Hi,
I’m being offered a 4 year contract (to be extended or permanent hire if all goes well) to work in Osaka for company I currently work for. It would be a transfer.
I’m 32 years old and make 125K right now. My rent in San Diego, CA is 2.5k a month (with utilities) and I pay about 600$ a month for my car payment, insurance and gas.
The contract being offered is around JPY 13,000,000 annually after bonuses and the company pays for ~70% of housing costs via a housing allowance. Vacation benefits seem to remain the same. Relo is covered and pretty standard (ship some things, an allowance to replace furniture and household items, paid travel over, help finding housing and setting up bank accounts and phone, help with taxes at end of year).
I know salaries are smaller in Japan, but the cost of living will be way less in Osaka compared to California. But the JPY is doing pretty badly right now.
The working environment will be in the English language, with a fairly international team. The company offers some language learning services and I’d be committed to learning the language, but know it would be a factor towards some isolation.
I’m gay, and think this might help with social networking (as it usually does in any city or move or international trip).
It feels like a crazy opportunity to experience living abroad. And the project I’ll be working on would be fantastic for my resume.
Looking for thoughts on what that kind of salary feels like over there. Things I should be worried about? Things I should consider? General thoughts.
Thanks in advance.
by whoami2373