Whether you are considering moving to Europe from another continent or are looking to migrate from one European nation to another, it’s worth considering the job opportunities and working conditions of potential new home cities. And capitals are usually among the best places to work – so which is the Best European Capital City? See below for a detailed analysis.
Europe for many years has maintained a number of stable and successful cities within its larger nations.
For example, the likes of Berlin in Germany, London in England and Paris in France have been great places to seek a new life and most important of all, a new job.
However, current social, political and economic uncertainties across the continent have begun to put these into doubt.
Brexit and the EU
The first catalyst for change was undoubtedly Great Britain’s decision to leave the European Union in 2016.
The referendum has not only affected the potential future of Britain, but of other EU countries it wishes to trade with in the future.
This knock on effect presents a number of financial and social uncertainties which will be massive issues for years to come. Just take a look at this post from the Independent which explains these uncertainties in greater detail.
Ultimately, this brings into question whether certain nations and their cities, which were perhaps once very desirable for work, are now no longer top of the pile.
A great example of this is the UK, which is home to some very financially important cities, such as London, which is full of potential work opportunities.
Despite this, according to Politico, over a quarter of Brits have considered moving abroad for work since the EU referendum.
So, if seemingly attractive cities such as London are becoming less so, which European capitals are currently the best to work in?
Which Is The Best European Capital City To Work In?
Well, new research taken out by silverdoor.co.uk presents a number of traditionally less popular cities which are actually great to work in.
The study, titled ‘The Best European Capital City To Work In: 2017 Edition’, found that Bern, Switzerland is currently the best capital city to work in. The top ten cities is largely full of other surprises:
- Bern, Switzerland
- Copenhagen, Denmark
- Berlin, Germany
- Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Minsk, Belarus
- Reykjavik, Iceland
- Vienna, Austria
- Vilnius, Lithuania
- Oslo, Norway
- Brussels, Belgium
As you can see, aside of Berlin, which may be considered a traditionally popular city to work in, the rest of the top 10 are much less obvious.
And it’s not just the top ten which features a lack of Europe’s biggest cities. Inside the top twenty there are a huge number of smaller cities offering a great environment for workers.
London is the next largest after Berlin, coming in at 18th, which really backs up the point that is potentially not as great of a location to work in as it once was.
These results were found by assessing each European capital by five different criteria. These were the cost of living, average salary, unemployment rate, average traffic commute and average hours worked.
Each city was assessed individually on these terms and then given a score. The 5 scores were brought together to create an overall score and place on the table.
The figures for each city were taken both from individual official government stats and from the cost of living tool Numbeo.
Obviously, some of the criteria may mean more or less to you than others. If the cost of living is particularly true important to you, and why wouldn’t it, the top three capitals were Pristina, Kosovo, Kiev, Ukraine and Chisinau.
Those concerned with average monthly salary will be impressed with €3,517.11 in Bern, €2,980.65 in Oslo and €2,912.78 in Luxembourg.
As for unemployment rates, Minsk came first with 0.90%, Reykjavik was second with 3.1% and Bern third with 3.6%.
Drivers will be interested to know that the top three for short traffic commutes were Bern, Reykjavik and Pristina.
Those keen on enjoying their weekend would no doubt like to know that the top three for average hours worked per week were Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Oslo.
Best European Capital City – more data here.
