The European Countries You’d Earn More As A HR Professional

A new study has looked into popular jobs around Europe, highlighting the average wages, weekly working hours, annual leave allowance and cost of living for those who are looking to work in Europe. The jump from working and living in your home country to setting up a new life in a different location can be daunting for many – and most of the concerns lay with job prospects.  

The study from Totally Money gives users the chance to filter through an array of jobs. Teaching assistants, personal trainers, and HR managers all make an appearance in the data that handily compares European countries against one another.

The European Countries Offering The Highest Salaries

The average salary within the UK for an HR Manager sits at an impressive £75,136. HR Managers here also benefit from 28 days paid leave and 40-hour working weeks. According to the study, Switzerland is the only European country that offers a higher average salary. France and Sweden fall just behind at £73,273 and £67,332 respectively.

Switzerland has nearly twice the cost of living as the UK which explains its high salary opportunities, which average at £125,231 a year. Despite these high salaries, it’s worth noting that in comparison to the UK, you would be working an extra 2 hours per week and receive 8 days less annual leave. 

Taking into context the cost of living, working hours and paid annual leave, France produces the best work-life balance from all the studied countries. Working 35 hours a week, (5 less than the European average) and having 25 days paid leave (the 4th highest of the studied countries), you can be sure to have the best balance.

The European Countries Offering The Lowest Salaries

If Switzerland, the UK, or France aren’t on your desired list, you can always look at taking a potential pay cut elsewhere on the continent. Exotic countries such as Spain, Greece, Cyprus, and Portugal give you the luxury of living in a beautiful country, but it does come at a price. With the average salary between the countries being £46,000, you would have a decision to make. 

Cyprus and Spain offer the same amount of hours per week as the UK (40), but with Spain giving just 22 days of annual leave a year, you would have to consider whether working in the country is enough to justify losing 6 days of paid holiday. The lowest-ranked country of all 12 in the study is Portugal. A salary of £40,673 means it’s £35,000 or 47%, lower than the UK’s average.

Perhaps salary isn’t a concern at all for you.

In that case, the study also shows the happiness ratings of each country to help individuals learn a little more about living there. The Netherlands ranks the highest at 5th, with Switzerland 6th and the UK falling behind at 15th. For those who are HR Managers within the UK, it’s difficult to look past France as the best European country to work in. With the right balance of salary, working hours and paid leave, you can expect the best of both worlds. To view the study by Totally Money in further detail, please visit the interactive tool.