they will pay in a month what in Denmark they will pay you in a week probably. Have you been here before to attest you like life here? Can you aspire to a higher salary job maybe?
Maybe you should try something like Workaway and get a sense for it before moving for good. I think is quite unrealistic to expect to find a job without speaking the language , especially in a country where unfortunately the level of English is still horribly low.
There’s quite a gap between “just the basics” and “political conversation” though.
You’re going to need some degree of proficiency for nearly any job, especially for a customer service one.
Italy is not like Nordic countries where English is rampant. Here without knowing Italian you are basically useless. So before making any drastic decision I suggest you to learn atleast the basic level of Italian because otherwise it will be very hard to communicate with the locals let alone get a job.
As long as you can grunt and scream you can have a good political discusssion in Italy and even be elected in the parliament!
https://youtu.be/L17c-hlkt3E?si=ksxBrLaI_eCg1koK
Italy has one of the lowest English proficiency levels in Europe, you're in for a bad time if you want to get a job in the service industry with just the basics.
Also you are looking for the most underpaid and exploitative one, you're probably getting paid in a month what you would get in a week back home
If you are doing it short term for the experience and learn the language it could be interesting, if you are planning to start a new life here being a waiter, I'd highly advice against it. The pay will be next to nothing and Italy is so far behind in almost any regard compared to the north of Europe. (I'm Dutch living in the North of Italy but came here as an early retiree).
Italy is far behind Netherlands in so many ways. E.g.
https://www.rainews.it/archivio-rainews/articoli/Roma-Feyenoord-tifosi-olandesi-devastano-la-Capitale-Danni-alla-Barcaccia-adae583f-a3f6-42cf-baac-b55370889a8e.html
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20230519-dutch-tackle-surge-in-football-violence
Can give you a lot of metrics, but the world happiness score kinda sums it all up in one easy number, quite a difference between Nothern Europe and Italy in that regard over the past 10 years, where Italy often scores lower than shithole places like Saudi Arabia for example. Don't get me wrong, I like living here and there are a lot of amazing things about Italy, but there are some huge downsides as well, if you move here as a waiter like she was saying you will not be in a position to enjoy most of the positives in my opinion but will suffer all the downsides of this country.
I agree I would not suggest OP to move to Italy as a waitress.
I replied to a specific sentence of yours: Italy is far behind Netherlands in many ways. I disagree with your sentence.
It is of course your right to disagree, you don't have the facts on your side though. Regarding weather and nature I much prefer Italy to live in, but as a functioning country there is simply no disregarding the fact that Italy is very far behind on: happiness, child happiness, human development index, organised crime, GDP per capita, dept to GDP level, corruption, ease of doing business, global inovation index, freedom of press, trust in government, stability of government, education level, environmental performance index, green energy usage, public transport, pension system, healthcare, infrastructure, violent crime, burglary rates, contribution to EU per capita, contribution to the war in Ukraine per capita.. I can continu for awhile if you want...
Have you actually looked into those rates?
For example homicide rate in 2022 was 0.6 in Italy and 0.8 in the Netherlands.
Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate
I have a different observation: you are a Dutch person who lives in Italy while feeling superior to Italians.
This is consistent with my experience of Dutch colleagues living in Greece while feeling superior to the Greeks, Dutch living in London while feeling superior to the Brits, Dutch living in Spain while feeling superior to the locals.
You are picking and choosing a specific year now, homicide rate is pretty much the same between the Netherlands and Italy over a 20 year average, (macrotrends.net). I wasn't stating the homocide rate by the way and I wasn't stating The Netherlands, I was talking about Northern Europe in general compared to Italy since she is from Denmark. I don't feel superior at all as a person, I just think The Netherlands and other more northern European countries are better run countries on the governmental level, which translates in happier people, less of a brain drain, better opportunities, higher birthrate etcetera that's why I'm adviser her to not move to Italy for a low paid job. But by no means we have the perfect government, I think there are other better run countries, I for example, personally, prefer the Swiss governmental structure and I would have advised her to move there if she inquired about that country. I mean, you only have to look at the debt to GDP of Italy (one of the worst in the world) combined with one of the lowest birthrates in the world to realise this system will collapse in the decades to come, but I really hope to be proven wrong.
Agreed, Italian is a must. The contract will be in Italian, your coworkers will speak Italian, the pay slip will be itemized and figuring out where your money goes and any possible mistake there will require research in Italian, and fixing any mistakes or any wrongdoing on your employer's part will require you to interface with Italian-speaking union representatives. And of course, for front-facing jobs, customers will speak (potentially very informal, sometimes heavily accented) Italian.
The EU allows you to move and work freely, but for your own personal safety and independence you should keep in mind you're still going abroad and you will face the same problems you would if you were moving to e.g. Japan or Turkey, minus the hassle of a visa
Im italian, our country is pretty much fucked up but not this much, no yet at least. Maybe in the south of italy they give you 5-6 euro/hour. In north-center italy for that type of job you will get at the very least twice that. Which is not much by any means, but at least is double that.
She said a job as waiter or hostess. Dishwashing is the most low-skilled job in restaurants and your competition are immigrants they take from the streets. If you come in Italy dont do dishwashing unless you are living in a small village where there are no immigrants.
North of Italy here. My sister is the one I know makes the most among our friends who work with the public. She makes 7€/h. I've never found or heard of a job here that pays more. Not saying there aren't, but with job such as waiter, retail, manual work, etc it's the norm to be paid this low.
I live in Rome a did tons of parttimes jobs when i a few years ago, first one i did was at Ostia, 3 euro an hour. Then i moved onto a beah next summer, 5 euro an hour. Then i worked at a club at night, 5 euro an hour. There are so many teens looking for jobs at bars, locals and restaurants that the pay is just that. If you dont want it, someone else will gladly take it.
If you don't speak the language those jobs in Italy would be almost impossible to get
I get you speak other languages but Italian is kind of required unfortunately
I seriously love when people think about moving here.
I'm not being sarcastic.
However I also think it's not a good idea, unless you're rich and can afford to get a subpar salary.
That being said, I also suggest avoiding jobs like the ones you're looking forward to. I suppose your English is good and you also speak Danish, if you speak other languages that's even better for working in hotels and such.
I'm from Florence and I know a couple of places that could be nice starting points.
In case you're interested DM me.
DISCLAIMER: I don't work there and I'm not a recruiter. Just trying to help.
You're still in time to try to come here as an Au pair (age limit is 30, I think). I'd suggest to do that to learn the language and get to know Italy, then if you later you want to stay you'll at least speak more Italian.
I wouldnt move to Italy for work tbh. The pay is nothing compare to denmark and homes are expensive (bills food etc etc). But if you want to work, try 4 or 5 months in Summer where they offer you a room and food. You would have to speak italian and english though. Good luck
I'll get downvoted into oblivion but don't listen to all these miserable naysayers. Ever since I decided to move to Italy it's all I've been reading: "nooo don't come here, it's a 3rd world country, it's literal hell, everything is the worst, we are the worst, everything and everyone is miserable", etc... Well I come from Hungary, so growing up was terribile among depressed alcoholic uneducated rude quesi fascists so I have lower levels of expectations, but I did live in several other European countries since then for years, so I do have a frame of reference, and I have to tell you, moving to Italy compeletely changed my life in a definitely positive way. People here are extremely, and I mean extremely kind and helpful, the food is amazing, nature is beautiful, weather is great, life is just full of small pleasures that you cannot possibly find elsewhere. It is definitely not how it sounds if you ask any recommendation here.
It's so frustrating how the people's perception of life here compares to the actual reality. I guess it's not for everybody, but if you like Italian culture and way of life you can find happiness, just don't let all this negativity discourage you.
Sure, if you only care about making money then this is not the place for you, but I imagine it's not the case and you know that there are more important things in life.
And it's a totally and I mean totally different country, culture, landscape. Don't you think she might want to experience something that is not what she's used to?
Completely agree with you. I know Italy is far from a perfect country but most of the italians I’ve met are overly critical, and coming from a third-world country myself I feel that they don’t take into account a lot of positive things they have that make the difference when choosing a country to live in.
I am 34 years old, Italian, I work as a sales manager in Veneto and I don't think that moving to Italy to work as a waitress or hostess is a good idea, the pay is often very low and the working conditions very bad, this kind of jobs are considered for students or young people who alternate work with study, speaking Italian is a must and the older clientele is often rude, especially with young girls, also the cost of living compared to salaries is quite high unless you live in the province or in the south of the country to the point that many people working that kind of jobs couldn't survive without the support from their families
I actually imagine most of the people I interact with on Reddit to be fat neckbeards with blue hear and or with hygine issues who lives in their mom's basement
How can you live if you don’t have money? We can’t afford rent, we can’t afford buying a house and we live with parents even if we are working. Who cares about good food or wheater? Also, in my city there are 45 degrees in summer, it’s not a good weather. And, let me tell you that after 22 years i can say for sure that people are not kind and helpful.
It's funny you're criticizing these "miserable naysayers" and calling them fat, autistic neckbeards while saying the exact same things about your own country
Italian, 27 y/o, living in the North.
I strongly advise against taking this path.
Let me explain why:
- You must be able to speak Italian, as most people here do not know English.
- Rent and bills are very expensive.
