected to be on call every second week. This is in engineering which I've over 15 yrs experience.
Perhaps its just the industry I'm in, but I can hazard a guess its similar across the board bar politics, finance, and maybe broadcasting(rte).

As long as people are leaving the country out of frustration at the inequality and the slavery it brings in its train, it's not going to get better.

All it needs is for a few decent employers to start up, and talk about the conditions of their workforce, and good conditions will start to be normal practice again. (Not to mention that we need unions who will negotiate good terms, rather than greedy gobblers of union officials who are out for themselves - all trade union officials should be paid, pensioned and mileaged, etc, at the same rate as the senior workers their union represents!)

lufties

Chuchote wrote: »

As long as people are leaving the country out of frustration at the inequality and the slavery it brings in its train, it's not going to get better.

All it needs is for a few decent employers to start up, and talk about the conditions of their workforce, and good conditions will start to be normal practice again. (Not to mention that we need unions who will negotiate good terms, rather than greedy gobblers of union officials who are out for themselves - all trade union officials should be paid, pensioned and mileaged, etc, at the same rate as the senior workers their union represents!)

That is true, the recession was a great opportunity for exploitation. I'd say unions have had their day, and are basically useless if there isn't high profile companies in the spotlight (Bus eireann). The problem is that the powers that be facilitate all this. I am honestly shocked to see how bad things are gone here in this regard, not even sure why I thought they might have improved. 'keep the recovery going', yeah with jobs that pay peanuts. If you slog away in university and gain a certain amount of experience, you should be rewarded as such. Its hard to know which is sadder, the politicians facilitating greed, or the apathy of the public.

Sosurface

lufties wrote: »

Yeah, I left 8 years ago for a reason, a reason that got covered with rose tinted glasses. Don't get me wrong, the feeling of being at home is great, the security it brings to know your folks or siblings are less than a 2 hr drive away.

Jesus though, the work conditions I've seen since coming back really suck, basically a wage slave until retirement if you even get there.One job offered 43k pa, No pension given, and expected to be on call every second week. This is in engineering which I've over 15 yrs experience. I know of one company where employees were bullied into voting out a good pension, and its expected to work two weekends a month ffs, we've only ourselves to blame. Although if you've kids to support there ain't too many choices, these companies know this only too well
Perhaps its just the industry I'm in, but I can hazard a guess its similar across the board bar politics, finance, and maybe broadcasting(rte). Its sad to say that working for paddy is worse than working for the English.

Working for the Americans/Europeans is even the best you can do in Ireland and thats a sorry state of affairs. No-one looks after their employees less well than Irish employers. At the very least, and Im being generous here: they're wildly out of touch with what their employees actually want/need. I suspect its worse though aand as with much of Irish society they just push to get away with as much as is possible within the "rules". Most of the "concessions" you get (holidays/breaks etc) you'll find are exactly in line with minimum amounts required by EU law.

lufties

Sosurface wrote: »

Working for the Americans/Europeans is even the best you can do in Ireland and thats a sorry state of affairs. No-one looks after their employees less well than Irish employers. At the very least, and Im being generous here: they're wildly out of touch with what their employees actually want/need. I suspect its worse though aand as with much of Irish society they just push to get away with as much as is possible within the "rules". Most of the "concessions" you get (holidays/breaks etc) you'll find are exactly in line with minimum amounts required by EU law.

Interestingly, I was recently doing some contract work at a facility in Clare and the manager (an arrogant thicko), openly said Irish people will not work for him because of the pace of work and how they treat their staff. He has to get people in from Russia and ukraine to work because he's such a knob. Also, to add the health and safety was attrocious.

Chuchote

In a local Lidl today and one guy on a cash desk (obviously feeling his importance as he had some authority) shouted at another because he made a mistake and opened a different new cash desk than he'd been told to. Both eastern European. Nasty feeling about it.

lemmno

Leeds is a great city, and hugely cheaper than London (and Gatwick!)

zweton

whats city is better, leeds or bristol? Are you living in leeds atm?

lemmno

zweton wrote: »

whats city is better, leeds or bristol? Are you living in leeds atm?

Never lived in Leeds but spent a lot of time there. It reminds me of an Irish city, laid back people. Can't comment on Bristol. Leeds just has a lot going for it imo.

zweton

yeah i have been reading good things about it myself.

lufties

lemmno wrote: »

Leeds is a great city, and hugely cheaper than London (and Gatwick!)

Yeah, I went for the interview, and moving there doesn't feel right. If I had mates there I might've.

amcalester

lufties wrote: »

There are two jobs on the table, one in Gatwick, one in Leeds.

