Do Software Engineers in Milan really have it worse than those in Zurich?
A reflection
I spent last weekend in Milan, a city I know well and lived in for 5 years.
Here’s a few random observations:
1. 30-year-olds live like students
Many of my ex uni friends make 2-3k eur/mo, share a flat, no kids, no fancy holidays, no balling.
2. Pressure is less
People work, but the stakes are lower, and, given how little you’re paid, you don’t stress much about it (hopefully 😄).
3. Life in Italy isn’t necessarily “bad”
3.a. Community can outweigh money
One of my 2k eu/mo friends told me: “Why move abroad chasing higher pay if here I like my job, my routine, food, I’m close to family and friends, and I don’t need luxury?”
3.b. There’s pros and cons to every choice
Leaving Italy isn’t a miraculous cure.
If you leave, you’ll likely get more and better paid career opportunities, but you’ll also have to build a life from scratch in another place with all the challenges that it entails.
4. Only privileged Italians can afford kids
If you don’t have parents nearby who can help you out, in most cases you can forget about it.
5. The richer you’re born, the better Italy is
That’s actually the case for most of Western Europe.
If your parents can get you an apartment in the city you work in, that’s a big advantage.
In general, it’s hard to build wealth: jobs don’t pay much, taxes punish high earners, cost of living isn’t low.
6. Drugs
IMO more common among 20/30 years old in Western Europe than Central/Eastern Europe.
From what I see:
People in the growing side of Europe (CEE) are largely excited about the future: they want to build, and enjoy prosperity.
In Western Europe, society is more static, opportunities are limited, self > starting a family -> people are more drawn to escapism.
7. Remote work is the play
You can make 70-90k eur/year as a freelancer in Italy paying 20-30% tax.
You can also make 100-200k if you max out your search (maybe land jobs from EuroTopTechJobs.com), and even keep income taxes below 30-35% if you have spent 2+ years abroad.
All in all, working in Italy, or any other European country, comes with pros and cons.
Moving to Zurich or Warsaw won’t solve all your problems and make your life perfect.
My goal is to research and build content and tools to help engineers in Europe discover opportunities.
Deciding how to act on that is personal.
In the end, we’re all sharing a similar experience on this planet :)
The highs and the lows, the happy and the miserable moments - they are all always gonna be there.
The “dream lives and outcomes” only exist in the social media profiles of content creators better than me at marketing 😂
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Thanks for sharing