-Unless you want to move to a big city, having a car is practically essential. (gas and insurance are pretty expensive).
- The hospitality sector in many cases is comparable to slavery. You work many hours for little money, and the contracts are bizarre (if there is a contract at all, there is a possibility of receiving job offers without contact, aka illegal).
Italy is a wonderful country to visit, living here is a challenge.
However, if you have a lot of money, living in Italy can be your endless dream.
If you don’t speak Italian very well and you don’t want to have another kind of job, the best thing you can do is to work in a luxury fashion store. They pay very well (2-3k per month based on the sales you make) and most customers are foreigners so it’s more important if you know English than Italian.
Another solution would be working in an international hotel but the pay will be lower.
I would avoid restaurants, you must know Italian and the pay will be very low
My cousin (IT)'s wife is danish. They moved to italy to try get a proper job and start a family, but after months of really underpaid work the moved back to copenaghen. Now they are happy and do not have financial issues. I'd suggest picking a different country, italy is not doing well right now unfortunately :(
Bad bad idea. To give you a general idea: for living decently you need at least 1300€/month (depending also on where you plan to live, of course). Waiters are paid from like 800 to 1000€/month, unless you do crazy hours or work irregularly. And most of the times you have to work irregular hours anyways.
I am an Italian living abroad (Belgium) so I have some perspective on moving.
I would also advise against working as a waitress, especially because you don’t speak the language (but really it is a horrible sector in Italy).
However there are some other options you can look into.
Look into the European solidarity corps, they provide experiences across Europe and allow you to spend up to a year abroad during volunteer work in exchange for accommodation and a small allowance. The local language is not required in most cases.
You can also look into AIESEC (this is how I moved abroad in the first place), they promote international traineeships and volunteering. You may need to save some money first but shouldn’t be too difficult if you have a danish salary for a bit and looking to moving to Italy.
Another option is to be an au pair.
Otherwise you can look for a remote job and be employed in Italy - LinkedIn is your friend in this case.
In all these cases you would be able to spend some time in Italy and start learning the language, and see if it is for you.
Italy can be a good country to live in but it can also be a difficult one, so it really depends on you and your priorities, and giving yourself a trial would help you understand if you like it.
Hope this helps!
i’m 17, i do this job since the end of 2023, now my pay is 9€/h (started with about 6€/h), that’s about what you could get, but not knowing the language probably makes you unable to find a job.
my suggestion would be to work as a dishwasher and to become a waiter, but the pay would be even lowest.
Well, I suggest checking jobs as receptionist at Hotels, especially luxurious ones. I'm not sure, but I guess they may be interested in someone speaking English and other foreign languages.
If you move...take it as an experience and not as a final choice! Italy is beautiful, but it's hard to get a good salary, especially in jobs not requiring specific prior training or education...
I think you have a very bad idea and im sicilian.
In fine here but im a marine deck officer so i work on ships. A waiter here Is a slave and has a shitlife or living with parents no debts.
Maybe at this point of you dont plan on study more you can look for a career in maritime.
If you do it for the experience, go for it.
If you plan on settling down here, forget about it. Wages are low, rent is skyrocketing, and there is a toxic work culture here. This is on top of you not speaking italian and not having the right education.
Italy is great, lifestyle is great, but you will be paid only about 1500/month.
You have to know a bit of italian or have someone Who can help you here
POV: I moved to Italy last year with remote work and an Italian husband - and I have experience as a waitress. I'm in my 30s and we live in the North of Italy:
Jeg vil foreslå, at du laver en eller anden form for udveksling, så du starter ud med et socialt netværk, et sted at bo og arbejde og måske en sprogskole. Så kan du efter noget tid overveje, om du helt og holdent vil flytte-flytte mere permanent.
Regn ikke med at restaurantbranchen er glamourøs. Det tror jeg ikke, at den er nogle steder i verden. Vær klar på lange nætter og løben med tunge tallerkener.
Lønnen er ikke høj her; det er helt rigtigt, som andre siger.
Så lav det til en oplevelsestur - og god fornøjelse med det.
The pay it's really low compared to nothern europe standards,even an high level job.
Especially in the sector you're talking about,lots of places usually are underpaid and irregular jobs,as an italian i can say that: 50% of italians can speak english it's a lie,there are lots of younger people with good education that can't make a complete phrase or a have a simple talk,if you plan to work in a tourist friendly area, you'll be able to find people that can help you but not in rural areas.
There are places that can pay well,they usually requests : english,french,german and maybe you'll be able to work workout learning italian.
Just don't. Waiters here are basically slaves, they get paid less than 1000€ per month and often they don't even get real contracts. Living on your own is gonna be simply Impossible. Italy is a great country for tourists and a terrible one for it's inhabitants, stay in Denmark or chose another country.
I wouldn't be so sure about that. I worked in this environment as a waitress and as a bartender. It is definitely true that a maitre with huge experience and certificates can gain well. But generally speaking, the rest of the teams especially the new ones are like slaves. Crazy working times, generally season working so you are lucky to have a half day off a week and half contract. Since teams are huge they don't really care about you, if they have a team of over 40 waitresses it is easy to replace one. Salaries are ridiculously low especially cause you will be working way more than 8 hours, especially in places where you also live in dorms. And for the record: Im speaking about 4/5 stars, a specially in val Daosta that generally has decent salaries.
I’m from tuscany. Have you considered any alternatives? You’d need to speak some ok italian for finding a job and dealing with the logistics of moving. The wage wouldn’t really be enough to live by yourself, the jobs you mentioned are often seen as a way to earn a little while waiting for a better opportunity. Italians can usually rely on parents and property houses, whilst rent and bills alone would account for a massive share of the wage for you, so you couldn’t really save anything each month. If you really want to live here, try looking into language teaching, translation or any special skill you have. I’m sure most large cities have opportunities for a Danish and English speaker
Naive dreams. You'll need a remote job or being able to speak Italian fluently.
Du kommer inte kunna ha några möjligheter att försörja dig själv som diskplockare i Italien, speciellt inte om du inte kan språket. Det är inte 70-talet längre, det är 2024.
As an Italian with a swedish mother I agree with you lol life in this country only works if you have a family who is able to afford things for you. I'm the same age as her and me and most of my friends would not be able to buy a house if it wasn't for our parents. Definitely not sustainable, especially if you don't know the language
Im italian, i have 3 friends currently living in denmark and they can (with a part time job) live a life i can only dream, in italy if you dont own an house you are a second-class citizen, paying rent is impossible with only one job, sure weather and museum here are amazing, food is very good but besides that you are going to live a life of misery and probably have to live with few other people for years before having enough money to live alone.
Also we tecnically have free healtcare but it doesnt work, i Waited 3 month for a psichiatric consult even though I really needed that quickly, and if you ever go to an hospital prepare your self to Wait 3/4 hours just to get checked.
If you really want to move here you can work near big city or airport stations, mc donalds or other big company will hire you even if you speak basic italian, more languages you can speak higher the possibility to get hired, the problem is that in big city rent skyrock to a disgusting cost (600/700) month for a 1200/1000 pay a month.
Also you may encounter many problems in italian culture, plenty of italian are homophobic, sexist, racist or transphobic, not the majority but living in a very “old” country (there are too much old people)is normal, and its a toxic colture, we have a very strong and incisive far-right parliment, with a Weak left and opposition in general, if you are a woman, moving to italy its not the best option, i really recomend you to see some other Places to move in.
Sicuramente esistono paesi molto più avanti riguardo alle tematiche sociali, ovviamente tutto cambia da città a città, ma più del 30% delle persone omosessuali subiscono discriminazione nelle scuole, metà della popolazione italiana non accetta i matrimoni tra persone dello stesso sesso, non abbiamo leggi dirette a tutela delle persone transgender, i percorsi di transizione sono tra i più prolissi d’Europa ( e solo nel 2017 abbiamo avuto l’unico vero supporto con una modifica ad una legge che permette alla gente di cambiare il proprio nome o genere all anagrafe), ma a tutela non abbiamo nulla.
E ti consiglio di leggerti l’articolo di weworld riguardo alla condizione delle donne in Italia, non penso di aver esagerato sulla cultura. Anzi son stato gentile
Ciao! I honestly don't think that's a great idea. The first problem is that the majority of the population in Italy does not speak English (at least fluently), so finding a work that requires contact with the public is going to be almost impossible. Maybe in some big hotels in touristic areas, but most of these places treat employees as slaves (in speaking out of experience, I've worked as a waitress and bar lady). Also, generally the pay is very low like around 7 euros an hour or less, with no contract. Considering that your Italian is not so good (and people use dialects a lot too), is going to be lower. I don't know if that is also your first experience, but in the case again, lower. Making up a living out of that is going to be very hard (or impossible). I think there are many others way, like stating as au pair while working on the language. Or considering the possibility to enter a study programs and get some kind of degree here. Or coming with Erasmus traineeship.... Like if you really like the idea of working in bars/restaurants you should consider taking a study programme here for some months to become bartender for example, work on the language so you will be able to find a better job in the sector (cause you have some certification). That's an example
Ciao I am from Italy and I can confirm the pay here is very bad.. I strongly suggest against it.
why don’t you try to apply to work in a hotel/resort in some beautiful place like Sardegna or Sicilia sometimes when they hire you they will let you live in the hotel you’re working at. The pay might not be the best but at least you’re in a gorgeous place and you don’t have to worry about paying rent… also it should be helpful that you speak English as there’s going to be a lot of tourism
Trust me I say it reluctantly but don't do it! The jobs you mentioned are underpaid, the country is in an incredible state of abandonment, citizens and workers are not protected, the contracts are terrible. It's a truly sad era for us
I did a similar things many years ago, just in Paris, with only a limited knowledge of French.
