Expats in Austria (or Europe) - did you find remote work or in office?
Posted by No_Scallops@reddit | expats | View on Reddit | 15 comments
I'm in the middle of planing a move, been planning for months and I want to hear others experiences in Austria or other neighboring countries.
I have american and italian citizenship so the right to work in Austria, learning German etc. Did you end up finding work before or after you moved? Remote or in office? Are you still looking for work?
Brasilian_sandwich@reddit
I am a near IT worker (product owner).
I had a possibility to work fully remotely at my previous job about 1 year ago (IT security consultancy in Vienna), but it did not last due to toxic management. Btw remote work was only possible within EU due to security stuff.
All other places I worked at required being 2-3 days weekly at the office.
You might land a fully remote job today, but then most likely it will be an IT consultancy rather than a corp job.
The job market sucks right now. Local practices of hiring incompetent friends, who then might rarely show up at the office despite home office policies because you know they are friends, are still present.
I hope this helps. Good luck.
No_Scallops@reddit (OP)
I worry about remote work and temporary consultancies, so they typically dont last but surely not impossible. I am in IT support and now a support administrator. I also applied to the UN, but since I am not living in Austria yet, Im sure they dont even consider it. I do put that I am moving in a few months
Brasilian_sandwich@reddit
Some consultancies last, others don't. I currently have a developer colleague, who changes these consultancies once a year and seems to fair fine.
I also tried applying to the UN many times when I just moved to Austria (2017), but I never heard from them, despite speaking two of their languages.
With that said, I met two persons with PhD who worked there for a couple of years, but they were not really IT related (one did some anomaly detection regarding earthquakes or something like that, the other did politics stuff).
The employment process can last for a while in Austria. If you are not available next week, it is not gonna be a deal breaker (in my experience), if the hiring manager "likes" you. I always secure my next job 3-4 months prior to the starting date.
No_Scallops@reddit (OP)
Would you recommend moving to Vienna first and job searching locally, or securing a job before moving? I could make a temporary setup work if needed, but I’m trying to figure out the most practical approach.
goombatch@reddit
US and Austrian citizenship, living in Czech Republic. Senior in IT fields, work from home mostly, in office one day per week. But most people at my org who are hybrid only have 3 WFH days. Benefit of being in IT that I get 4.
No_Scallops@reddit (OP)
was it hard to fid the hybrid roles?
goombatch@reddit
Not terribly but perhaps I was lucky. Secured offer before moving - also applied for other jobs in Austria, Germany and other countries. But I got the job I really wanted in my preferred city after all.
No_Scallops@reddit (OP)
very lucky!
Ed98208@reddit
I never did find remote work and without speaking fluent Dutch I found out that I wasn't going to find any job that wasn't manual labor. I live outside the Randstad; it's probably different when you're in or near a big cosmopolitan city.
No_Scallops@reddit (OP)
are you still looking?
Ed98208@reddit
No, I worked in a factory, then cleaned houses, and then I got an inheritance so I'm retired.
No_Scallops@reddit (OP)
I heard that expats will sometimes start in shipping and handling until they can find other work
Legitimate_Buddy1922@reddit
I have never seen any remote job in Austria, mostly hybrid. Been 3 years here
CottonShirtWithStain@reddit
hybrid office here in germany, found it after moving. most places wanted local address and in person interviews. remote was rare. finding anything half decent right now is just pain
No_Scallops@reddit (OP)
did they require german?