To overseas contractors......

[stek]

We are looking to relocate to mainland Europe, permanently and retire there when the time comes.

My missus is a fluent German speaker, with Swiss German too since she works for a Swiss German company, so for practical purposes we favour Switzerland or Germany, even Austria but not seen a lot of contracts there. also Netherlands looks UK contractor friendly.

I think I prefer Switzerland, never lived there, lived for a while in Berlin when the missus worked there, Charlottenburg loved it.

So anyone out there help me with their experiences, I've read the contractor guides, still leaning towards CH but happy to hear others' stories.

[LegendsWear7]

First comment would be that the tax rate in Zurich on contractors is definitely not as attractive as perms. When you see the headline rate make sure you understand what ends up in the pocket.

There's no easy summary. No clue on your preferences. Germany tends to be more relaxed than CH. Don't take Berlin to be representative of the country.

I'm a fan of Austria for holidays (the food seems to be seriously under-rated by Brits/UK media) but work is thin on the ground.

[Paddy]

First comment would be that the tax rate in Zurich on contractors is definitely not as attractive as perms. When you see the headline rate make sure you understand what ends up in the pocket.

There's no easy summary. No clue on your preferences. Germany tends to be more relaxed than CH. Don't take Berlin to be representative of the country.

I'm a fan of Austria for holidays (the food seems to be seriously under-rated by Brits/UK media) but work is thin on the ground.

Hotels and Gasthofs are cheap to buy.

http://www.euroburo-businesses.com/hotels_page1.htm

[doodab]

I'm currently living and working in Munich. It started out as a short term thing but I'm having difficulty imagining returning.

Taxes are slightly higher but the cost of living is lower overall, and the quality of life higher IMO. I have a shorter commute, less stress, and I can be in a local ski resort in an hour on the train or reach some of the best ski resorts in Europe with a 2.5 hr drive.

The city is very human friendly and less of a concrete jungle. There are cycle paths everywhere, low crime levels and great public transport. I always feel safe walking around, the people know how to have fun but don't get out of control (well, maybe a little at the oktoberfest) and they just seem to be a bit more civilised, to be honest. They seem to lack those members of society who get off on spoiling it for everyone else. I've seen home and away football fans sharing tables in the beer garden after the match with no tension, trouble or intrusive police presence required.

They seem to value quality and tradition over paying the lowest possible price. There are a lot more small, family owned and run businesses than in the UK, and shop assistants tend to be older and know what they are talking about. The shops are closed on Sunday.

They recycle a lot, you aren't allowed to wash your car yourself because of the pollution from the run off, and there are laws about making a noise so you cannot drill or mow the lawn on a Sunday.

It helps if you like beer, pork, the outdoors and snow.

[Durbs]

I'm currently living and working in Munich. It started out as a short term thing but I'm having difficulty imagining returning.

Taxes are slightly higher but the cost of living is lower overall, and the quality of life higher IMO. I have a shorter commute, less stress, and I can be in a local ski resort in an hour on the train or reach some of the best ski resorts in Europe with a 2.5 hr drive.

The city is very human friendly and less of a concrete jungle. There are cycle paths everywhere, low crime levels and great public transport. I always feel safe walking around, the people know how to have fun but don't get out of control (well, maybe a little at the oktoberfest) and they just seem to be a bit more civilised, to be honest. They seem to lack those members of society who get off on spoiling it for everyone else. I've seen home and away football fans sharing tables in the beer garden after the match with no tension, trouble or intrusive police presence required.

They seem to value quality and tradition over paying the lowest possible price. There are a lot more small, family owned and run businesses than in the UK, and shop assistants tend to be older and know what they are talking about. The shops are closed on Sunday.

They recycle a lot, you aren't allowed to wash your car yourself because of the pollution from the run off, and there are laws about making a noise so you cannot drill or mow the lawn on a Sunday.

It helps if you like beer, pork, the outdoors and snow.

That all sounds pretty tempting (except the pork, i'd have to bring my own cow).

Much work around there at the moment?

[doodab]

That all sounds pretty tempting (except the pork, i'd have to bring my own cow).

Much work around there at the moment?

They have beef and chicken as well.

I can't be certain what the market is like as I've been on the same contract the whole time, but it seems better than the UK (for me at least) based on cursory examination of gulp.de, and rates are definitely higher. I expect you'd need to speak German to have the best chance of finding work.

http://www.gulp.de/kb/tools/gulpometer.html

[stek]

Thanks guys.

I also spent some time in Hamburg, liked it there too but seemed a bit 'stuffier' than Berlin! I can read and write auf Deutsch not too bad but speaking not so good, can order a beer tho and pay for it! Suppose it's a start! Plus I love language so it's not a chore for me.

Never been to Munich but only heard good things.

I like the look of Zurich, we're planning a summer break there to look around, this whole plan is a mid-term thing, looking at Jul/Aug to move, market willing.

Having said that I don't think any of my longer-than-short-term plans have every worked out, something always comes along to deflect it...

[norrahe]

I'm jumping on the bandwagon here a tad.

I'm looking at doing the same myself but NL rather than Germany.

Just wondering whether the best option is to be based over there and then apply (I'm noticing that a lot of NL jobs prefer that the applicant is based there), or keep plodding away from here?

[LegendsWear7]

For Switzerland the very best source is http://www.englishforum.ch

[stek]

For Switzerland the very best source is http://www.englishforum.ch

Yeah, I'm on there, lurking for ages!