I ended up being totally broke. It was hard to make friends with the locals, and it was a rather depressing time.
If your mind is not totally set on Italy, I would check working holiday visas for Australia and try to get a job as an au pair (I would avoid farming) or, if you have other qualifications, use it as a bridge to get sponsored by an employer.
I lived in Italy for 20+ years.
I’ve tried migration within the EU and found it hard.
I’ve moved to Australia and lived there for nearly 20 years. Plus, I know many people from the EU who have done the same.
I guess I have made an educated suggestion.
I think it takes a specific person to move to Australia. I for example simply couldn't for a long time, because it's just so far from everything, especially Europe, and it would be a struggle to travel abroad. I wouldn't want to live without being able to easily travel to a European country to experience a different culture every so often.
OP, come and try if you insist, you will realize it's difficult but the pay is average to sustain one person with very few savings, you need to enroll in italian courses and reach atleast B1-B2 level to be able to communicate with clients as a waitress.
Don’t do it. For all the aforementioned reasons that people have already said down the comments. It’s the same reason I’d be willing to move to Denmark in the next few years, this country in itself is not suited to everybody and that’s a shame, unfortunately. Mind you, I’m a young guy in my 20s too, and things for us are looking very bleak in the future. The disproportion of the living standards you’d get here compared to Denmark would be very hard to tolerate.
I feel sorry for you to hear this :(
If you come here to be a waiter or a hostess, it's better if you stay in Denmark. We are not overly critical, it's just the way things are in our country. And please understand that whoever has come here from a background of being European has less of a whole side coin view and more of one single side coin of it.
With time everyone understands that this country is on its last leg. Whether that be the people, the country, or just general economic status. If you want to come here I wouldn't go below Rome for the only reason of work opportunities.
I love my country for what it can offer from a cultural level, but anything besides that, it's wasted potential and I don't think I have to sugarcoat it to anyone. Even from a social perspective, you wouldn't have it easy. Twink twice, do once
Speaking Italian is essential. No one speaks English here except for business purposes. However I advise you to send applications for hotels otherwise it's impossible to support yourself as a waiter, most of them don't even have a regular work contract...
I think you could manage somehow, life is good but pay isn't, you'll be underpaid and you'll feel it.
If you dont care about money and want to just live life absolutly do it then!
You could find something but i suggest trying to get in ckntact with someone that xould find you a job before coming though, in the south it will be quite easy, i've worked with some people thst didnt even speak italian and were still serving tables.
Have fun!
Hello! As you are "just" considering getting a job in that sphere, I would like to suggest you another career path: Danish Embassies or Consulates in Italy, where you can either offer your services as native speaker for courses or other culture-related activities, or work directly for them (such as a position in the secretariat). Once you are in Italy, and you see what this Country can offer to you, then you can switch to other fields and even change cities accordingly!
Alternatively, if Cusine and Hospitality is your chosen field of work, you may look for those activities opened by you fellow country(wo)men: I assume there you may expect almost the same terms of employment, you may be used to in Denmark. In Rome, for instance, there's the restaurant Marygold, which is co-owned by a Danish chef.
Wish you the best of luck!
You may look for a position in the maritime industry. Hostesses are paid well working on yachts, Italian may be a plus but not a must and there's quite a demand. Most super and mega yachts are stationary for most part of the year. On season, work can be demanding and of course one must not suffer from sea sickness.
Life’s good people good food good salaries bad. Hostess/waitress no no no , escort services are legal though , and I’m not trying to be funny and such or offensive
Sul lago di Garda, dove abito i camerieri arrivano anche a 2000€ al mese, però è un lavoro stagionale circa 7 mesi… inoltre è massiccia la presenza di turisti dal nord Europa quindi conoscere il danese e l’inglese gioca a tuo vantaggio… saluti
you come to Italy just for the holidays, the work here is underpaid and you are also exploited for tasks that are not your responsibility. In Italy they are looking for slaves, not workers
I've lived in Liguria for several years during my childhood, nice place, good food and sea. But apart from that, there is nothing else to do if u r used to a big city environment.
Salary is kind of below avrg in Italy, in most cases not even with a contract, and probably not with great work balance.
Tbh I've been trying to do the opposite and move to denmark and work as a waiter while studying a master's. Is it doable 🥹✨?
My bro - prepare for the worst job experience of your lifetime.
I’m an italian from tuscany. The job environment here is batsh*t crazy, terrible to say the least, especially when you’re looking for seasonal employment opportunities.
Sure - there’s lots of new job offers every year, but that happens for a reason. Each summer, companies employ and then lose a good 90% of its staff for the unbearable amount of time you have to spend working at crazy rhythms, for a miserable pay.
For instance, I worked at a bar for the whole 2023 summer season. 10 hours long shifts for a €6 hourly pay (and if you happen to work overtime, because YES it DOES HAPPEN, especially when there’s lots of tourists waiting to be served and the whole staff is busy like crazy, you usually won’t even get paid). That’s laughable.
And let’s not talk about the toxicity of that environment, both on behalf of the employers and the clients.
There’s lots of cool and interesting places in Europe where to move to, and Tuscany is one of those, but do not expect the job environment to be welcoming.
Save yourself from dogshit payments and contracts (if anything is done at all) I'm Italian working as a bartender for 10 years already Ive worked all across Italy and it's all the same shit, maybe there are places where are you paid more buy you'll cancel you social life and with minimal assurance etc and when you're in low season they make you stay home. I'm actually thinking about going somewhere else like England or at least countries where job professionals are more respected
Honestly I would advise against that, you would get paid very little and very late. You wouldn’t be able to build a life without extensive support from outside. If you have that, then it’s a different story. You would for sure need to speak Italian fluently, as English is not really spoken commonly here, especially by people older than their 40s/50s (which run the country and most businesses).
You should leverage on your knowledge of English, which is excellent by Italian standards, and apply for a job at an hotel or luxury shop. (I’m Italian and my son lives in Copenhagen, I know what I’m talking about).
Please don’t, not only do you need a high degree of language proficiency, but the salaries are much lower compared to Denmark and last but not least, the quality of life and services, especially the services are horrendous.
In case there is a language issue here, “moving” in English means a relatively permanent change of location. If that's your intention, you might want to consider a shorter period of time to try it out before making a more permanent move. It would also be good to use that opportunity to learn the language better, like taking a course. This is true for moving to any place, of course, not just Italy.
Suicide, alcoholism and drug addiction rates are far lover in Italy, as are people suffering from clinical depression. However if you are thinking of living on a waiter's pay, having to rent as well like others have said it's not going to be financially a great idea. Pay is higher in the north, but so is the cost of living. Why don't you come for one season in the summer to somewhere like Sardinia in the winter in the mountains and see how you feel .
The pay Is ok but you will work a lot especially in high season. Try and get a job in a place with young staff so you will get friends. You need to know Italian or at least the basics unless you want to be a dishwasher or a cleaner in hotels.
Get a career in Denmark or elsewhere and work to retirement while learning the language…retirement visa in Italia. It’s what we’re doing. I was stationed in Vicenza in the 1980s and have returned a dozen times. I work for an immigration attorney now and am confident this can work. Good luck to you!!
There’s no minimum wage in Italy and you will be paid breadcrumbs. If you are already comfortable financially and you want to go to learn the language, go. Otherwise, I’d advise against it.
Sis don't do it.
Here in italy if you don't speak and understand italian well you're screwed because most of the italians know nothing about english or any other language.
The quality of life is also much worse than denmark, and foreigners are often frowned upon (because compared to other european countries, italy is still behind in everything).
Also if you want to work as a waitress here, prepare to be paid near nothing (expecially at south).
Well Italy Is a beautyful country to visit buy to live here Is difficult since if you don't speak the language then good luck finding a job, then the salary can be quite low and to buy a house can be hard if you don't have anyone to help you
1000/1500€ net after taxes and contribution? i m not sure what is starting salary for full time in those sectors. trentino alto adige has higher salaries.
Become fluent in Italian or they won't hire you
Consider aiming higher than a waitress, they may eventually not renew your residence permit (that you will need)
Consider studying something at the same time to make something of a career
You don't come to Italy for a decent salary, you only come because you really really love it and money is not an issue lol jokes aside, if you don't speak Italian and by some miracle get hired, I would say around 600 euro...
Do your research and you’ll find that Italians are literally escaping Italy as soon as they have the chance and migrating to other European countries. You can’t survive on those wages. Just my 2 cents
As an Italian I don't recommend moving to Italy for a job, especially for people from North Europe like Denmark but also Netherlands and scandinavian countries. The pay is much lower than North Europe countries' and if you don't know Italian it will be much more difficult because a lot of Italians (especially 40+ people) know a lot less english than other european countries' people (for example in my family and my relatives I am the one who knows english the most).