Where abouts in Gatwick? If it's the business park I'd hate to work there. Seems like a miserable place.

CelticRambler

Some interesting comments above. I've just come back from a second short stint working (in the same place) in England. Between my first and second periods there, five people have handed in their notice citing either that the pay was rubbish or that the (expected) hours were too long and the rotas too chaotic and interfering with their quality of life.

I chose to work there (having been asked three times already over the years by a long-time friend) because I can work a 45-60hour week - and get paid for it - whereas here in France I'm limited to 35 hours paid plus 10 unpaid hours sitting around doing nothing while the natives have their two-hour lunchbreak. It helps that professional standards in my line of work are far higher in the UK too.

But that's it. Work, earn money, spend money, sleep. After only a few months back in the country, I can see that all the reasons I left it fourteen years ago are still as valid as ever, and even though there are two permanent opportunities open at the moment, there is absolutely no way I'd take either of them.

To put things in context, I've just driven 1000km to come back for my social life this weekend, and will do another 700km to go to work again on Monday (different job, different country!)

seachto7

Chuchote wrote: »

Well, even if you're going temporarily and will bring your new skills back to your country later, it's worth travelling to get work, experience and a broader (hopefully) worldview.

And it's really easy to study languages in Britain compared to here; you could jazz up your French and German and get work on the Conty-nong for a bit too.

(Met a guy recently who was on the dole; he was 60 and wasn't aware that as he'd built up stamps while working in Britain for around 30 years he could probably get at least part of his pension entitlement now. Sent him off to consult Social Welfare about how to find his UK records; he was a happy camper!)

It's not easy to study languages in Ireland? News to me....

seachto7

CelticRambler wrote: »

Some interesting comments above. I've just come back from a second short stint working (in the same place) in England. Between my first and second periods there, five people have handed in their notice citing either that the pay was rubbish or that the (expected) hours were too long and the rotas too chaotic and interfering with their quality of life.

I chose to work there (having been asked three times already over the years by a long-time friend) because I can work a 45-60hour week - and get paid for it - whereas here in France I'm limited to 35 hours paid plus 10 unpaid hours sitting around doing nothing while the natives have their two-hour lunchbreak. It helps that professional standards in my line of work are far higher in the UK too.

But that's it. Work, earn money, spend money, sleep. After only a few months back in the country, I can see that all the reasons I left it fourteen years ago are still as valid as ever, and even though there are two permanent opportunities open at the moment, there is absolutely no way I'd take either of them.

To put things in context, I've just driven 1000km to come back for my social life this weekend, and will do another 700km to go to work again on Monday (different job, different country!)

Uk or Ire or Fr?

DublinWriter

The M50 looks like a carpark at 7am and construction workers are back queuing three deep at garage deli counters for cappuccinos and breakfast rolls.

The Irish economy is predicated on a unplanned oscillating cycle of boom and bust. Right now it's boom time again.

The UK is one of the biggest economies in the world. Even pre-Brexit, it's not the sort of place where you get EU Politicians flying in telling the government to sack policemen if they want a bail-out.

CelticRambler

seachto7 wrote: »

Uk or Ire or Fr?

UK.

I've looked at moving back to Ireland on and off over the years too, and while I could make a decent life for myself there, I think I'd get fed up with fighting off the expectation that life is all about money and/or drink.

lufties

I was listening to Joe duffy on the bus coming from dublin today. A few callers saying they'd like to return to Ireland but there is no incentive. The callers were living in Oz and UK. They said they'd be sacrificing a better tax, health system, as well as taking a pay cut in their professions (teaching and nursing).

Jim2007

lufties wrote: »

I was listening to Joe duffy on the bus coming from dublin today. A few callers saying they'd like to return to Ireland but there is no incentive. The callers were living in Oz and UK. They said they'd be sacrificing a better tax, health system, as well as taking a pay cut in their professions (teaching and nursing).

And so what, does Ireland owe them a living or something? I left Ireland over 25 years ago, it would never enter my head that Ireland owes me anything. This sense of entitlement is shocking, is it really the future we want for Ireland??

lufties

Jim2007 wrote: »

And so what, does Ireland owe them a living or something? I left Ireland over 25 years ago, it would never enter my head that Ireland owes me anything. This sense of entitlement is shocking, is it really the future we want for Ireland??

thats not the point. But life is better overseas for them, Ireland is a rip off in comparison. Nobody is saying they are entitled to anything. Just prefer to live in a fairer society.

mrslancaster

lufties wrote: »

thats not the point. But life is better overseas for them, Ireland is a rip off in comparison. Nobody is saying they are entitled to anything. Just prefer to live in a fairer society.

