is Dom's view overly pessimistic?
Huh? It's rather optimistic.
First of all, it's not as if the OP has got any of those offers from 'richer' WEU countries, so until he has that problem, saying that he could make 'x' more elsewhere remains strictly a hypothetical exercise.
And that's what I'm optimistic about. This is a senior engineer with eight years experience as a UNIX specialist. Pretty much in demand just about everywhere. I highly doubt he will have much trouble finding a much better job elsewhere. He's a shoo-in.
The salary on offer here seems well above both the national average and the industry in PL, no questions about that. He can move on to greener pastures form there whenever he wishes.
He can also move on to greener pastures directly from India. No need to use Poland as a stepping stone. And possibly even smarter financially in the end, and certainly in terms of networking and family comfort. It's going to be MUCH easier for him to effectively network in India than in Poland, and that means a lot in terms of finding a good job.
you are a potential WEU employer in the IT sector who has two candidates with nearly identical qualifications, except one is living and working in India, and the other one is in the EU.
Except that this guy won't really be "in the EU". He will have only temporary residence status, and they would have to do everything from scratch again as far as work and residence permits are concerned. On paper, he might as well be back in India. The fact that he's physically here really doesn't make that much difference. The only possible advantage I see there is that he can fly in for an interview.
Obviously PL has a long way ahead in order to catch up to the salary levels of WEU (the average is currently at about... 2/3 of EU?)
Not by a long shot. About a quarter to a third for IT engineers compared to the richer countries of Western Europe. Maybe it's 2/3 if you count in Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece, but that would be meaningless.
but to automatically discard such offer in the absence of any others would be a bit harsh to say the least.
I'm assuming he currently has a job in India, so it's not a choice of working in Poland or being unemployed.
Despite all the shortcomings, technical education in PL, and especially in IT, still does carry positive connotation in EU, so Polish IT alumni do tend have a good reputation among those 'in the know' wherever. I've recently spoken to an Indian IT and economics alumni who studied in both India and PL and it was his strong conviction that the quality/level was definitely higher in PL.
Poland and India are at about the same level as far as technical education is concerned. Any differences in the acceptability of degrees would be minor. The "Polish engineers have a good reputation" is largely a meaningless mantra. They don't have a bad reputation, don't get me wrong, but not a stellar one on a global scale.
Briefly, can you explain what advantages
this guy would get from coming to Poland versus staying in India for the time being and continuing to look for a better job from there? I can't see any. Big ones, at least. Whatever small short term financial gain he may derive is going to be more than offset by the drop in quality of life for him and his family. They are going to be away from their families, friends and networks in a strange place where they don't speak the language and they will be outsiders in an ugly city in a poor country with a terrible winter and there will be zero chances for the wife to find work and I can go on and on and on. Whatever small advantages there might be seem not to be worth the bother of making the trip.