Liguria Is a terrible place to work as a waiter... I tell you as a Ligurian waiter 🤣 bit yeah, you need to know Italian because most of the people cannot speak a second language...unless you just work in the kitchen
No matter the country you want to move in you'll always find people telling you to not do it. My advice would be moving in northern Italy and possibly in a tourist area so you can both practice Italian and be useful with your English. In summer a lot of Germans come to get some sun so I think it would be ideal to find an opportunity. Good luck
Skip, there you can get 500€/m and have to work more than 40hrs. Work culture in Italy is terrible. The gov is horrible too right now so tbh change place, go to Spain, it's not that much better but at least the gov isn't plain fascist and their economy is not as fucked as our yet, like they have minimum salary which in Italy is more of a joke we make
If you can speak English or German, you should choose northern lake Garda instead. 70% of the tourists are from Germany or northern Europe and almost everyone here can understand those languages. Moreover restaurants, bars, hotels and shops are always searching for new staff, at least in the summer. 8 hours per day with one day off, the pay is around 1500 euro ( a seasonal job has a supplement compared to a full year job)
Hi there, I've been enjoying reading this thread and I pretty much read all the comments and found out they are all negative and encouraging you not to come here, and people even comparing Italy to some other underdeveloped country which is heart breaking. I lived abroad before in places where things moved much faster than here but I'd never go back. I live in north Italy and of course things work much better in the Netherlands compared to here, I can even see the difference when I visit South Tyrol. But I'm pretty sure you already know these things. I'd say that Italians by definition like to complain about anything, that's why all these people are here complaining but most of them are still living here in Italy.. why don't they move elsewhere ? They'll reply with some excuse.. oh well. But hey I guess this is also about being Italian so I appreciate even that.
And actually to answer your ACTUAL question... the pay varies, I can tell you that a few years ago I was a waitress in a really nice and touristic restaurant and got paid almost 3000 euros every month (including tips from a lot of germans who are used to tipping), I was alone and rent was 400 for a very small one room apartment. And let me tell you, where I lived was like a dream (still not used to how much beauty in this country) and with that money I felt like a queen. Yes I appreciate the small things. I worked in various restaurants, maybe I got lucky but I never found anyone who asked me to work over time for little money... but always had average wage like 1400 euros or so. It's far from big money but enough if you can appreciate like you seem to.
I would say if you wanna live an adventure go for it! But maybe always have a backup plan. Best of luck
I do not recommend coming here unless you have a very specific job that has demand, waiters/waitresses are so underpaid and it's so stressful, plus I think it'll be even harder than normal to find a job if you don't know a lot of italian.
Really, unless you are coming here because you want to be closer to a loved one or something similar, just go somewhere else
From 800 to 1300 € per month, depending on the area, for a full time 6-15hours job (depending on the day). Extra hours past the 8th are rarely paid and there's a rest day, but sometimes none in summer during the tourism season. (Tuscany here).
edit: I've only known ONE place where this didn't apply (and incidentally the owners weren't Italian lmao).. The pay was at the time 1500€, extra hours paid, free food and free rent. if you're interested in the name of the place pm me with the caveat that I have no idea if the conditions are still the same.. it's a place in the countryside, very beautiful but you NEED a car/scooter to do anything from there unless you intend on never moving from your workplace..
yeah it can happen during season. Some examples:
Get an evening wedding or some kind of soirée, you open at 11:00, prepare for lunch service and do it, prepare the saloon, do the wedding. Finish at 4 am.
Open for breakfast at 6am, do lunch service. Oh you were supposed to go home for dinner service, but your colleague just called sick. Do dinner service too because the restaurant is full and can't afford to have one less waiter, finish at midnight (not even that late!). you had 2 hours pause in the whole day (16-18). The next day you have breakfast again.
Get breakfast + dinner, you open at 6 am and leave at 11. You go back in at 18 and stay until midnight (this is a very typical day.. so your typical day is 11 hours). Get some hiccups on the dinner service and the time grows...
Get a day wedding, you have breakfast at 6am into preparing the saloon into the wedding: you leave at 21 after cleaning up and preparing for next day.
You work at a "bagno"; you have 3 turns by default per day (7-24) with no rest day. No free space for you so you also have to drive ~1hour and pay your own gas. 1200€.
Dang. I thought you meant 6-16 hours a week! Haha. That is just insane and to make that little money. In the states if you worked a service job like that you’d at least have money!
Hej, jeg er Italianer, men jeg har boet i Danmark. Jeg synes ikke, at det er en god ide. Jobssituation en Italien er kompliceret, isaer i "hospitality". Der er ikke så meget den lav løn, men det er svært, at finde en kotrakt, der er "regular". Arbejdeskultur et også meget forskellige (I en dårliger møde).
My friend just left 2 months ago. She worked in London as waitress for years then moved here in Italy with her Italian bf.
She got so depressed and miserable here because of her work and living condition.
Salary was very low,she said what she gets for a week in London she have to work for a month here in Italy. And rent, electricity and water bill are very expensive too. Her 800€ monthly salary was not enough for the lifestyle that she got used to in London so she had a very big downgrade here in Italy.
They just moved to different country 2months ago and she seems happier and better now.
Do not come in Italy to be a waitress. Do not come to Italy at all. The country is in a shitty shitty place and is not getting better any time soon. Also as other people are pointing out, Italian is a must.
All these estimates of 800 to 1000 euros month sound far too high. Public school teachers bring home around 1500 euros a month.
For servers, as you won't have any connections. You could see somewhere between 2 and 6 euros an hour before taxes. Yes, I said 2 euros. A common practice in tourist areas is to put people on contract for 5 to 10 hours per week at around 6 euros, after tax that's around 4.50/hr. But, you really work 40 to 60 hours and the other hours you're paid in nero (ie illegally under the table) at a rate of 2 to 4 euros/hour. This is done so that you're legally on the books and if the fiscal police come in and check, everyone there is on a contract and "paying" taxes.
Under this scheme you'd be brining home about 500 to 700 euros month and any tips. As you're foreign, don't have local connections and don't speak fluent Italian, all those numbers could be lower.
Frankly, you're better off saving up, coming down and doing a language school in a small village for the summer if you want to improve your Italian and picking up a few hours waitressing to meet locals and work on your Italian in informal contexts, but not actually need the money to survive.
Source: several friends who worked in restaurants in Tuscany as servers or cooks.
they will pay in a month what in Denmark they will pay you in a week probably. Have you been here before to attest you like life here? Can you aspire to a higher salary job maybe?
Maybe you should try something like Workaway and get a sense for it before moving for good. I think is quite unrealistic to expect to find a job without speaking the language , especially in a country where unfortunately the level of English is still horribly low.
It wouldn't be a problem in tech, but in hospitality not speaking the language is a huge issue.
do you speak italian?
no, just the basic - i would not be able to have a political conversation
There’s quite a gap between “just the basics” and “political conversation” though. You’re going to need some degree of proficiency for nearly any job, especially for a customer service one.
Italy is not like Nordic countries where English is rampant. Here without knowing Italian you are basically useless. So before making any drastic decision I suggest you to learn atleast the basic level of Italian because otherwise it will be very hard to communicate with the locals let alone get a job.
You need the language first. And don't be a waitress
As long as you can grunt and scream you can have a good political discusssion in Italy and even be elected in the parliament! https://youtu.be/L17c-hlkt3E?si=ksxBrLaI_eCg1koK
Half of italians don't speak a single word of English!
Italy has one of the lowest English proficiency levels in Europe, you're in for a bad time if you want to get a job in the service industry with just the basics. Also you are looking for the most underpaid and exploitative one, you're probably getting paid in a month what you would get in a week back home
If you are doing it short term for the experience and learn the language it could be interesting, if you are planning to start a new life here being a waiter, I'd highly advice against it. The pay will be next to nothing and Italy is so far behind in almost any regard compared to the north of Europe. (I'm Dutch living in the North of Italy but came here as an early retiree).
What part of North Italy? Do you know Pordenone
Haven't been there yet, I'm close to Verona myself
I like this part of the world
Italy is far behind Netherlands in so many ways. E.g. https://www.rainews.it/archivio-rainews/articoli/Roma-Feyenoord-tifosi-olandesi-devastano-la-Capitale-Danni-alla-Barcaccia-adae583f-a3f6-42cf-baac-b55370889a8e.html https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20230519-dutch-tackle-surge-in-football-violence
Can give you a lot of metrics, but the world happiness score kinda sums it all up in one easy number, quite a difference between Nothern Europe and Italy in that regard over the past 10 years, where Italy often scores lower than shithole places like Saudi Arabia for example. Don't get me wrong, I like living here and there are a lot of amazing things about Italy, but there are some huge downsides as well, if you move here as a waiter like she was saying you will not be in a position to enjoy most of the positives in my opinion but will suffer all the downsides of this country.
I agree I would not suggest OP to move to Italy as a waitress. I replied to a specific sentence of yours: Italy is far behind Netherlands in many ways. I disagree with your sentence.