agree its probably better overseas.
it has always been a struggle in Ireland & definitely not a fair society IMO.
there was a few years when it looked like things were improving for the average Joe but that didn't last
family and friends who emigrated to the uk appear to have better life balance. they dont seem to work as long hours, there are more jobs & better career opportunities for kids, better services & facilities for older people or people with any disability or medical needs, health service, free medicines, school book schemes, cheaper cars, insurance, etc etc. I could go on...

services in the UK are there as a citizens right not because you 'know' someone
just saying....that's what I hear from family & friends and most love coming back for visits but no way would they live here, they say life is too hard here

jimmycrackcorm

Jim2007 wrote:

And so what, does Ireland owe them a living or something? I left Ireland over 25 years ago, it would never enter my head that Ireland owes me anything. This sense of entitlement is shocking, is it really the future we want for Ireland??

Does Ireland owe then the privilege of paying 52% tax on every extra hour of overtime once you go above a mediocre salary?

lufties

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

Does Ireland owe then the privilege of paying 52% tax on every extra hour of overtime once you go above a mediocre salary?

Where is that? the U.K? Well I never said it was a Utopia over there. But I can say, that after living in 5 countries in the last decade that I've never felt as ripped off as I do in Ireland. 33% high tax band is outrageous, along with car insurance, rent/house prices, ****e salaries. No employer pension (its compulsory in the UK. To be honest I'm suprised the lights even turn on in Ireland. Everything is low grade, poorly built.

BTW, I'm one who never cared much for overtime. Perhaps its a good idea to have high tax on overtime, as it prevents idiots working the job of 2 men, therefore freeing up jobs.

Jim2007

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

Does Ireland owe then the privilege of paying 52% tax on every extra hour of overtime once you go above a mediocre salary?

Would you prefer to live in a country where everything gets taxed at the highest bracket on the scale, where a wife's salary gets added to the husband's but he is taxed as a single person and should you happen to own your own home the estimate rental income of the property is added to your tax bill? Every country has it's issues and Ireland is no different.

lufties

mrslancaster wrote: »

agree its probably better overseas.
it has always been a struggle in Ireland & definitely not a fair society IMO.
there was a few years when it looked like things were improving for the average Joe but that didn't last
family and friends who emigrated to the uk appear to have better life balance. they dont seem to work as long hours, there are more jobs & better career opportunities for kids, better services & facilities for older people or people with any disability or medical needs, health service, free medicines, school book schemes, cheaper cars, insurance, etc etc. I could go on...

services in the UK are there as a citizens right not because you 'know' someone
just saying....that's what I hear from family & friends and most love coming back for visits but no way would they live here, they say life is too hard here

After the sheen of moving back to Ireland wore off, the frustration kicked in and I realised why I left in the first place.
I had an interesting convo today with a lady on the bus, we were talking about if you question the stays quo your labelled a troublemaker..she reckoned its a mentality that stems from the old days when you'd be called an informant and ridiculed, if you questioned authority

seachto7

Anyone work in NI and then RoI. Is it much of a muchness? Any comparisons to be made apart from the obvious ones?

Sosurface

seachto7 wrote: »

Anyone work in NI and then RoI. Is it much of a muchness? Any comparisons to be made apart from the obvious ones?

Money is generally crap in the north. Everything is usually cheaper but usually you get smaller wages to account for that. I actually worked for a major Southern food company named after a county and the pay/conditions were the usual bare to the bone-as little as we can get away with giving crap you'd expect from Irish businesses tbh. If you can get decent money though its pretty much a cheaper weirder version of Ireland.

lufties

Sosurface wrote: »

seachto7 wrote: »

Anyone work in NI and then RoI. Is it much of a muchness? Any comparisons to be made apart from the obvious ones?

Money is generally crap in the north. Everything is usually cheaper but usually you get smaller wages to account for that. I actually worked for a major Southern food company named after a county and the pay/conditions were the usual bare to the bone-as little as we can get away with giving crap you'd expect from Irish businesses tbh. If you can get decent money though its pretty much a cheaper weirder version of Ireland.

Working for Paddy is worse than anything

arccosh

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

Jim2007 wrote:

And so what, does Ireland owe them a living or something? I left Ireland over 25 years ago, it would never enter my head that Ireland owes me anything. This sense of entitlement is shocking, is it really the future we want for Ireland??

Does Ireland owe then the privilege of paying 52% tax on every extra hour of overtime once you go above a mediocre salary?

UK? ... you have to earn £150,000 to get that tax band

arccosh

In the UK close to 3 years....down the south coast...

