Salary calibration

dannykool
CanuckAbroad Regular


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Joined: 16 Oct 2007
Posts: 71
Location: Europe

Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2008 6:46 am

 

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[quote="Steven"]

Production manager isn't a skill that is in demand in the UK, that is a lower salary than you would get in Canada, no question. Salaries in that job went down sharply during the 1980s when Thatcher cracked down on the unions.

A lot of people doing that job emigrate to get better salaries.

If you're earning $75,000 in Canada, you have far more buying power than someone in the UK earning £35,000. Part of the reason for the recent difference is the strength of the Canadian dollar, but even before that, with the high cost of living in the UK you would have been worse off in the UK.



The question is how easy is it to get a 75000 CAD job in Canada. New immigrants in Canada are going through tough times.

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Steven
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Joined: 28 Sep 2007
Posts: 1676
Location: Calgary

Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2008 2:15 pm

 

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I wouldn't say it's terribly hard to get a job earning that much in Alberta at the moment if you've got the skills and experience. They're desperate for people in Saskatchewan as well. You can earn $100,000 on a six-month contract driving a truck in Fort McMurray so the jobs are there.

Finding somewhere to live however is the real trick. And don't get ill.

Much to my astonishment the population of Alberta actually went down by 4,000 people last year. Someone explain that to me because it makes absolutely no sense, unless they all moved to Saskatoon.
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Steve.

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dannykool
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Location: Europe

Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 10:36 am

 

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well it is a bit weird but for some reason non professional salaries are so high ? Nothing wrong in that but then why are the new professionals in Canada not getting into their fields etc ?

Can you elaborate on the 'skills and experience' that pay these amounts in Alberta, other than the one you mentioned ?

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Steven
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Joined: 28 Sep 2007
Posts: 1676
Location: Calgary

Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 10:56 am

 

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I think the problem with "new professionals" is either that their qualifications aren't recognised (especially true in healthcare), their experience isn't recognised or they just face bigotry.

Going by the people I deal with, "skill" means you show up to work, "experience" means you're breathing.

Kind of difficult to generalise about what jobs are going and for how much, but what I would say is that the leading PSA on the radio is: "Alberta's child labour laws - what you need to know. Remember it is unlawful to employ children under the age of 14 to operate heavy machinery without parental permission in the Province of Alberta - and it always has been."

If that's the ad they run the most, that gives you an idea about what the labour market is like in Alberta!

There was a bit on the news the other day about how people who have massive professional skills and recently immigrated end up in telemarketing or whatever, but it's not as if they're not earning money at it. You can literally earn $40,000 a year in Alberta on the nightshift stacking shelves in a store in Calgary, so $75,000 isn't that big of a deal. My local Burger King shut down because they couldn't find staff and on the sign they were offering something like $15/hour.

The City of Calgary is absolutely desperate for people and a lot of the positions they want to fill are professional jobs. And that's just being a civil servant. Have a look on their job site, I'm sure you'll find something!
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dannykool
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Joined: 16 Oct 2007
Posts: 71
Location: Europe

Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 11:16 am

 

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Thanks for the input.I get the feeling that it is mostly trade jobs that are in demand.

Also the so called visible minorities have it rough.so the numbers of 75000 etc sound too good but i will check.

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happyfunball
New Member



Joined: 07 Jul 2008
Posts: 1
Location: Ottawa

Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 8:27 am

 

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By all measures I can find, the standard of living in the UK is lower than Canada, so you can expect, in general, to effectively take a pay cut when you move to the UK.

Some sectors are much worse than others but don't expect to have as much disposable income on your hands doing the same job in the UK as you do in Canada. Canada is a very rich country and its not easy to move somewhere else and do better, or even the same financially.

Of course there are exceptions but this is what I'm telling myself as I plan to move there in October for a few months. I'm not doing it to make money!

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Steven
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Joined: 28 Sep 2007
Posts: 1676
Location: Calgary

Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 9:51 am

 

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It's not that Canada is a richer country, it's just not as crowded. Per capita you can probably make more money in some jobs in the UK, it just doesn't go as far as the cost of living is higher.

If you look at jobs in the financial sector in the UK, even lowly ones like IT support, the salaries are sky-high compared to working on Bay St. in Toronto, but the flip side is that try finding somewhere to live in the centre of London and look at the overall cost of living there.

The only thing off-hand that I can remember being noticeably cheaper in the UK were certain types of fresh foods, presumably because of the transportation distance.
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Steve.

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