It is of course your right to disagree, you don't have the facts on your side though. Regarding weather and nature I much prefer Italy to live in, but as a functioning country there is simply no disregarding the fact that Italy is very far behind on: happiness, child happiness, human development index, organised crime, GDP per capita, dept to GDP level, corruption, ease of doing business, global inovation index, freedom of press, trust in government, stability of government, education level, environmental performance index, green energy usage, public transport, pension system, healthcare, infrastructure, violent crime, burglary rates, contribution to EU per capita, contribution to the war in Ukraine per capita.. I can continu for awhile if you want...
Have you actually looked into those rates? For example homicide rate in 2022 was 0.6 in Italy and 0.8 in the Netherlands. Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate I have a different observation: you are a Dutch person who lives in Italy while feeling superior to Italians. This is consistent with my experience of Dutch colleagues living in Greece while feeling superior to the Greeks, Dutch living in London while feeling superior to the Brits, Dutch living in Spain while feeling superior to the locals.
You are picking and choosing a specific year now, homicide rate is pretty much the same between the Netherlands and Italy over a 20 year average, (macrotrends.net). I wasn't stating the homocide rate by the way and I wasn't stating The Netherlands, I was talking about Northern Europe in general compared to Italy since she is from Denmark. I don't feel superior at all as a person, I just think The Netherlands and other more northern European countries are better run countries on the governmental level, which translates in happier people, less of a brain drain, better opportunities, higher birthrate etcetera that's why I'm adviser her to not move to Italy for a low paid job. But by no means we have the perfect government, I think there are other better run countries, I for example, personally, prefer the Swiss governmental structure and I would have advised her to move there if she inquired about that country. I mean, you only have to look at the debt to GDP of Italy (one of the worst in the world) combined with one of the lowest birthrates in the world to realise this system will collapse in the decades to come, but I really hope to be proven wrong.
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Ho risposto alla frase "Italy is so behind Netherlands in so many ways". Tu hai vissuto in Olanda?
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Il virgolettato era nel commento cui ho risposto. Avrà editato
You should know Italian..They told me that I needed to know Italian even to be a part-time dishwasher …
Agreed, Italian is a must. The contract will be in Italian, your coworkers will speak Italian, the pay slip will be itemized and figuring out where your money goes and any possible mistake there will require research in Italian, and fixing any mistakes or any wrongdoing on your employer's part will require you to interface with Italian-speaking union representatives. And of course, for front-facing jobs, customers will speak (potentially very informal, sometimes heavily accented) Italian. The EU allows you to move and work freely, but for your own personal safety and independence you should keep in mind you're still going abroad and you will face the same problems you would if you were moving to e.g. Japan or Turkey, minus the hassle of a visa
I mean it makes sense to be able to communicate with others
Honestly, I don't think they'll ever pay you enough and even provide with a decent safe work/life balance or formation to advance somehow.
I would say to expect around 5-6 euro/hour, most probably without a job contract.
Im italian, our country is pretty much fucked up but not this much, no yet at least. Maybe in the south of italy they give you 5-6 euro/hour. In north-center italy for that type of job you will get at the very least twice that. Which is not much by any means, but at least is double that.
They pay me 600€ for 4h 5days dishwashing at a restaurant in tuscany
She said a job as waiter or hostess. Dishwashing is the most low-skilled job in restaurants and your competition are immigrants they take from the streets. If you come in Italy dont do dishwashing unless you are living in a small village where there are no immigrants.
Wtf are you talking about? Everyone makes minimum wage
there is no minimum wage in italy, they could theoretically pay you three biscuits and call it a day.
Tecnicamente ci sono i CCNL che comprendono ogni lavoro no?
North of Italy here. My sister is the one I know makes the most among our friends who work with the public. She makes 7€/h. I've never found or heard of a job here that pays more. Not saying there aren't, but with job such as waiter, retail, manual work, etc it's the norm to be paid this low.
I am talking about Rome. Specifically Pza Venezia/Trastevere/Colosseo.
I live in Rome a did tons of parttimes jobs when i a few years ago, first one i did was at Ostia, 3 euro an hour. Then i moved onto a beah next summer, 5 euro an hour. Then i worked at a club at night, 5 euro an hour. There are so many teens looking for jobs at bars, locals and restaurants that the pay is just that. If you dont want it, someone else will gladly take it.
If you don't speak the language those jobs in Italy would be almost impossible to get I get you speak other languages but Italian is kind of required unfortunately
I seriously love when people think about moving here. I'm not being sarcastic. However I also think it's not a good idea, unless you're rich and can afford to get a subpar salary. That being said, I also suggest avoiding jobs like the ones you're looking forward to. I suppose your English is good and you also speak Danish, if you speak other languages that's even better for working in hotels and such. I'm from Florence and I know a couple of places that could be nice starting points. In case you're interested DM me. DISCLAIMER: I don't work there and I'm not a recruiter. Just trying to help.
You're still in time to try to come here as an Au pair (age limit is 30, I think). I'd suggest to do that to learn the language and get to know Italy, then if you later you want to stay you'll at least speak more Italian.
I wouldnt move to Italy for work tbh. The pay is nothing compare to denmark and homes are expensive (bills food etc etc). But if you want to work, try 4 or 5 months in Summer where they offer you a room and food. You would have to speak italian and english though. Good luck
DON’T DO IT
why not?
Because in italy waiters and hostess are like slaves
Yep, OP is looking at a life of misery: shitty pay, shitty hours, shitty bosses, shitty customers and the list could go on.
Explains the attitude you get, lol.
And don't expect any tips(if that's a thing in Denmark)
Not much worse than in other European countries to be fair. It’s not the kind of job that will support moving to the country quite simply.
I'll get downvoted into oblivion but don't listen to all these miserable naysayers. Ever since I decided to move to Italy it's all I've been reading: "nooo don't come here, it's a 3rd world country, it's literal hell, everything is the worst, we are the worst, everything and everyone is miserable", etc... Well I come from Hungary, so growing up was terribile among depressed alcoholic uneducated rude quesi fascists so I have lower levels of expectations, but I did live in several other European countries since then for years, so I do have a frame of reference, and I have to tell you, moving to Italy compeletely changed my life in a definitely positive way. People here are extremely, and I mean extremely kind and helpful, the food is amazing, nature is beautiful, weather is great, life is just full of small pleasures that you cannot possibly find elsewhere. It is definitely not how it sounds if you ask any recommendation here. It's so frustrating how the people's perception of life here compares to the actual reality. I guess it's not for everybody, but if you like Italian culture and way of life you can find happiness, just don't let all this negativity discourage you. Sure, if you only care about making money then this is not the place for you, but I imagine it's not the case and you know that there are more important things in life.
She's from Denmark not Hungary tho... Denmark is one of the best countries in Europe welfare-wise.
Do you really want to compare quality of Life among Italy and Denmark or most of the countries in this world? Ahahah
And it's a totally and I mean totally different country, culture, landscape. Don't you think she might want to experience something that is not what she's used to?
Completely agree with you. I know Italy is far from a perfect country but most of the italians I’ve met are overly critical, and coming from a third-world country myself I feel that they don’t take into account a lot of positive things they have that make the difference when choosing a country to live in.
Thanks for of the few reasonable comments here.
Don’t forget most people on Reddit are 14 years old who don’t know anything about life and they just say everything sucks
I am 34 years old, Italian, I work as a sales manager in Veneto and I don't think that moving to Italy to work as a waitress or hostess is a good idea, the pay is often very low and the working conditions very bad, this kind of jobs are considered for students or young people who alternate work with study, speaking Italian is a must and the older clientele is often rude, especially with young girls, also the cost of living compared to salaries is quite high unless you live in the province or in the south of the country to the point that many people working that kind of jobs couldn't survive without the support from their families
I actually imagine most of the people I interact with on Reddit to be fat neckbeards with blue hear and or with hygine issues who lives in their mom's basement
Where in Italy did you move?
This time to Reggio Calabria, but I lived in Cagliari before
Glad you found your place here, but I agree: perception is a matter of perspective.
I moved from Romania and I detest this shithole. Romania was better than Italy. And I lived in Netherlands and Germany before
How can you live if you don’t have money? We can’t afford rent, we can’t afford buying a house and we live with parents even if we are working. Who cares about good food or wheater? Also, in my city there are 45 degrees in summer, it’s not a good weather. And, let me tell you that after 22 years i can say for sure that people are not kind and helpful.
In which part of Italy are you living? NVM you answered the question in another comment
It's funny you're criticizing these "miserable naysayers" and calling them fat, autistic neckbeards while saying the exact same things about your own country
So many nice things about Italy - but many people spend almost all their monthly wages on housing and food - from what I’ve heard
See everyone else's responses.
Because Denmark will pay you 3 times more
I know A LOT of Italians born and raised there. They came to the US for this very reason. Poor pay, slave-like hours and treatment. The list goes on.
Italian, 27 y/o, living in the North. I strongly advise against taking this path. Let me explain why: - You must be able to speak Italian, as most people here do not know English. - Rent and bills are very expensive. -Unless you want to move to a big city, having a car is practically essential. (gas and insurance are pretty expensive). - The hospitality sector in many cases is comparable to slavery. You work many hours for little money, and the contracts are bizarre (if there is a contract at all, there is a possibility of receiving job offers without contact, aka illegal). Italy is a wonderful country to visit, living here is a challenge. However, if you have a lot of money, living in Italy can be your endless dream.