Rent: seems compaible with Dublin, slightly cheaper, but when you add on council tax, theres maybe only €100 - 200 in the difference..

Transport: if you're outside a major town, a car is a must... with the crap with southern rail the last year or so, even trains , which were usually reliable, has gone to crap..... also train travel is very dear...

Cars: don't own one, but have BIK..... alright deal too

Salary: entry level and service jobs are really badly paid.... I took a hit leaving a decent job in Dublin to come over and pretty much start from scratch... paying off big time now

Opportunity: unreal compared to Ireland.... I'm in Telecoms, and anything in Ireland, bar customer service or technician was pretty much Degree/Masters with 2 years experience minimum for entry level jobs.... which I suppose makes sense, you don't realise how small Ireland is until you move away, so they have the pck of the bunch at home

Life: decent work life balance.... 35 hr work week in a 40 hr timeframe, wages are really good, 28 days holidays minimum and decent pension matching.... Weather is amazing down south, there is the pretenciousness that goes with some areas of the south, but I just keep the head down and work....

Study: additional study is not cheap.... even part time and add on year for a degree will be £4500 out of your own pocket over 3 yrs...obviously work may pay and give time off, which a lot seem to do in IT/Telecoms/Electronics sectors

Don't know how things will go with Brexit.... I'd happily stay for another few years, but that would be dependent on buying a house, and how difficult that will be around Brexit will be a big decision maker.... But I know going back to Ireland I'll fall back into the living for the weekend routine

Overall, I've a better job, salary, work life balance, health, than what I had in Ireland....

Ireland though is where all my friends and family are, and as will happen, we're slowly drifiting away...
I'd love an opportunity to go back, but I will be bottom of the ladder again, and have to move in back home, also, I know I'll fall back into the living for the weekend routine... even though the social side in England is a bit barren, it's better than getting FOMO at the weekend and pissing your wages up the wall week in week out.

average hero

A very timely thread for me. 

I worked in a few places in the UK over the past few years. Leeds is a great town but all of my friends were down in London. So while I worked there, I didn't particularly enjoy it. If you moved over with a few friends or a boyfriend/girlfriend, you'd have a good aul time. 

I'm based in London at the moment and I love it. Good opportunities, better salaries than in Dublin although entry-level and service jobs are paid very poorly indeed. Rent is close enough to Dublin however it is still expensive. Takes a chunk out of the pay packet every month! Conditions can be good in the right companies - eg. I have 25 days leave per year, a good pension, 37 hours a week etc.

The one thing that gets on my goat is that London is such an expensive and busy city! I think I need to take more holidays abroad and relax rather than going back to Dublin!

I was thinking of moving home to Dublin however this thread is really striking a chord with me...

lufties

average hero wrote: »

A very timely thread for me. 

I worked in a few places in the UK over the past few years. Leeds is a great town but all of my friends were down in London. So while I worked there, I didn't particularly enjoy it. If you moved over with a few friends or a boyfriend/girlfriend, you'd have a good aul time. 

I'm based in London at the moment and I love it. Good opportunities, better salaries than in Dublin although entry-level and service jobs are paid very poorly indeed. Rent is close enough to Dublin however it is still expensive. Takes a chunk out of the pay packet every month! Conditions can be good in the right companies - eg. I have 25 days leave per year, a good pension, 37 hours a week etc.

The one thing that gets on my goat is that London is such an expensive and busy city! I think I need to take more holidays abroad and relax rather than going back to Dublin!

I was thinking of moving home to Dublin however this thread is really striking a chord with me...

I moved back to Limerick for 6 months and nearly went insane, poor salaries, perks etc, and just a general lack of sophistication, opportunities, coupled with small mindedness and outrageous outgoings, car, health insurance etc. Came back to London with my tail between my legs.

average hero

Sorry to hear that Lufties although thank you for sharing!
I'm looking at jobs in Dublin but at the moment it seems futile to be applying from London. Perhaps I need to move back and apply for jobs.
That is a good point about the outrageous outgoings actually - car and health insurance especially, as I don't need either here in London!
In the next couple of months I will make my decision but I suppose with my family and friends back home, the heart want what the heart doth want.

redcup342

Looking at it from a different perspective

We have a UK Office and I work in the German office.

In the German office we have flex time, no meetings are scheduled after 4pm or before 9am.

Working during your holiday is forbidden.

We get 30 days holidays per year, Sabbaticals are possible. We have health days, an onsite gym with 2 trainers, we also have a massage room with a masseuse on call where you can book an appointment.

Lunch is lunch, you take it and you go out or eat in the canteen, you never eat at your desk, it's taken as a time to relax and eat/enjoy your food properly.

