Lois001

Hello

I'm in talks with a company in Madrid about going to work over there for them. They emailed today asking my salary expectations. I need to reply tomorrow.

Anybody any idea what salary I should expect in Madrid for a skilled, non-management office job? I'm very eager to get the job so I can join my non-EU spouse under EU free movement law, so my initial thought was to suggest something on the low side (enough to live off). I don't want to suggest something too high and scare them off.

Which brings me to my next question - how much should a couple need to cover rent / food / bills / council tax? in Madrid? Apartments in Madrid seem to be around 500 euros but I've no idea what food and bills should cost.

My manager at the company I currently work for (he's helping me get this job with our Spanish customer) is telling me to suggest I want paying the same salary I'm on now, or more. But I'm not so sure because wages seem to be a lot lower in Spain.

So what would be a reasonable salary to live off in Madrid?

Domino

well that's the good news and well done in getting so far. Just a shame there is so little time to come up with a plan.

suggest you look at the salaries being offered in Spain by companies like Michael Page, Reed etc.
no they aren't that good compared with London and Home Counties. And don't expect to see much of an annual increase - it is expected you will be glad to have a job.

However, you may find that there are other things above the normal job, such as liaison and English language which you may be able to gain an edge with.
the question is how much they want you. they will have an idea from your boss how much you are being paid.

suggest that you look at similar job adverts, go in with the target of your existing salary but you realise you have to prove yourself and will take 10% less for the first year (only).
Madrid is not a cheap area, but you will have the advantage of being able to spread the costs with your partner.

go for it, and let us know how you get on

kr
`

Lois001

Thanks. Good advice, I didn't think to check job adverts since I never even applied for this job through an advert.

They seem keen from the way they spoke in the email ("what are her economic expectations so we know if we can afford her" they wrote to my manager lol).

I'm not in it for the money so it doesn't really bother me what they pay 'compared to London etc'. As long as I can cover rent and feed me and my husband (until he finds a job) then I'll be satisfied.

chopera

Minimum to live off in Madrid for a couple is about €1500/month. You can get basic 1 bed flats for €400/month now and you can just scrape by on the remaining €1100/month, but it's not much fun. With the crisis I'd guess that a skilled admin would start on about €15k/year, but it depends on the company. If you can get above €20k/year you are doing well. Most skilled admins I know earn between €25k and €30k but they got their jobs before the crisis, and have had pay rises over the years. They tell me that wages have dropped a lot.