Salaries for technical jobs around Düsseldorf

Hi folks,

Can anyone tell me about the salary expectations for a job in a technological company near Düsseldorf with 3 year work ex.

I went through the salary issue related topics on this forum, but still I would appreciate some fresh comments.

Cheers

Depends on age, qualification, company size.. and what exactly is your job discription?

thanks inter, i have masters and then 3 yrs work ex in mechanical engineering.. job is design work in a reputed german company

I am a senior engineer in a major automotive engineering company, looking to transfer within the company I work for from the UK to Düsseldorf in Germany. I am a control system designer, and embedded software engineer ( C ), as well as quite a few other things, bit of an all-rounder really. I've been in the job I am in for around 5 years (my first job out of uni!), and considered one of the top performing (non-management) engineers in my department. Were I to stay in my current position, my salary would be around £35,000+ this year

Does anyone have any thoughts as to what sort of salary I would expect in the Düsseldorf area, or for that matter other areas of Germany as a senior engineer who works in control engineering, embedded software, systems engineering, automotive engineering, or any combination of these?? (like I say, bit of an all-rounder ;-) ) I really don't know what to expect at the moment...

Assuming that you're a single without kids, I'd expect >65K Euro gross to maintain equivalent spending power. If you're anywhere in the UK southeast then you could maybe live with less € because housing costs will be lower in DUS.

Almost everything is cheaper over here than in the UK. You lose more money in taxes, but if you get can get private health insurance, it really doesn't work out much different. If you earn the same money as you did in the UK, you would be better off in Germany I reckon. If you got 65K euros and are used to 35K pounds, you would notice a big jump in your quality of life.

Prices ain't that much different so I wouldn't expect a big jump. As a single, taxes are going to swallow a huge chunk of your gross income.

35k pounds is only 52k euros. So if he was to get 65k and live in Germany, which is still somewhat cheaper than England as a whole (and certainly cheaper than London) I would say it would be a reasonable jump.

Germany is not cheaper than the UK...it's a myth put forward by South Orientated Englanders the official PPP Purchase parity is 1 to 1.

So in order to increase your standard of living you need to get more Net Salary (with all the deductions and taxes) than you would in the UK (inc. Exchange rate). If you are from the South East/London the big jump in quality of life comes about regardless because of the cheaper per SQM and quality apartments; other than that don't believe the hype it is cheaper...(as you need to compare like for like - industrial heart land, capital city, villages, no work east to the UK equivalent etc).

Also it happens a lot that people forget quality of life is also seeing your family and friends and if that happens to be in another country you have to factor that in (flights, paying for restaurants in London, paying for a funeral should it arise all £s)...

Been there where my salary was okay for Frankfurt but a trip back to Manchester with the shitty Euro meant I was poorer than a builder/bus driver. So add on a premium to stop yourself kicking yourself as you go on a stag with your mates back home to Barcelona and they are spending like troopers with their tough £s whilst you hide in the corner with your shitty Euros...

I disagree. Although its cheaper up north, its also cheaper in the east of Germany. I would say that living costs in the east of Germany are still cheaper than in the North of England, and living costs in Munich are still cheaper than in the south east.


Exactly, cause the UK is more expensive than Germany


Its not about shitty Euros, its about what you think good value is. I remember when I used to live in London, when I'd travel I'd spend up big time cause everything seemed so cheap. If I could buy a pint of beer for 2 quid, I'd start shouting rounds cause I thought it was such good value! Of course, here in Munich, that is a normal price. Now when I go on holidays I don't find it as cheap as I used to, even though I earn more now. As I said, its not to do with the Euro, its to do with what you're used to. The UK is more expensive so your friends were ready to spend more. You've just argued yourself out of your argument!

@Hutcho,

You are no economst...if the PPP* is 1 to 1 that means the economies are on a similiar costs structure. I've done this stuff too many times on TT to be bothered to do it again (I even ran out to do a Supermarket comparison on one thread and lo and behold they came out around approx. 11.5Euros vs £12 and that was a London to Munich!!! - Sad bastard I am wanted to prove to people to stop saying willy nilly the UK is more expensive!). But people can't get over the exchange rate for someone from the UK 11 Euros comes out at about £8 but for someone from Munich £12 comes out at 18 Euros...

You keep on believing it UK is expensive..whilsts I keep on earnings lovely £s in the UK and spending them in Munich...

*Look it up in wikipedia if you don't understand the concept rather than trying to argue about it...Official Statistics say PPP is 1:1

Economics is king...

I really don't see your point. You point out that 11.5 euros = 12 pounds in your comparision test. Therefore, London was more expensive. Are you arguing it is because people earn more in the UK? That goes against this thread then, because this guy is earning 35,000 pounds in London, and people are suggesting that he earn 65k euros here.

