Where is the "silicon valley " of Europe for electronics jobs?

[ocset]

..Especially related to jobs where they might want a power supply to be done?

[Gyro]

Well the M4 corridor (centered around Reading) is probably the UK's silicon valley, but I doubt many of the companies want PSU designers. Otherwise the M27 corridor (Portsmouth - Southampton). I doubt if many companies in the US Silicon valley have many opportunities either - maybe apps engineers of PSU silicon.

You could always move to China.

[tggzzz]

The two key places are Silicon Fen and London to Bristol; possibly plus S Wales.

Technologies and businesses change. There's a key career choice to be made: be a "jack of all trades and master of none" or a "world expert in X". Either are valid, both have advantages and disadvantages.

I was once offered a job making magnetic core memories; I declined

[SiliconWizard]

..Especially related to jobs where they might want a power supply to be done?

China? 

[Towger]

First thing first. After the 31 of October you may not be able to work in Europe! 

[ocset]

First thing first. After the 31 of October you may not be able to work in Europe! 

Thanks, thats a good point...for the last year or so i am noticing loads of German and French plate cars on British roads...its all British who have returned from Europe as they fear the 31 october.
I have no idea what it actually means...i thought all that happens is you get a visa and its fine?

[SiliconWizard]

Well, first, not all european countries are in the EU. Just saying. I know this may sound like a shock to some.

That said, if people not being citizens of the EU were not allowed to work in an EU country, I think we would all have noticed by now.

[Warhawk]

Munich is also an attractive location for EEs.

[khs]

Munich is great. But it's the most expensive city in Germany...
Actual price for 100 sqm (older) flat: 1 million euro.

[Warhawk]

Munich is great. But it's the most expensive city in Germany...
Actual price for 100 sqm (older) flat: 1 million euro.

Unfortunately, I know this from my own experience  My dream is to have a smaller house somewhere. Anything less than 1h20m commuting distance from Munich is insanely expensive. It's same for my home country too. More affordable places typically don't offer job alternatives. As a young guy starting with the family, I've been trying to solve this puzzle for some time. With our rather premium income, it still means 40 years of a mortgage.

Also, I am wondering if this is a kind of bubble which pops up in the future. The costs and salaries difference can reach up to a factor of 3 between cities and towns within the same country. This is hardly healthy and sustainable. I would not be surprised if international corporations started bailing out from big cities because it's simply not worth it.

[coppice]

Munich is great. But it's the most expensive city in Germany...
Actual price for 100 sqm (older) flat: 1 million euro.

Isn't that just in the heart of Munich? Most of the electronics (and other engineering) work seems to surround Munich, and be within a sensible commute of cheaper and nicer places to live.

[Warhawk]

Closer to the city center you get more expensive it gets but staying far away won't help much. I work and stay in Freising which is about 45 minutes from Munich and it is the same story. (Erding, Landshut etc.). Every morning and afternoon there are traffic jams caused by commuters working in Munich. Using the train does not help much due to infamous Deutsche Bahn reliability and cost. 
 

[coppice]

Closer to the city center you get more expensive it gets but staying far away won't help much. I work and stay in Freising which is about 45 minutes from Munich and it is the same story. (Erding, Landshut etc.). Every morning and afternoon there are traffic jams caused by commuters. Using the train does not help much due to infamous Deutsche Bahn reliability and cost. 

The whole area around Freising is an interesting mix of lovely open roads and traffic jams.

[excitedbox]

NRW is considered the silicon valley of Germany. Particularly Essen, Aachen, Düsseldorf, Köln Area. These cities are all clustered together in the northwest of Germany but still only a short hop from Frankfurt. There happens to be a little city in the middle of those cities called Krefeld which used to be known for silk production but since the factories all closed is now quite poor. Why do I mention this city? Housing prices.

The cost of apartments and houses is incredibly cheap compared to the surrounding cities, yet you are only 30-40min from all of them by train. So my recommendation is to live in the Krefeld area and work in one of those cities surrounding it.

Only downside to living in Krefeld is the beggars in the downtown areas. The nicer parts of the city are really clean and beautiful though.

[Warhawk]

NRW is considered the silicon valley of Germany. Particularly Essen, Aachen, Düsseldorf, Köln Area. These cities are all clustered together in the northwest of Germany but still only a short hop from Frankfurt. There happens to be a little city in the middle of those cities called Krefeld which used to be known for silk production but since the factories all closed is now quite poor. Why do I mention this city? Housing prices.

The cost of apartments and houses is incredibly cheap compared to the surrounding cities, yet you are only 30-40min from all of them by train. So my recommendation is to live in the Krefeld area and work in one of those cities surrounding it.

Only downside to living in Krefeld is the beggars in the downtown areas. The nicer parts of the city are really clean and beautiful though.