We have a yearly Ski trip and events every year plus a discount program for many activities all over Germany and abroad.

We also have a Car leasing program or you can also get subsidized public transport which you can use during your working hours for yourself and then after 7pm and on the weekends you can use it for you, 1 adult and 2 children and the zone extends out to the entire NRW Region and not just the city center zone.

In the UK they get 25 holidays per year, there is no rule on when meetings can be scheduled, it's totally normal to be dragged into working remotely on your days off.

Eating at your desk or skipping lunch altogether is pretty common because people just want to try and get home a bit earlier.

There is no flex time, you just work until it's done. Many people just lose their Vacation days because their manager won't approve days off and they expire the following year.

There is no onsite Gym or discounts.

Also our offices in Germany are in the City Center or served by S-Bahn/U-Bahn, one is even next to a main rail station so served by ICE/IC/RE/S-Bahn UK Offices are served by a crappy bus service and are in an industrial park somewhere.

I wouldn't rate the UK Quality of life with regards to work/life balance anything close to Germany. Ireland is pretty similar from my experience.

Never worked in London but if you work for the right company in the right place it can be good I hear but from colleagues that recently moved to our London office everything is great except they have to live really far away from work because the cost of accommodation is completely crazy.

lufties

redcup342 wrote: »

Looking at it from a different perspective

We have a UK Office and I work in the German office.

In the German office we have flex time, no meetings are scheduled after 4pm or before 9am.

Working during your holiday is forbidden.

We get 30 days holidays per year, Sabbaticals are possible. We have health days, an onsite gym with 2 trainers, we also have a massage room with a masseuse on call where you can book an appointment.

Lunch is lunch, you take it and you go out or eat in the canteen, you never eat at your desk, it's taken as a time to relax and eat/enjoy your food properly.

We have a yearly Ski trip and events every year plus a discount program for many activities all over Germany and abroad.

We also have a Car leasing program or you can also get subsidized public transport which you can use during your working hours for yourself and then after 7pm and on the weekends you can use it for you, 1 adult and 2 children and the zone extends out to the entire NRW Region and not just the city center zone.

In the UK they get 25 holidays per year, there is no rule on when meetings can be scheduled, it's totally normal to be dragged into working remotely on your days off.

Eating at your desk or skipping lunch altogether is pretty common because people just want to try and get home a bit earlier.

There is no flex time, you just work until it's done. Many people just lose their Vacation days because their manager won't approve days off and they expire the following year.

There is no onsite Gym or discounts.

Also our offices in Germany are in the City Center or served by S-Bahn/U-Bahn, one is even next to a main rail station so served by ICE/IC/RE/S-Bahn UK Offices are served by a crappy bus service and are in an industrial park somewhere.

I wouldn't rate the UK Quality of life with regards to work/life balance anything close to Germany. Ireland is pretty similar from my experience.

Never worked in London but if you work for the right company in the right place it can be good I hear but from colleagues that recently moved to our London office everything is great except they have to live really far away from work because the cost of accommodation is completely crazy.

There is no doubt that Germany has a better quality of life, and I've spent time there. However Germans are so different with regard to humour, culture etc. London sucks in some ways, but no way would I go back to Germany to live.
If you can score a good job in the UK ,it's a game changer.

redcup342

lufties wrote: »

There is no doubt that Germany has a better quality of life, and I've spent time there. However Germans are so different with regard to humour, culture etc. London sucks in some ways, but no way would I go back to Germany to live.
If you can score a good job in the UK ,it's a game changer.

Tarring all Germans with the same brush doesn't really make sense, Cologne/Dusseldorf are very open minded and its easy to mix, plus they are really international, I wouldn't say London is typical England either (look at the Brexit vote)

Munich and most of Bavaria can be very closed. Berlin is a bit of a mixed bag.

lufties

redcup342 wrote: »

lufties wrote: »

There is no doubt that Germany has a better quality of life, and I've spent time there. However Germans are so different with regard to humour, culture etc. London sucks in some ways, but no way would I go back to Germany to live.
If you can score a good job in the UK ,it's a game changer.

Tarring all Germans with the same brush doesn't really make sense, Cologne/Dusseldorf are very open minded and its easy to mix, plus they are really international, I wouldn't say London is typical England either (look at the Brexit vote)

Munich and most of Bavaria can be very closed. Berlin is a bit of a mixed bag.

Yes Germans like to peddle that myth about cologne\dusseldorf, having lived in both, I never had one German friend. When I left the job, not one person joined me for a beer (and I got on with pretty much everyone).

Also spent time in Frankfurt, Stuttgart, and bavaria. Same thing.

Germans are cold people.