I would love for you to explain it further, because every single example you have brought up has seemed to show that costs in the UK are higher than in Germany.

I still stick by my point. If you earn 35,000 pounds in London, and you earn 52,000 euros (the same amount at the current exchange rate) in Munich (comparing the most expensive cities in both countries here) then you will have more money left over at the end of the month in Germany. This in my book makes London more expensive.

You may have even been on the Supermarket thread at the time; I vaguely remember your name.

Anyhow, any basket comparison is hard to do since it is hard to find like for like products. But at the time we were having fun on TT and I helped to compare as basked of goods as best I could giving that not all brand products are the same nor have the same sizes. None the less, at the time we posted a range of goods and came out with a similar price. This 50 pence price difference (5%) is well within the margin of error since there were sometime different size of goods or I choose the nearest equivalent. Also, any specific price comparison will be based by the local conditions i.e. did I pick the same type of supermarket as the one in Munich or do they face the same competition in that area so have a different price level etc.

PPP - Purchasing Parity concept takes into all these type of factors or tries to into account: general salary levels, price level for a basket of goods across the nations etc. Loads of Statistical people in the UK/Germany Government and the EU check these things out and publish the results. They also smooth out as best they can all the problems I mentioned above.

What was surprising about our fun was that I only got a 5% price difference.

PPP is an average for a nation so there will be likely to be a standard deviation that in the case of the UK could be higher since London is a very un-British City Overcrowded/International etc. (and Germany doesn’t have a dominant capital city like London or Paris). So that is why I point out repeatedly on TT that London is NOT the UK. But still people go: UK is expensive because they lived in London…. I come from Manchester so get bored with the London centric view of the UK...

Furthermore, I work and live between Munich/London and still don't not see a huge difference in prices as the official statistics suggest (every day goods etc)...mostly in housing and travelling costs does London deviate moreso.

You can stick by your point if you wish...all I do on these threads is try and ensure that people negotiate the right salary and the right salary if you are a Londoner or British will include travelling home to see mates and family (and having to change from a weaker currency into a stronger one)...if people fail to factor those things in they will feel that pinch. If you want to argue different so be it…..

That's enough of the economic lesson..time to get back to some Econometrics...I’m working on a model to see how much Advertising improves the bottom line.

Standard the British Economist…

PPP between Germany and the UK is 1:1

Ok, I think understand your point and I agree. The PPP takes into consideration salary, so that is fine. You would then agree that someone who earns 52,000 euros in Munich could not expect to go to London and earn 35,000 pounds and keep the same lifestyle. In the same respect, someone from London need not earn the same amount (using exchange rates) in Munich as they did in London because Munich is "cheaper".

Your point is really just that when you take wage into consideration, the UK is not more expensive. This I could agree with. But if you're negotiating salary, its something you have to consider.

Agreed!!!

And yes London and the S/E have unique problems in terms of housing (overcrowding land mass so higher) and travelling costs which means that £35k in London vs 52k Euros in Munich would be definately a drop in terms of quality of life...!!! But in Manchester it might get you into or near Cheshire and the footballers wives... : )

Says the man who lived in the equivalent of the London's Chelsea (WestEnd) in Frankurt on 52k Euros but on £35k in London would have had to live in West ham - yuk...

You can't just convert your gross salary by the exchange rate. Income taxes will knock a hell of a lot more off a single with no kid's gross income in Germany than in the UK. Ignore the gross and work out what his nett income will be and then factor in bigger issues like rental price (and maybe and only if he plans on buying a house, property price) differences.

If you did the straight conversion using the currency exchange from London to Germany, you would still work out ahead even though taxes are more here.

From London and parts of the SE maybe... Also depends on where in Germany. München and other parts ain't exactly cheap.
I came across from the Midlands to the Hamburger Speckgürtel. If I'd done a straight currency conversion and was a single with no kids I would have been substantially worse off over here.

thanks to all, the job is gone for 50K+bonus blah blah!!!

HI,
I am an Indian, graduate (B.E), Having 8yrs of experience in software development, earning more that 12 Lakh/anum. I have a joboffer in Dusseldorf and would like to know how much salary i can expect. Is that ok if i quote my expected pay as 60,000 euros/anum ??. I am married with a 2year old kid. Please let me know if there is any website from which i can calculate the expected payscale or please help me with your suggestions and thoughts based on your experience in Germany.

With lot of Thanks...

Topics merged by admin

It's ok if you accept it (well, it's more ok if you accept more) but you should never quote your expected pay. Just say that you expect "a fair salary for the German market" and similar expressions.