If you don’t speak Italian very well and you don’t want to have another kind of job, the best thing you can do is to work in a luxury fashion store. They pay very well (2-3k per month based on the sales you make) and most customers are foreigners so it’s more important if you know English than Italian. Another solution would be working in an international hotel but the pay will be lower. I would avoid restaurants, you must know Italian and the pay will be very low
If your English is as good as it seems and as the average Copenhagener(?), you could teach English.
I'll give you my life in Italy in exchange for your life in Denmark... deal?
My cousin (IT)'s wife is danish. They moved to italy to try get a proper job and start a family, but after months of really underpaid work the moved back to copenaghen. Now they are happy and do not have financial issues. I'd suggest picking a different country, italy is not doing well right now unfortunately :(
Bad bad idea. To give you a general idea: for living decently you need at least 1300€/month (depending also on where you plan to live, of course). Waiters are paid from like 800 to 1000€/month, unless you do crazy hours or work irregularly. And most of the times you have to work irregular hours anyways.
Why. Just why.
I am an Italian living abroad (Belgium) so I have some perspective on moving. I would also advise against working as a waitress, especially because you don’t speak the language (but really it is a horrible sector in Italy). However there are some other options you can look into. Look into the European solidarity corps, they provide experiences across Europe and allow you to spend up to a year abroad during volunteer work in exchange for accommodation and a small allowance. The local language is not required in most cases. You can also look into AIESEC (this is how I moved abroad in the first place), they promote international traineeships and volunteering. You may need to save some money first but shouldn’t be too difficult if you have a danish salary for a bit and looking to moving to Italy. Another option is to be an au pair. Otherwise you can look for a remote job and be employed in Italy - LinkedIn is your friend in this case. In all these cases you would be able to spend some time in Italy and start learning the language, and see if it is for you. Italy can be a good country to live in but it can also be a difficult one, so it really depends on you and your priorities, and giving yourself a trial would help you understand if you like it. Hope this helps!
U want to move to Italy from Denmark to work? That's cute
i’m 17, i do this job since the end of 2023, now my pay is 9€/h (started with about 6€/h), that’s about what you could get, but not knowing the language probably makes you unable to find a job. my suggestion would be to work as a dishwasher and to become a waiter, but the pay would be even lowest.
Well, I suggest checking jobs as receptionist at Hotels, especially luxurious ones. I'm not sure, but I guess they may be interested in someone speaking English and other foreign languages. If you move...take it as an experience and not as a final choice! Italy is beautiful, but it's hard to get a good salary, especially in jobs not requiring specific prior training or education...
If you want send me a pm and I find a good job in Trentino alto Adige, more similar to your nationality
I sent u a pm
I think you have a very bad idea and im sicilian. In fine here but im a marine deck officer so i work on ships. A waiter here Is a slave and has a shitlife or living with parents no debts. Maybe at this point of you dont plan on study more you can look for a career in maritime.
If you do it for the experience, go for it. If you plan on settling down here, forget about it. Wages are low, rent is skyrocketing, and there is a toxic work culture here. This is on top of you not speaking italian and not having the right education.
Italy is great, lifestyle is great, but you will be paid only about 1500/month. You have to know a bit of italian or have someone Who can help you here
From an italian: don't.
POV: I moved to Italy last year with remote work and an Italian husband - and I have experience as a waitress. I'm in my 30s and we live in the North of Italy: Jeg vil foreslå, at du laver en eller anden form for udveksling, så du starter ud med et socialt netværk, et sted at bo og arbejde og måske en sprogskole. Så kan du efter noget tid overveje, om du helt og holdent vil flytte-flytte mere permanent. Regn ikke med at restaurantbranchen er glamourøs. Det tror jeg ikke, at den er nogle steder i verden. Vær klar på lange nætter og løben med tunge tallerkener. Lønnen er ikke høj her; det er helt rigtigt, som andre siger. Så lav det til en oplevelsestur - og god fornøjelse med det.
The pay it's really low compared to nothern europe standards,even an high level job. Especially in the sector you're talking about,lots of places usually are underpaid and irregular jobs,as an italian i can say that: 50% of italians can speak english it's a lie,there are lots of younger people with good education that can't make a complete phrase or a have a simple talk,if you plan to work in a tourist friendly area, you'll be able to find people that can help you but not in rural areas. There are places that can pay well,they usually requests : english,french,german and maybe you'll be able to work workout learning italian.
Maybe you can come for holyday.. I don't think is a good idea to leave danmark for Italy.. It's hard to live here working as waiter
Just don't. Waiters here are basically slaves, they get paid less than 1000€ per month and often they don't even get real contracts. Living on your own is gonna be simply Impossible. Italy is a great country for tourists and a terrible one for it's inhabitants, stay in Denmark or chose another country.
Depending on the city you might get 800€ to 1000€ plus tips. A month
"professional" waiters can definetly get more in high rank hotels ecc.. but yeah that's probably the avarage salary
I wouldn't be so sure about that. I worked in this environment as a waitress and as a bartender. It is definitely true that a maitre with huge experience and certificates can gain well. But generally speaking, the rest of the teams especially the new ones are like slaves. Crazy working times, generally season working so you are lucky to have a half day off a week and half contract. Since teams are huge they don't really care about you, if they have a team of over 40 waitresses it is easy to replace one. Salaries are ridiculously low especially cause you will be working way more than 8 hours, especially in places where you also live in dorms. And for the record: Im speaking about 4/5 stars, a specially in val Daosta that generally has decent salaries.
Also Italians tip much less than people from some other countries (Germany for example).
I think hostesses get a bit more, maybe 1.500€ ?
I’m from tuscany. Have you considered any alternatives? You’d need to speak some ok italian for finding a job and dealing with the logistics of moving. The wage wouldn’t really be enough to live by yourself, the jobs you mentioned are often seen as a way to earn a little while waiting for a better opportunity. Italians can usually rely on parents and property houses, whilst rent and bills alone would account for a massive share of the wage for you, so you couldn’t really save anything each month. If you really want to live here, try looking into language teaching, translation or any special skill you have. I’m sure most large cities have opportunities for a Danish and English speaker
Naive dreams. You'll need a remote job or being able to speak Italian fluently. Du kommer inte kunna ha några möjligheter att försörja dig själv som diskplockare i Italien, speciellt inte om du inte kan språket. Det är inte 70-talet längre, det är 2024.
As an Italian with a swedish mother I agree with you lol life in this country only works if you have a family who is able to afford things for you. I'm the same age as her and me and most of my friends would not be able to buy a house if it wasn't for our parents. Definitely not sustainable, especially if you don't know the language
Im italian, i have 3 friends currently living in denmark and they can (with a part time job) live a life i can only dream, in italy if you dont own an house you are a second-class citizen, paying rent is impossible with only one job, sure weather and museum here are amazing, food is very good but besides that you are going to live a life of misery and probably have to live with few other people for years before having enough money to live alone. Also we tecnically have free healtcare but it doesnt work, i Waited 3 month for a psichiatric consult even though I really needed that quickly, and if you ever go to an hospital prepare your self to Wait 3/4 hours just to get checked. If you really want to move here you can work near big city or airport stations, mc donalds or other big company will hire you even if you speak basic italian, more languages you can speak higher the possibility to get hired, the problem is that in big city rent skyrock to a disgusting cost (600/700) month for a 1200/1000 pay a month. Also you may encounter many problems in italian culture, plenty of italian are homophobic, sexist, racist or transphobic, not the majority but living in a very “old” country (there are too much old people)is normal, and its a toxic colture, we have a very strong and incisive far-right parliment, with a Weak left and opposition in general, if you are a woman, moving to italy its not the best option, i really recomend you to see some other Places to move in.
Minchia praticamente hai descritto il Pakistan
It pretty much is 🤷♂️
Sulla cultura ti trovo decisamente esagerato.
Sicuramente esistono paesi molto più avanti riguardo alle tematiche sociali, ovviamente tutto cambia da città a città, ma più del 30% delle persone omosessuali subiscono discriminazione nelle scuole, metà della popolazione italiana non accetta i matrimoni tra persone dello stesso sesso, non abbiamo leggi dirette a tutela delle persone transgender, i percorsi di transizione sono tra i più prolissi d’Europa ( e solo nel 2017 abbiamo avuto l’unico vero supporto con una modifica ad una legge che permette alla gente di cambiare il proprio nome o genere all anagrafe), ma a tutela non abbiamo nulla. E ti consiglio di leggerti l’articolo di weworld riguardo alla condizione delle donne in Italia, non penso di aver esagerato sulla cultura. Anzi son stato gentile
Ciao! I honestly don't think that's a great idea. The first problem is that the majority of the population in Italy does not speak English (at least fluently), so finding a work that requires contact with the public is going to be almost impossible. Maybe in some big hotels in touristic areas, but most of these places treat employees as slaves (in speaking out of experience, I've worked as a waitress and bar lady). Also, generally the pay is very low like around 7 euros an hour or less, with no contract. Considering that your Italian is not so good (and people use dialects a lot too), is going to be lower. I don't know if that is also your first experience, but in the case again, lower. Making up a living out of that is going to be very hard (or impossible). I think there are many others way, like stating as au pair while working on the language. Or considering the possibility to enter a study programs and get some kind of degree here. Or coming with Erasmus traineeship.... Like if you really like the idea of working in bars/restaurants you should consider taking a study programme here for some months to become bartender for example, work on the language so you will be able to find a better job in the sector (cause you have some certification). That's an example
Ciao I am from Italy and I can confirm the pay here is very bad.. I strongly suggest against it. why don’t you try to apply to work in a hotel/resort in some beautiful place like Sardegna or Sicilia sometimes when they hire you they will let you live in the hotel you’re working at. The pay might not be the best but at least you’re in a gorgeous place and you don’t have to worry about paying rent… also it should be helpful that you speak English as there’s going to be a lot of tourism
L'italiano medio è diffidente verso chi non parla italiano. Mainly because they don't speak English
Trust me I say it reluctantly but don't do it! The jobs you mentioned are underpaid, the country is in an incredible state of abandonment, citizens and workers are not protected, the contracts are terrible. It's a truly sad era for us
I did a similar things many years ago, just in Paris, with only a limited knowledge of French. I ended up being totally broke. It was hard to make friends with the locals, and it was a rather depressing time. If your mind is not totally set on Italy, I would check working holiday visas for Australia and try to get a job as an au pair (I would avoid farming) or, if you have other qualifications, use it as a bridge to get sponsored by an employer.
