Moving from UK to Ireland with my partner but only one of us has a job

cottonsocks

Hi all!

I am Irish, and based in London for the last 9 years. My partner is British, and from London. We don't feel that London offers us much for the future (in terms of being able to afford to buy a house) and we decided a year ago to try looking in Dublin for jobs. I work in marketing, and my partner works in finance.

We have now been looking a full year in Dublin for jobs. We have both had successes - just of course, not at the same time (this would be very difficult to make happen). I have been offered 3 jobs in Dublin, and I accepted the one I was offered in Dec 2019, as it was the best fit to make a move for. However, my partner is in a different situation. Last July, he was offered a position at a major global financial institution based in Dublin (at this point I didn't have a job secured in Ireland). However, time dragged on and at the stage of giving him a written contract, they announced global cuts and his job offer was put on hold, with little prospect of the role coming back. We were both happy to move over to Dublin at this stage if it was based on his role - he earns a lot more than me, and we would have been able to manage to get by.

However, since then (7 months ago) and despite applying constantly to anything he sees suitable in the financial field, he has had the grand total of one telephone interview that he wasn't taken forward for. The position I have secured has a salary of 50,000 euro. We are now at the point of me needing to hand my notice in in my current job, and we are feeling very nervous about the move to Ireland heading over with just one job, especially the lower earner of the two.

I guess I am just wondering really what are your thoughts on this move? Any info on the financial services sector in Ireland, maybe when jobs are most available? Although we aren't totally happy in London, we do have the security of both of us having jobs and for both of us to leave our jobs and struggle in Ireland, is a very big worry.

Johnny Sausage

If London doesnt look good in terms of buying a house.... you're in for a shock in Dublin

OMM 0000

We don't feel that London offers us much for the future (in terms of being able to afford to buy a house)

Although we aren't totally happy in London, we do have the security of both of us having jobs

since then (7 months ago) and despite applying constantly to anything he sees suitable in the financial field, he has had the grand total of one telephone interview that he wasn't taken forward for.

The position I have secured has a salary of 50,000 euro.

Surely you're putting yourself in an even worse situation than your current situation in London?

mvl

Cannot answer the part with "financial jobs prospects" - not my domain.
But ... Dublin rent from 50k/year for 2 means realistically you'd be supplementing with your savings for a while. Tbh I wouldn't move on that salary, unless a case of force majeure.

spyderski

Does your partner have the potential to find a job paying him €150k+ in the near future? Assuming you don’t have a big lump of cash (c. €100k) already saved If you want to live in Dublin (and not have a huge commute) and have a good quality of life, that’s the sort of salary you’ll need to be able to get on the property ladder and have a life.

If you can see yourselves with an income of €175-200k in the short-medium term, then go ahead. Otherwise you may be making your situation worse by moving.

theteal

OP, what would be the plan for accommodation if you took this job? Tbh, it doesn't sound like the makings of a great idea.

We would never have been able to afford* to live in London (proper, closest we ever got was Romford) so we went the opposite way to your plan and moved further out into the Essex badlands.



*I don't count owning a 20% share in a small exceptionally expensive flat as getting on the "ladder", madness.

cottonsocks

mvl wrote: »

Cannot answer the part with "financial jobs prospects" - not my domain.
But ... Dublin rent from 50k/year for 2 means realistically you'd be supplementing with your savings for a while. Tbh I wouldn't move on that salary, unless a case of force majeure.

Hi mvl - I forgot to say in my original post - the plan is that we will be staying with an aunt of mine in Dublin for the first few months. However, even this doesn't come without complications - she currently has two lodgers (one being my sister) and I don't see the other one being gone by the time we arrive in Ireland. All she has said is 'we'll sort something out' which isn't particularly reassuring given we obviously would prefer to be renting in our own flat and to know what we will be getting into once we get to Ireland.

cottonsocks

theteal wrote: »

OP, what would be the plan for accommodation if you took this job? Tbh, it doesn't sound like the makings of a great idea.

We would never have been able to afford* to live in London (proper, closest we ever got was Romford) so we went the opposite way to your plan and moved further out into the Essex badlands.



*I don't count owning a 20% share in a small exceptionally expensive flat as getting on the "ladder", madness.

Hi - you'll probably see in the reply just above this regarding accom - the plan of course would be within a few months to get on our own feet and not stay with my aunt too long, but we do worry if my partner isn't getting a job how it's going to feel for him sat around in her house all day. Can I ask, when you moved out of London, were you still working in the city? Or did you find jobs more local?

theteal

cottonsocks wrote: »

Hi - you'll probably see in the reply just above this regarding accom - the plan of course would be within a few months to get on our own feet and not stay with my aunt too long, but we do worry if my partner isn't getting a job how it's going to feel for him sat around in her house all day. Can I ask, when you moved out of London, were you still working in the city? Or did you find jobs more local?

