The world is a big, diverse place. We all love to travel. We all need to work. Why not merge these three facts into a single opportunity and relocate? Research suggests that if you work in certain industries, you could expect a pay increase of more than double by moving to another country.
A UK-based international relocation firm, 1st Move International, has scoured numerous reports, articles, websites and surveys to create a comprehensive set of data around salaries and their variances across the globe. All salaries have been converted from their native currency into GBP for ease of comparison. Their thought process is that if you are skilled in a certain area, why not make as much as you can from it? Of course, there are many more factors than salary that go into making a happy life for oneself. However, it is a good place to start.
If we take the average UK salaries across a range of industries as our base, there are many industries where workers could take a similar job in another country, yet take home a healthy amount of additional income. Lawyers, for example, earn an average of around GBP 66,245 in the UK. Compare this against the averages in the USA (GBP 96,657), Germany (GBP 81,859), United Arab Emirates (GBP 112,338) or Japan (GBP 95,562), and you can see that there is money to be made, not to mention new life experiences.
Not everyone can get a job abroad—or at home for that matter—as a lawyer, but the adventurous amongst us might consider travelling around the world to see new sights and pay our way working in bars or restaurants. The average full-time salary for bar staff in the UK is around GBP 14,560, but if you are thirsty for adventure then you could try Australia, where bar staff earn an average of GBP 29,018, or Switzerland, where the average is GBP 32,312.
If you are lucky enough to be an aircraft pilot, then how about moving to China for a few years? The average salary for this skill in the UK is a decent GBP 60,052, but a move to China could earn you GBP 256,806—an increase of 328%! Even our good friends at this publication, HR managers, can boost their income by over 50% by moving to Australia, where the average salary in human resource management is GBP 72,897.
In their research, 1st Move International found that despite being the fifth biggest economy in the world, the UK does not even make the top ten for best paying countries. Overall, the UK comes in twelfth place behind the USA, Japan, Australia and European neighbours including Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and France.
Take a look at the infographics for your chosen profession and see where you might be able to earn the most money. Maybe even consider retraining or upskilling if a country you’d like to live in has a skills shortage. With emerging economies quickly moving ahead of more developed nations, there has never been a better time to look at moving abroad.
Whether or not you are able to command the salaries quoted is open to debate, but the key message remains: if you are in a position where an international move is an option, then why not look into it? The data seems to support the possibility of higher earnings, but from a wider perspective there is a lot to be said for getting out of one’s comfort zone and going somewhere new. It could provide the spark you’ve been looking for and may even lead you into a whole new way of life. Work doesn’t have to be a nightmare.
https://www.shipit.co.uk/blog/other-articles/where-to-move-if-you-want-an-instant-pay-rise
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
