In 2012 the number of Spanish people emigrating from Spain to other countries rose from 45.961 to 54.912 and the number is expected to grow in 2013. If we have a closer look; provinces that have experienced higher emigration are Catalunya (77.524) Basque Country (20.798) and Madrid ( 18.420).
From January 2011 to September 2012- 927.890 people have left the country and from those 117.523 were Spanish.
In the last months I have been talking with friends and clients that have decided to move abroad. Some of them have been successful and they have already moved and others are still job hunting.
I have asked them to tell me why they wanted to move –all of them had permanent jobs in their chosen specialism so I thought it was interesting to highlight some of their points of view:
“I have recently moved to Rotterdam, I am very pleased to be here. I always liked English and while I was studying IT in Spain I realized that interesting work in my country was limited. Big companies are in Europe and United States. Obviously to be able to work in your chosen field you have to haveexperience and talent”.
“ My aim was to be able to grow professionally in what I liked, improving quality of life, as not all in life is sunshine and tapas, you need to have a roof under your head, to pay a mortgage, to maintain a family etc”
“ Mentality at my workplace is great, completely different from what I had in Spain, you are regarded as an expert, they seek your advice because they know you have a technical knowledge, and you can take decisions. Decisions are not taken by managers that are not knowledgeable.”
“ Work life balance is real, I can finish my work at 17.00 everyday and if I stay they will ask me why. We are given realistic objectives, they ask you about your opinion before setting them”.
Android Developer, Holland (2/2013)
“I moved to Switzerland 8 months ago. Before this opportunity came along I always felt afraid of moving abroad. I was really scared to leave my comfort zone and I was very close to answer no to this opportunity, just because of my fears. To be sincere I felt very comfortable in Spain, I was happy but I didn´t know that there was something else apart from Spain”
” Before coming here I had a sedentary life and I used to watch TV all the time, now I have become more active, I am swimming, learning snowboarding, started reading again and changed my routine-from dinner parties, tapas and going out all the time- to explore a new culture, costumes and a country that loves winter sports activities and has incredible landscapes and mountains. Yes I miss Spain, of course but I know that having the opportunity of living abroad is amazing”
“Regarding my professional life. Switzerland has opened my mind. I feel that the world has opened for me a lot of opportunities I have realized that there are greater opportunities outside of Spain. I never thought of moving abroad, and now, I’d love to stay abroad as longer as I can. I wasn’t interested inlearning languages at all, I knew that I had to improve my English but as I didn’t need it I was lazy to work on it. Now, I really want to be proficient in English, not just because I need it for work but because I realized how important it is.”
Software Developer, Switzerland (1/2013)
“ I have a good job in Spain but I am starting to job search to move abroad. I had 1 year experience of working abroad as an expatriate and I enjoyed very much to be part of a multicultural team”
“My reasons for job searching abroad are diverse; mentality and working practices, greater possibilities of growth and better salary than in Spain”
Finance Professional, Spain (12/2012)
As you can see there are not only unemployment reasons for moving abroad, expats have highlighted: the language, opportunities of growth, work life balance, salary, mentality, culture, international experience, working against your fears and getting out of your comfort zone.
As I commented previously in earlier posts; planning ahead, learning another language, experiencing another culture can make us more prepared to face challenges in life. Now that the work market is though all over Europe and specially in Spain; we need to be prepared to move geographically, something regarded as exceptional needs to be more accessible to all of us. So might be it can be an option for you in the near future?
For more information: http://www.20minutos.es/noticia/1617274/0/espanoles/se-van-extranjero/sube-21/
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