We are heading back to New Zealand soon and the situation does seem pretty grim from what I hear from friends. Ideally, we’d like to settle down in NZ but it’s looking like we may end up in Australia instead.
To be honest, we Australians aren't doing so well either. But you're correct, it's a comparatively bigger economy. There are more opportunities. But we've hundreds if not thousands applying for the same job.
As a kiwi living in Australia and working for mini FANG, the thought of moving to Southeast Asia and living off savings for a couple of years in the hope that I might wait out this jobs/rental crisis has crossed my mind.
Not necessarily a bad plan per se, but don’t forget to take into account the fact that this jobs/rental crisis might be due to deep systemic+geopolitical issues that are only going to get worse and that we might not be going back to the abundance of the 2010s anytime soon.
Finding yourself in an even worse job market 5 years from now is a very real possibility.
I think it is alleviating slowly. In Melbourne at least, rent seems to have peaked already. The state government has done great work in overruling councils to get more housing built faster. And it seems to be working.
To be honest, the perfect solution and you have a high chance of finding something there that makes you happy.
Housing there is more affordable also but not for long, people are buying insane houses there coz cost "nothing".
If this is something that you already considered and have enough saving to do so, personally, I would start looking for what can I do over there job wise to avoid using all my savings and screw it, I am off.
No matter how small is the income coz you will need to start from the bottom, I am getting tired of IT, too much drama, all the time, if living in Asia doing something completely different but that pays the bills and that I am happy with, I wouldn't come back.
Australia within the last 11 years went to shit big time, and it is getting worse by the day.
I have considered the same, I think it might be a little to late for me now, who knows.
> Australia within the last 11 years went to shit big time, and it is getting worse by the day.
Most major wester economies did the same in past 11 years: stagnating wages, exploding CoL. Life was good 11 years ago when salaries were great and housing still abundant and affordable to buy but this isn't the case anymore.
If you expect an improvement, moving anywhere there right now would be like jumping from a lake to a pond.
Housing in Australia was not affordable at all 11 years ago! Perhaps 20 years ago yeah… but I mean, compared to almost anywhere else, salaries for the average folk are great even when you compensate for that. Only the top tier is underpaid if you compare with the USA, much like Europe.
It's so funny to me how you Australians have no idea how fortunate you are. You've been born into one of the luckiest places on earth and never stop moaning about it. When I lived there all anyone ever did was bitch and moan while pulling in huge salaries, soaking in some of the best weather on earth and knowing their country's immense mineral wealth and isolated status would always be a security blanket.
Truly some of the most fortunate, least deserving people on the planet. I am thankful I can get my special category visa and when my parents eventually pass away I will set my roots down in Australia. Despite all of the Australians.
I'm interested where in SE Asia you think you can can just barge in, buy a property and live. It might pay to actually look into what it takes to do that legally, it might not be as simple as you think.
There are quite a few remote work opportunities around with US and AU companies. It might not be what you're looking for, but it seems to work pretty well with an NZ lifestyle.
Maybe I am badly informed but last time I heard about NZ, it was said that there is very little unemployment and you could switch job in a matter of week. Which leads to my question: wouldn't you just consider doing something else?
While I am happy working in IT right now, there are a number of other professional activities I could see myself learning.
I am just...asking. Are people outside of IT not able to have a comfortable life there and all living in misery? I am in a way different country probably but there are lots of people living with a third or a quarter of my current salary in the same city I live and while none of us is considered rich, they are not in total misery and seem to be relatively comfortable as long as they manage their expense wisely. People here don't seem to need to buy/consume whatever thing or service is deemed new/cool/trendy like in more "consumption focused countries". I don't know about NZ but here we enjoy spending most of our non working hours outside.
I moved nearly 6 years ago from one very wealthy country to another much less wealthy. I chose a job with a 3 times lower salary. While I miss parts of my life in that previous country and understand my retirement will be lower, I still find a lot of positives in that life change for various other reasons.
When you move from one country to another, reaching the maximun salary you can obtain is not necessarily the most important parameter/goal.
