antongiu

hi guys
i may have on the tables 2 possible work offers and I really don't know what to do, so I hope someone can help me to take a decision.
first of all, I have a good job where I am, I earn about 30% more than the average national salary, i don't struggle with money, I'm not rich but I live an easy life;my OH has a decent job too, although she earns just half of what I do.

Scenario no.1: SAP job in basel, salary is 120K chf. The conversion CHF/EUR is great but when I read the threads here, it seems it's not as great as I thought. I would be good but not great. Nothing wrong with it but I have to support my wife while she looks for a job, so it's likely we would struggle a bit .... so what's the point of moving then?

Scenario no.2: SAP job in london, salary is 65k gbp. the conversion gbp/chf is not fantastic, but perhaps life is london might be easier than in basel and my wife could find a job more quickly. Cost of living is more expensive in Switzerland in most of the cases, so perhaps i can get better value for money if I move to UK?

I hope my questions make sense here, i really dunno what to do if both opportunity come through, maybe some english guy who has lived in London can give me an opinion...it would be really appreciated.

tnx

dmu

Hi, can't really help as I worked in Zürich decades ago.
But if it's of any influence on your decision, they all speak a frightful dialect in Basel and even if you work in an English-speaking company and speak German or French, you're in for a shock!
No idea about job possibilities for your OH, Switzerland isn't in the EU and used to be very protectionist if not xenophobic....

Mitzyboy

Cant help on the actual job offer advice, but having spent time in Basel in the past on business, and as someone who is not keen on London, I would say that Basel wins hands down as a place to live. People were always very friendly, and the majority I met had a good grasp of English.

dmu

Hi, don't get me wrong, the Swiss are very friendly and I love them, I just wanted to point out that Switzerland would normally give priority to the Swiss as far as work is concerned, esp. since in Basel they are tri-lingual (quadri- if you count their local dialect) and your wife might have problems finding a job at her present level if she only speaks English.
I speak German and thought I'd got in the wrong plane when I first arrived in Zürich, hearing everyone speak their incomprehensible, ugly dialect.... But I, too, would rather live in Basel than London, if I had the choice!
Good luck with your decision!

Mitzyboy

I seem to remember going to a point whilst I was there where I could see three different countries at the same time, cant remember where though :-)

I take your point, even the agent we had there (called Roland Fuhrer ) said the language thing was a problem

dmu

Hi, what nationality are you and your wife? You yourself would be going to a job, but your wife would have to think about Work Visas if she isn't a EU citizen...

antongiu

we are both Italians, so citizenship is not going to be a problem.
She is fluent in english but expectation is she will learn some of the local german dialect at some point.

Ray51

Ja , und the local "language" is otherwise recognised as Eine HalsKrankheit ;
Basel id good , can be really boring , compared to London , though ( as in : horse for corses ? )

dmu

Too true! If you ask for a small cheese tart or talk about a small kitchen chest/box, you need a Strepsil afterwards!