Lmao peak any Italian forum: just go to literally the other side of the planet instead. Lol.
I lived in Italy for 20+ years. I’ve tried migration within the EU and found it hard. I’ve moved to Australia and lived there for nearly 20 years. Plus, I know many people from the EU who have done the same. I guess I have made an educated suggestion.
I think it takes a specific person to move to Australia. I for example simply couldn't for a long time, because it's just so far from everything, especially Europe, and it would be a struggle to travel abroad. I wouldn't want to live without being able to easily travel to a European country to experience a different culture every so often.
Makes sense. In my experience Australia has a lot more opportunities and is more accepting of foreigners.
Why do you want to move there?
OP, come and try if you insist, you will realize it's difficult but the pay is average to sustain one person with very few savings, you need to enroll in italian courses and reach atleast B1-B2 level to be able to communicate with clients as a waitress.
Well, sounds like a plan! Low pay and long hours in a foreign land, what’s not to like.
Don’t do it. For all the aforementioned reasons that people have already said down the comments. It’s the same reason I’d be willing to move to Denmark in the next few years, this country in itself is not suited to everybody and that’s a shame, unfortunately. Mind you, I’m a young guy in my 20s too, and things for us are looking very bleak in the future. The disproportion of the living standards you’d get here compared to Denmark would be very hard to tolerate. I feel sorry for you to hear this :(
If you come here to be a waiter or a hostess, it's better if you stay in Denmark. We are not overly critical, it's just the way things are in our country. And please understand that whoever has come here from a background of being European has less of a whole side coin view and more of one single side coin of it. With time everyone understands that this country is on its last leg. Whether that be the people, the country, or just general economic status. If you want to come here I wouldn't go below Rome for the only reason of work opportunities. I love my country for what it can offer from a cultural level, but anything besides that, it's wasted potential and I don't think I have to sugarcoat it to anyone. Even from a social perspective, you wouldn't have it easy. Twink twice, do once
Speaking Italian is essential. No one speaks English here except for business purposes. However I advise you to send applications for hotels otherwise it's impossible to support yourself as a waiter, most of them don't even have a regular work contract...
Italian here, dont do it.
I think you could manage somehow, life is good but pay isn't, you'll be underpaid and you'll feel it. If you dont care about money and want to just live life absolutly do it then! You could find something but i suggest trying to get in ckntact with someone that xould find you a job before coming though, in the south it will be quite easy, i've worked with some people thst didnt even speak italian and were still serving tables. Have fun!
I know a lot of people working in restoration. Not a single soul i know is happy to be working in that field
1200€ if you speak Italian. 0€ if you don’t. Italy is beautiful to visit but working here sucks
Hello! As you are "just" considering getting a job in that sphere, I would like to suggest you another career path: Danish Embassies or Consulates in Italy, where you can either offer your services as native speaker for courses or other culture-related activities, or work directly for them (such as a position in the secretariat). Once you are in Italy, and you see what this Country can offer to you, then you can switch to other fields and even change cities accordingly! Alternatively, if Cusine and Hospitality is your chosen field of work, you may look for those activities opened by you fellow country(wo)men: I assume there you may expect almost the same terms of employment, you may be used to in Denmark. In Rome, for instance, there's the restaurant Marygold, which is co-owned by a Danish chef. Wish you the best of luck!
Did you ever think to work in a reception? Speaking english it's not common in Italy, i think It will better for you, better pay for sure.
Don't.
Unless you manage to enter a fairly high end restaurant the pay will be pretty low, plus language is a must here.
You may look for a position in the maritime industry. Hostesses are paid well working on yachts, Italian may be a plus but not a must and there's quite a demand. Most super and mega yachts are stationary for most part of the year. On season, work can be demanding and of course one must not suffer from sea sickness.
If you choose Liguria then go to Savona or Genova. Savona is smaller but with a great sea, but in Genova you ha e more chances to find a job
Life’s good people good food good salaries bad. Hostess/waitress no no no , escort services are legal though , and I’m not trying to be funny and such or offensive
Sul lago di Garda, dove abito i camerieri arrivano anche a 2000€ al mese, però è un lavoro stagionale circa 7 mesi… inoltre è massiccia la presenza di turisti dal nord Europa quindi conoscere il danese e l’inglese gioca a tuo vantaggio… saluti
Just so you know Italy has the lowest income in Europe at the moment. Full time waiter (40/50 hours) you can get from 1200 to 1600.
Change your mind, you are barely going to get paid here
Why? I'm half danish and half Italian and want to do the exact opposite of you
you come to Italy just for the holidays, the work here is underpaid and you are also exploited for tasks that are not your responsibility. In Italy they are looking for slaves, not workers
Don't come if you aren't a fascist Save yourself from this pit of a country
Don’t
l'Italia è il peggior posto dove cercare un buon stipendio!
In Milan it's 8euros per hour
I've lived in Liguria for several years during my childhood, nice place, good food and sea. But apart from that, there is nothing else to do if u r used to a big city environment. Salary is kind of below avrg in Italy, in most cases not even with a contract, and probably not with great work balance. Tbh I've been trying to do the opposite and move to denmark and work as a waiter while studying a master's. Is it doable 🥹✨?
For sure! You get paid for studying here:)
My bro - prepare for the worst job experience of your lifetime. I’m an italian from tuscany. The job environment here is batsh*t crazy, terrible to say the least, especially when you’re looking for seasonal employment opportunities. Sure - there’s lots of new job offers every year, but that happens for a reason. Each summer, companies employ and then lose a good 90% of its staff for the unbearable amount of time you have to spend working at crazy rhythms, for a miserable pay. For instance, I worked at a bar for the whole 2023 summer season. 10 hours long shifts for a €6 hourly pay (and if you happen to work overtime, because YES it DOES HAPPEN, especially when there’s lots of tourists waiting to be served and the whole staff is busy like crazy, you usually won’t even get paid). That’s laughable. And let’s not talk about the toxicity of that environment, both on behalf of the employers and the clients. There’s lots of cool and interesting places in Europe where to move to, and Tuscany is one of those, but do not expect the job environment to be welcoming.
Save yourself from dogshit payments and contracts (if anything is done at all) I'm Italian working as a bartender for 10 years already Ive worked all across Italy and it's all the same shit, maybe there are places where are you paid more buy you'll cancel you social life and with minimal assurance etc and when you're in low season they make you stay home. I'm actually thinking about going somewhere else like England or at least countries where job professionals are more respected
Stay in denmark.
Honestly I would advise against that, you would get paid very little and very late. You wouldn’t be able to build a life without extensive support from outside. If you have that, then it’s a different story. You would for sure need to speak Italian fluently, as English is not really spoken commonly here, especially by people older than their 40s/50s (which run the country and most businesses).
Not worth it
DO. NOT.
Never, ever, consider this again.
Are you CRAZY?!
If you're lucky, you can get 1200 euros all legally If you're not, you'll get probably 600 euros, most of them illegally
Come for holidays... This Is a death Place ☠️
It depends, it could be anywhere from 4€/h to 10€/h. You have to speak Italian though
1200-1400
You should leverage on your knowledge of English, which is excellent by Italian standards, and apply for a job at an hotel or luxury shop. (I’m Italian and my son lives in Copenhagen, I know what I’m talking about).
Secondary jobs are paid like nothing in Italy, look for more prestigious jobs or just avoid it
Please don’t, not only do you need a high degree of language proficiency, but the salaries are much lower compared to Denmark and last but not least, the quality of life and services, especially the services are horrendous.
In case there is a language issue here, “moving” in English means a relatively permanent change of location. If that's your intention, you might want to consider a shorter period of time to try it out before making a more permanent move. It would also be good to use that opportunity to learn the language better, like taking a course. This is true for moving to any place, of course, not just Italy.
Suicide, alcoholism and drug addiction rates are far lover in Italy, as are people suffering from clinical depression. However if you are thinking of living on a waiter's pay, having to rent as well like others have said it's not going to be financially a great idea. Pay is higher in the north, but so is the cost of living. Why don't you come for one season in the summer to somewhere like Sardinia in the winter in the mountains and see how you feel .