And what kind of job opportunities and positions we're talking about?
Munich area: TI, ON semi, ADI (+Linear), Apple, Intel, IDT, Infineon, BMW, Silabs, NXP, National Instruments, Siemens, Osram, Dialog, Cypress, Cree, Qualcomm, PI ... (I am quite sure I missed many) = all of them pay premium for premium development positions.

[excitedbox]

There is this thing called the "Branchen Buch" which is like an industry directory that you can look in. It is kinda like a yellow pages and you can search by industries and city. I know there is a pretty big international company making test equipment in Krefeld but I forget the name.

My sister paid 800 a month for a tiny 16sqm room in a shared apartment in Munich. While I pay 300 for 50sqm in NRW. For 800 a month I can rent a 3 bedroom house out here. In Munich that same house will cost you close to 5k a month. The premium those companies pay do not cover that difference.

[Warhawk]

There is this thing called the "Branchen Buch" which is like an industry directory that you can look in. It is kinda like a yellow pages and you can search by industries and city. I know there is a pretty big international company making test equipment in Krefeld but I forget the name.

My sister paid 800 a month for a tiny 16sqm room in a shared apartment in Munich. While I pay 300 for 50sqm in NRW. For 800 a month I can rent a 3 bedroom house out here. In Munich that same house will cost you close to 5k a month. The premium those companies pay do not cover that difference.

I pay about 900 warm in Freising for 56 sqm. This is a very good deal which I got four years ago. A friend of mine joined our company and he pays over 1500 warm for ~95sqm (he has two toddlers). You're right that the premium companies pay won't compensate for cost of living. However, having a choice is important. I would not mind earning less but don't want to sell my soul to a single company in the area.
Thanks for the Branchen Buch tip..

[excitedbox]

I paid 600 Warm for 96sqm near Gießen Germany which is actually a very nice area near Frankfurt but it was a small town 15 min drive from Gießen so no matter what you had to drive everywhere you wanted to go. My Ex and I paid 475 Warm in Krefeld for 76sqm. so about half of what you are paying. Krefeld has everything you need for daily life except there is not much nightlife. But like I said you can be in 4-5 cities in less than 45 min by train.

[Ysjoelfir]

Aaaah, NRW, my homeland I would absolutely love to move back there - sadly I started to work at a very nice company in Oberursel near Frankfurt and I don't think that I can move back home soon. Which is a pity, I have worked on SWMBOs oppinion on staying in Frankfurt and finaly had her to move to NRW - but suddenly there was this job opportunity and now she is like "I don't want to stay here anymore" :S

So now I live in Frankfurt, the second most expensive place to live in Germany. Yay.
Regarding technology in NRW: There are MANY factories. NRW is heaven for everyone that is not looking for a position in development but rather in production.
Development seems to be indeed a bit further south around Frankfurt to Munich.
Which is also a pity, since the expenses you pay here for rent are in no way covered by the slightly higher wages. A comparison: With one of my first jobs as a simple repair technician I got 2000€ before taxes and would have paid around 500€ for a 80m² 3 room flat in Heiligenhaus, with a nice basement and a single garage included. Right now I get around 2600€ as a soon to be engineer but pay 1200€ for 76m² with 3 rooms, no garage, no basement, near the A5, A66 and A648 highways (=sleeping wigh an open window and without earplugs? forget it!). An additional 100€ is needed for a garage some kilometers away from my flat.

[excitedbox]

Frankfurt is a nice city though and you are in the center of Germany so everything is pretty close by. I Was born in Darmstadt and spent a lot of time in Frankfurt as a kid.

[jogri]

Has anyone mentioned Dresden (also in germany) yet? They have quite a few big companies in that region (you can find a Wikipedia list if you search for "silicon saxony") and the living costs are rather low.

[ocset]

Thanks, i havew written this website Guide for people wanting to study Electronics in UK.....
https://massey276.wixsite.com/electronicsdegree

Does anyone have a guide for how to get work in the EU in electronics? (eg Belgium, Germany, France, Holland, Sweden etc etc)

..how to go about it?
Eg, how do you register  your car over there, how you deal with banking, do you have to pay council tax and how do you pay it etc etc?
What is eg the German equivalent of "rightmove.com" for finding accomodation

I believe Dyson is going to collapse soon, following the failure of  its  Electric car business, and this will flood the UK with electronics engineers, and with hardly any jobs for them,  there will be nowhere to work in UK for electronics.

[brabus]

Few know that, but the area around Graz (in the Styria Region, Austria) can be considered an authentic silicon valley here. Basically every big company (Intel, Nexperia, AMS, STM, you name it...) has an office there. Samsung just opened a HUGE battery development centre a few kilometers south.

I lived in Graz for five years and I can give you some good advice, just pop me a message, I can explain you some stuff also regarding your car, the taxes, etc.

Also, living there is quite cheap, you pay ~500 rent for a good apartment, and earn between 2500 and 5000€ netto per month basing on your experience.