I work in Mayfair - 60 mins commute (30 mins train to Stratford, 20 mins Jubilee to Green Park). Not a whole lot different to what it took to get from Romford to my old job at St Pauls but the ticket is quite pricey. I did get a local job at the start of 2019, 7 minute drive from the house, lasted 6 months before I threw in the towel - it was killing my skills progression (IT Networks/Security). The wife works localish, Hospital is about 15 minutes drive away - she had the job before we moved.

It's good out here, the town is lacking some things (like a decent pub) but countryside is only a mile away in any direction and Southend airport is only ~15mins away. The house is a 4 bed semi and mortgage is 2/3 of what we were paying rent in a 2 bed in Romford - and Romford isn't exactly what you'd call salubrious.

qwerty13

Maybe I’m being a bit unenlightened. A few points I really don’t understand:

1. Ireland is at what’s classed as ‘full employment’. Does your partner not have transferable skills? Are they bad at interviewing?
2. It sounds like your partner would be quite a high earner. Have you checked if that’s a very niche market? Are there many opportunities for same in Dublin?
3. Have you really done your sums on wages v cost of living v cost of property v job opportunities in London v Dublin? Because it’s coming across as though you’re quite naive about that.
4. Are there really other overridering reasons that you want to move to Dublin? Because financial reasons, as described by you, seem to suggest that it’s a bad idea.

mvl

realized from qwerty13's post I forgot about something else (what I've seen in my case when moving here, as I was the one with the job): if OP would feel at home in Ireland, no matter if there is a job or not, staying at home for their partner would be much tougher, and may put a strain on the relationship.
also ... have you considered cork, galway ...

qwerty13 wrote: »

1. Ireland is at what’s classed as ‘full employment’. Does your partner not have transferable skills? Are they bad at interviewing?

can you give details on what that means ? does it refer to ... financial domain ?

qwerty13

I meant that when unemployment reaches a certain low %, it is classed as full employment because the % rate tends not to get much lower than that point. Of course there’s a whole other argument re how those figures are calculated, and that some regions and sectors have higher and lower employment rates than others - but that’s a whole other days work!

I’m not an expert on recruitment, but my experience is that there’s a healthy employees market in finance jobs. That’s why I wondered if the OP’s partner had very specialist skills that aren’t wholly transferable to an Irish market. If that’s not the case, then I was wondering if their interview skills might need improving.

caviardreams

OP - if you say your partner is on a much higher level income than you (i.e. 50k) is there any chance they could go for some lower roles say a level or two below where they are at currently, say a mid-level position, to get foot in the door somewhere as a stop gap and have a irish address, more flexibility for attending interviews etc. which may help get a higher position soon after?

Blazer

Its a crazy decision to move from London to Dublin.
Its easily if not even more expensive.
Plus you're dropping a significant level of income in the hopes he gets a job.
There's no way he'll be happy dropping down a few levels. I know as the major breadwinner in my family that if I had to drop down a few levels or spend a period of time looking for another job that I wouldn't be one bit happy about it.
One question..did your salary increase or decrease with the new job.
Also is it not possible to continue working in London but plan to buy a house in Dublin etc and later on sort out the job front ( clueless on this but just putting it out there).

Darc19

Dublin is cheaper than London. I can say that for definite. Accommodation is only one cost - rent is similar, but almost everything else is more expensive.

As for jobs. It's a relatively small network in recruitment here. Possibly they don't see your partner as serious about moving here, so overlook him.

Plenty of jobs in the sector especially in short-term contracting, possibly will be easier when he is actually here.

theteal

Darc19 wrote: »

Dublin is cheaper than London. I can say that for definite. Accommodation is only one cost - rent is similar, but almost everything else is more expensive.

I'm going to disagree with that. I'm struggling to think of much that's cheaper in Dublin. Groceries, motor insurance, mortgage rates, doctor/dentist visits etc all cheaper over here. It'd be nice not to have to fork out for council tax and water but I do feel like I'm being fleeced whenever I'm back home.

CelticRambler

Given that, as a couple, you don't seem to have a hard-and-fast plan in place, I'd suggest taking advantage of the job offer and free (ish) accommodation in Dublin to test the waters, but with your partner keeping his job - and accommodation - in London. Yes, that'd mean the two of you living apart for a while, but the stress of that would be nothing compared to one or other of you feeling that you'd been pushed into making a bad decision - either you to stay in London, or your partner to come to Ireland "on spec".

You've been out of Ireland for quite a long time, and regardless of how often you've come back for the usual mix of births, deaths and marriages, there'll be a hundred little things that you wouldn't notice until you're actually living and working in the country. It sounds like you've a unique opportunity to do exactly that now without burning your bridges, and your partner can pop over and see you at weekends (or during the week for interviews) instead of hanging around your aunt's house wondering if he'll ever get work again.