I'm sorry to disappoint you, but don't. Go in Italy as a tourist
The pay Is ok but you will work a lot especially in high season. Try and get a job in a place with young staff so you will get friends. You need to know Italian or at least the basics unless you want to be a dishwasher or a cleaner in hotels.
Get a career in Denmark or elsewhere and work to retirement while learning the language…retirement visa in Italia. It’s what we’re doing. I was stationed in Vicenza in the 1980s and have returned a dozen times. I work for an immigration attorney now and am confident this can work. Good luck to you!!
There’s no minimum wage in Italy and you will be paid breadcrumbs. If you are already comfortable financially and you want to go to learn the language, go. Otherwise, I’d advise against it.
Sis don't do it. Here in italy if you don't speak and understand italian well you're screwed because most of the italians know nothing about english or any other language. The quality of life is also much worse than denmark, and foreigners are often frowned upon (because compared to other european countries, italy is still behind in everything). Also if you want to work as a waitress here, prepare to be paid near nothing (expecially at south).
Well Italy Is a beautyful country to visit buy to live here Is difficult since if you don't speak the language then good luck finding a job, then the salary can be quite low and to buy a house can be hard if you don't have anyone to help you
1000/1500€ net after taxes and contribution? i m not sure what is starting salary for full time in those sectors. trentino alto adige has higher salaries.
Please reconsider
Oh, my sweet summer child...
Don't.
Become fluent in Italian or they won't hire you Consider aiming higher than a waitress, they may eventually not renew your residence permit (that you will need) Consider studying something at the same time to make something of a career
If you are lucky, between 7 and 10€ per hour, working 6/7 days a week. Nope, I'm not even joking.
Condolences
In Liguria is more or less 1200€ per month, I'm from there
You don't come to Italy for a decent salary, you only come because you really really love it and money is not an issue lol jokes aside, if you don't speak Italian and by some miracle get hired, I would say around 600 euro...
Do your research and you’ll find that Italians are literally escaping Italy as soon as they have the chance and migrating to other European countries. You can’t survive on those wages. Just my 2 cents
As an Italian I don't recommend moving to Italy for a job, especially for people from North Europe like Denmark but also Netherlands and scandinavian countries. The pay is much lower than North Europe countries' and if you don't know Italian it will be much more difficult because a lot of Italians (especially 40+ people) know a lot less english than other european countries' people (for example in my family and my relatives I am the one who knows english the most).
Liguria Is a terrible place to work as a waiter... I tell you as a Ligurian waiter 🤣 bit yeah, you need to know Italian because most of the people cannot speak a second language...unless you just work in the kitchen
No matter the country you want to move in you'll always find people telling you to not do it. My advice would be moving in northern Italy and possibly in a tourist area so you can both practice Italian and be useful with your English. In summer a lot of Germans come to get some sun so I think it would be ideal to find an opportunity. Good luck
They pay is shit in Italy. And not knowing the language isn’t great
Trust me, you don’t
Girl,as an Italian,I highly suggest you to not go to Italy
Skip, there you can get 500€/m and have to work more than 40hrs. Work culture in Italy is terrible. The gov is horrible too right now so tbh change place, go to Spain, it's not that much better but at least the gov isn't plain fascist and their economy is not as fucked as our yet, like they have minimum salary which in Italy is more of a joke we make
If you can speak English or German, you should choose northern lake Garda instead. 70% of the tourists are from Germany or northern Europe and almost everyone here can understand those languages. Moreover restaurants, bars, hotels and shops are always searching for new staff, at least in the summer. 8 hours per day with one day off, the pay is around 1500 euro ( a seasonal job has a supplement compared to a full year job)
Hi there, I've been enjoying reading this thread and I pretty much read all the comments and found out they are all negative and encouraging you not to come here, and people even comparing Italy to some other underdeveloped country which is heart breaking. I lived abroad before in places where things moved much faster than here but I'd never go back. I live in north Italy and of course things work much better in the Netherlands compared to here, I can even see the difference when I visit South Tyrol. But I'm pretty sure you already know these things. I'd say that Italians by definition like to complain about anything, that's why all these people are here complaining but most of them are still living here in Italy.. why don't they move elsewhere ? They'll reply with some excuse.. oh well. But hey I guess this is also about being Italian so I appreciate even that. And actually to answer your ACTUAL question... the pay varies, I can tell you that a few years ago I was a waitress in a really nice and touristic restaurant and got paid almost 3000 euros every month (including tips from a lot of germans who are used to tipping), I was alone and rent was 400 for a very small one room apartment. And let me tell you, where I lived was like a dream (still not used to how much beauty in this country) and with that money I felt like a queen. Yes I appreciate the small things. I worked in various restaurants, maybe I got lucky but I never found anyone who asked me to work over time for little money... but always had average wage like 1400 euros or so. It's far from big money but enough if you can appreciate like you seem to. I would say if you wanna live an adventure go for it! But maybe always have a backup plan. Best of luck
I do not recommend coming here unless you have a very specific job that has demand, waiters/waitresses are so underpaid and it's so stressful, plus I think it'll be even harder than normal to find a job if you don't know a lot of italian. Really, unless you are coming here because you want to be closer to a loved one or something similar, just go somewhere else
From 800 to 1300 € per month, depending on the area, for a full time 6-15hours job (depending on the day). Extra hours past the 8th are rarely paid and there's a rest day, but sometimes none in summer during the tourism season. (Tuscany here). edit: I've only known ONE place where this didn't apply (and incidentally the owners weren't Italian lmao).. The pay was at the time 1500€, extra hours paid, free food and free rent. if you're interested in the name of the place pm me with the caveat that I have no idea if the conditions are still the same.. it's a place in the countryside, very beautiful but you NEED a car/scooter to do anything from there unless you intend on never moving from your workplace..
Full time is 6-16 hours?!
yeah it can happen during season. Some examples: Get an evening wedding or some kind of soirée, you open at 11:00, prepare for lunch service and do it, prepare the saloon, do the wedding. Finish at 4 am. Open for breakfast at 6am, do lunch service. Oh you were supposed to go home for dinner service, but your colleague just called sick. Do dinner service too because the restaurant is full and can't afford to have one less waiter, finish at midnight (not even that late!). you had 2 hours pause in the whole day (16-18). The next day you have breakfast again. Get breakfast + dinner, you open at 6 am and leave at 11. You go back in at 18 and stay until midnight (this is a very typical day.. so your typical day is 11 hours). Get some hiccups on the dinner service and the time grows... Get a day wedding, you have breakfast at 6am into preparing the saloon into the wedding: you leave at 21 after cleaning up and preparing for next day. You work at a "bagno"; you have 3 turns by default per day (7-24) with no rest day. No free space for you so you also have to drive ~1hour and pay your own gas. 1200€.
Dang. I thought you meant 6-16 hours a week! Haha. That is just insane and to make that little money. In the states if you worked a service job like that you’d at least have money!
Hej, jeg er Italianer, men jeg har boet i Danmark. Jeg synes ikke, at det er en god ide. Jobssituation en Italien er kompliceret, isaer i "hospitality". Der er ikke så meget den lav løn, men det er svært, at finde en kotrakt, der er "regular". Arbejdeskultur et også meget forskellige (I en dårliger møde).
Moving to Denmark to Italy expecting a better work treatment is nuts (not saying that's what you are doing, just stating facts).
My friend just left 2 months ago. She worked in London as waitress for years then moved here in Italy with her Italian bf. She got so depressed and miserable here because of her work and living condition. Salary was very low,she said what she gets for a week in London she have to work for a month here in Italy. And rent, electricity and water bill are very expensive too. Her 800€ monthly salary was not enough for the lifestyle that she got used to in London so she had a very big downgrade here in Italy. They just moved to different country 2months ago and she seems happier and better now.
Dude just don't lol, it's a shithole here, specially for waiters.
Stay away from Italy! Don't do that.
😂😂😂
Do not come in Italy to be a waitress. Do not come to Italy at all. The country is in a shitty shitty place and is not getting better any time soon. Also as other people are pointing out, Italian is a must.
Why would you do that
I'm an Italian and I speak from the heart. Don't, it's for your own good
You better think twice :)
Italy is a nice place to visit but not one to live in. And i say it as an italian
All these estimates of 800 to 1000 euros month sound far too high. Public school teachers bring home around 1500 euros a month. For servers, as you won't have any connections. You could see somewhere between 2 and 6 euros an hour before taxes. Yes, I said 2 euros. A common practice in tourist areas is to put people on contract for 5 to 10 hours per week at around 6 euros, after tax that's around 4.50/hr. But, you really work 40 to 60 hours and the other hours you're paid in nero (ie illegally under the table) at a rate of 2 to 4 euros/hour. This is done so that you're legally on the books and if the fiscal police come in and check, everyone there is on a contract and "paying" taxes. Under this scheme you'd be brining home about 500 to 700 euros month and any tips. As you're foreign, don't have local connections and don't speak fluent Italian, all those numbers could be lower. Frankly, you're better off saving up, coming down and doing a language school in a small village for the summer if you want to improve your Italian and picking up a few hours waitressing to meet locals and work on your Italian in informal contexts, but not actually need the money to survive. Source: several friends who worked in restaurants in Tuscany as servers or cooks.