Foreing Engineer in Guangdong

[zerolife]

Can you get $150k a year in Uruguay?

lol I second that

I do not think that they can reach foreign engineers with that salary, which is almost 35000 USD and ANY engineer here is earning at least 55000 after graduate.

Personally, since I care less about big houses and more about enjoying fun activities (travel, eating out etc.), I can live a more comfortable life in China with $35,000 than $100,000 in the US. I obviously don't qualify for the position but if I were, I would have taken it immediately. However, since you mentioned you are looking into a living in a 5000 square foot house and owning three luxury cars, I think China is not the right place for you anyway so you probably made the right decision. And for them, well I'm sure they will find a lot of foreigners possibly with better qualification that is willing to take the offer.

[Bedan Adjuster]

US can give 55,000 to fresh graduates eventhough they cannot spell foreign correctly.

[imron]

Probably because to be an engineer, they value actual skills in engineering rather than spelling. I imagine it would be different if he was talking about applying for a job as editor of a newspaper or something.

[anonymoose]

As an economist, I get a little bit frustrated when people compare quantities of money on a market-exchange rate basis, completely ignoring the fact that many things are a lot cheaper in China than in, say, the US or Canada. A better (although not perfect) measure would be to compare the salaries based on purchasing power.

As a non-economist, I have to disagree with this statement. If one's entire salary were being spent on items of low resale value, then purchasing power may be relevant. But I suspect that for many foreigners earning above, say, 10K RMB/month in China, a large proportion of that money will be saved, or spent on things with an intrinsic resaleable value. In this case, the significant factor is not how much money is spent on the daily necessities, but the value in absolute terms of the money remaining.

As an example, say you earn 10K RMB per month in China, and spend 50% (5K), saving the other 50%. So each month you can accumulate 5K.

Now suppose you live in a country where everything costs twice as much, but you can also earn twice as much (20K). You will still end up spending 50% of what you earn, but the 50% remaining is now 10K. In other words, the value of what you can save is twice as much.

So, at least for me personally, the cost of living is only a minor factor. It might be nice to have a cosy life on a low salary in China for 10 years, but you will end up being a pauper relatively speaking if you then go back to your own country (such as the UK or USA).

[renzhe]

True, it's not the same in absolute terms, especially if you want to spend your saving somewhere else.

But why would a person go to a third world country to earn enough money to spend in the UK or the USA? Most people try to do it the other way around.

[anonymoose]

But why would a person go to a third world country to earn enough money to spend in the UK or the USA? Most people try to do it the other way around.

Because some people like the experience of living in China, and the opportunity of learning Chinese in a native environment, without having to completely sacrifice the earning potential of the time spent there.

[renzhe]

What I meant is that it's not realistic, not that it's not desirable.

Countries with $6000 GDP PPP do not pay 2x more than countries with $30000, other than in extremely specific situations. And it's rather easy to understand why.