Some young Spaniards decide to emigrate in search of better job opportunities. That was the path he chose. Mateu SeguíTelecommunications engineer who lives in Swiss for almost a decade.
During an interview with the channel YouTube Wall Street Wolverineexplained why he made that decision and compared the working conditions of both countries.
«The system in Switzerland encourages you to work. If you work, you live well,» he summarized.
For Seguí, the difference is not only due to salary. Also highlights the possibility of savingaccess housing and plan a life project with greater stability.
From a salary of 1,100 euros to looking for opportunities in Switzerland
After graduating as a Telecommunications engineer in 2012, he began his professional career in Spain with salaries close to 1,100 euros per month.
In order to build wealth, he kept track of all his expenses in a spreadsheet and tried to save and invest part of your income. However, he assures that he soon understood that, with Spanish salaries, this objective was very difficult to achieve.
«I was trying to amass an estate and I saw that it was almost impossible,» he recalled.
After a brief stint at a company in Mallorcawhere he assures that he worked a lot for very little money, he decided to look for opportunities abroad.
He clarifies that he never chose Switzerland for its landscapes or the possibility of skiing.
«I didn’t go for skiing or for the mountains. I left for a purely economic reason.«he explained.
Together with his brother, he spent several months comparing different countries, analyzing salaries, job opportunities and standards of living. Finally, chose Switzerland.
Although at first she did not speak English, she began preparing with a native teacher while sending dozens of resumes. After several rejections—including an unsuccessful opportunity at Google Zurich—he landed a position at a Swiss consulting firm.
Higher salaries and greater savings capacity
After almost ten years living in Switzerland, Seguí assures that the economic change was very important.
According to him, in Switzerland salaries are usually between 6,000 and 8,000 Swiss francs per month.
However, he insists that the difference is not only about earning more money, but also about maintaining an austere lifestyle that allows him to generate wealth.
«The money has not changed for me. I live practically the same as when I earned 600 euros,» he said.
His goal was always save to buy a home and accumulate wealth.
In that sense, he maintains that access to housing represents one of the biggest challenges.
«The drama is when you don’t have a house. More than half of your salary goes there,» he said.
It also considers that, when income is low, staying for a few years living with parents can be an alternative to saving and investing.
«If you want to get out of the financial hole, you are going to have to make sacrifices«, said.
What you learned from knowing the true cost of an employee
Another moment that, according to him, changed his way of seeing the world of work was when he began to see on his pay slip how much the company paid in social contributions.
He recalled that, while he charged close to 2,000 euros, the total cost for the company was around 3,500.
From this experience, he maintains that many workers do not know what the real cost of your employment.
«People say that they charge 1,100 euros. I think they should say what it really costs the company, because that is also the result of their work,» he argued.
«Being an employee was never my goal»
Although he values his experience in Switzerland positively, Seguí makes it clear that he never considered working in dependency relationship as a definitive goal.
«Being an employee was never my goal. I have been employed to earn money, but always with the idea of starting a company,» he said.
In his opinion, working for a company can be a good tool to accumulate capital for some years, although it considers that depending exclusively on a salary limits the possibilities of long-term economic growth.
Mateu Seguí’s story reflects that of many Spanish professionals who decided to emigrate in search of better opportunities. According to him, the main difference It is not only about the salary, but also about the possibility of savinginvest and build a life project that he considers much more difficult to achieve in Spain.
