Advantages of working in Europe

If you are thinking of finding an overseas job in Europe and making a career here, you are on the right path because there are many good reasons to work in Europe.

 

According to the OECD Better Life Index, Europe enjoys a high ranking. The continent ranks high in life expectancy, water and air quality, employment opportunities and quality of education. These are valid reasons to work here.

 

Job opportunities:

There are promising career opportunities in the software industry, engineering and healthcare sectors. Europe is digitizing its industries which means there will be more demand for software professionals. But the problem is there is a shortage of software professionals and companies are looking at talent from outside to fill these positions.

 

Organizations in the EU are planning to hire more IT engineers this year. Robert Half says the top roles in this sector will be .NET developers, IT project managers, IT operations managers. Salaries are expected to be five times more than in other sectors.

 

The strongest digital economies in Europe are Denmark, Finland, Sweden, UK, and Holland. These countries are home to software giants such as Skype, Spotify, Soundcloud etc.

 

According to a report in a Danish daily, Copenhagen, an important tech hub will have vacancies for more than 10,000   software engineers and IT experts by 2025. Netherlands too will face a similar situation.

 

Digitization means better job opportunities for data scientists. The European Commission states that Europe will need more than 700 million data scientists by 2020 and most of these opportunities will be in Germany and France. The average salary for data scientists is expected to be around 50,000 Euros.

 

Healthcare workers will be in demand to take care of Europe’s aging population. Occupational therapists and elderly care workers can find jobs here.

 

Working in Europe offers these benefits:

Better work-life balance:

European countries offer a chance for a better work-life balance with an average of four weeks of paid leave per year which does not include public holidays. The daily work hours are reasonable and allow for activities outside work.

In fact, Denmark ranks at the top for work-life balance among the OECD countries. The top five countries for work-life balance belong to Europe:

1. Denmark
2. Spain
3. Netherlands
4. Belgium
5. Norway

Some EU countries are also generous with public holidays. This allows for better work-life balance. Apart from this European companies provide sick leave, maternity and paternity leave.

 

Unemployment benefits:

European countries offer several unemployment benefits. In Denmark salaries are paid up to 104 weeks for more than 90% of workers, Belgium also offers a 65% benefit for the first 13 weeks.

 

Social security schemes:

Most European countries have social security schemes but how they are applied vary between countries. France, Denmark, and Spain have the most generous social security schemes in Europe.

 

 This table gives a quick comparison of the benefits in five popular countries:

Name of country	Total working hours in a week	Average monthly salary	Holiday allowance	No. of national public holidays
UK	37	£2,208	28 days	8
Denmark	32	£4789	25 days	10
Greece	42	£1286	20 days	12
France	39	£2729	25 days	11
Spain	37	£2049	22 days	10

 

This will give you a fair idea of the benefits you can expect if you decide to work in Europe.

 

Europe is home to some of the world’s largest companies and home to innovative corporations in fast-growing sectors. The benefits to employees makes it an attractive career destination.

 

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