Working in Norway

[fathomfive]

Not sure where to put this, so mods, if you need to, please shift it.

I'm looking at the possibility of working out in Norway on some oil & gas or subsea projects.

I'm wondering if anyone has experience of doing so (going from the UK) and can give me some advice etc - living costs blah blah blah.

[Disco You]

The cost to live is high, salaries are high, tax is high and cars are expensive.

[fathomfive]

Disco You said:

The cost to live is high, salaries are high, tax is high and cars are expensive.

But the women are pretty fit though. Aren't they?

[tomash]

Currently working in Copenhagen so while not quite norway its similar.

Cost of living well that depends but if you are going to be earning money in Norwegian Kronor then it should be ok so long as you dont try to do currency conversions in your head.

Become teatotal, the cost of alchohol is astronomical. In fact its astronomical in Denmark and the Norwegians and Swedes come here to drink because its cheap.

I'm assuming Oil and Gas Means Stavanger so bear in mind it gets dark in November and light again in February. While snow is great for a week or so after 3 months of snow and Freezing conditions (thats probably averaging -25C) it tends to get you down a bit. You will need to buy decent cold weather gear, do it in Norway not in the UK.

Mind you playing football in full sun at midnight in the summer is quite an entertaining thing to do.

All in all Scandinavia is an interesting place to be the people are generally pretty welcoming and the al speak really good english. The eye candy is so much better than the UK and the proportion of blondes and redheads is much higher here in northern europe.

I made the move a couple of years ago and i can only say go for it!

[fathomfive]

tomash said:

Currently working in Copenhagen so while not quite norway its similar.

Cost of living well that depends but if you are going to be earning money in Norwegian Kronor then it should be ok so long as you dont try to do currency conversions in your head.

Become teatotal, the cost of alchohol is astronomical. In fact its astronomical in Denmark and the Norwegians and Swedes come here to drink because its cheap.

I'm assuming Oil and Gas Means Stavanger so bear in mind it gets dark in November and light again in February. While snow is great for a week or so after 3 months of snow and Freezing conditions (thats probably averaging -25C) it tends to get you down a bit. You will need to buy decent cold weather gear, do it in Norway not in the UK.

Mind you playing football in full sun at midnight in the summer is quite an entertaining thing to do.

All in all Scandinavia is an interesting place to be the people are generally pretty welcoming and the al speak really good english. The eye candy is so much better than the UK and the proportion of blondes and redheads is much higher here in northern europe.

I made the move a couple of years ago and i can only say go for it!

Cheers,

Stavanger would be the first choice for me (local, direct flights from Newcastle) and flying in and out every other week. I know what I'd be getting after tax etc and knew it wouldn't be cheap to live or drink.

[Robert Burns]

Already working in Norway at the moment.

Tips on living out here as I'm on a rota, for the next 2 years.

Nice place, expensive, where i'm at, just for myself to feed myself the stuff I would have in the UK is double most the time. Can get a bit more expensive on certain things. Pizza is crazy.

The tax is nuts. But if you live here you get the benifits. If you want to continue to live in UK but working Norway then be ready to fight the taxman on both sides. I'm getting a tax bill from Norway and UK, not happening. But the company I work for are dealing with it.

If your wanting to get into the oil and gas, why not the UKCS, far greater chance than NCS?

Apart from that, Good looking girls but the Oil and Gas are either in Hammerfest (where I am) or Rigs. Not really a huge amount onshore.

Edited by Robert Burns on Monday 29th April 14:54

[jshell]

fathomfive said:

Not sure where to put this, so mods, if you need to, please shift it.

I'm looking at the possibility of working out in Norway on some oil & gas or subsea projects.

I'm wondering if anyone has experience of doing so (going from the UK) and can give me some advice etc - living costs blah blah blah.

I did this 2 years ago and now live in Stavanger. So,

Pros:

High salaries
Easy travel connections
The industry is in boom-time, cannot get staff fom anywhere so paying top dollar + living expenses. Centre of the world for Subsea technology.
Some very, very stunning girls. Like just walked out of Supermodel Magazine, stunning.
Everyone pretty friendly and speaks English
Good social life
You can cycle everwhere as there are paths, tracks, races and comapnies have great lockers/shower facilities
Practically no violence, very low crime
Everyone is valued in society
Even the winos have money and somewhere to live.
When you go back to the UK you can tax free shop and get a 20% discount.
Access to the countryside and skiing is unparalleled

Cons:

fking expensive
The roads and driving are as st as st can be as everyone is scared of speeding tickets so they dawdle everywhere
The winters aren't really cold here, they are dark and wet, wet like horizontal speeding dum-dum bullets, wet.
Summer rarely makes 20deg C, but being out at night it's light all night and town centre is just a big party.
Shops are pretty crap, their designer label is a tractor.


PM me if you want more!

Edited by jshell on Monday 29th April 15:04

[jshell]

Robert Burns said:

Apart from that, Good looking girls but the Oil and Gas are either in Hammerfest (where I am) or Rigs. Not really a huge amount onshore.

That's not true, Stavanger is Norway's Oil Capital and is booming. Simply cannot get people into the industry fast enough with expansion everywhere. Everything from IOC main offices to construction quays and every offshre contractor you can name.

[fathomfive]

jshell said:

PM me if you want more!

Edited by jshell on Monday 29th April 15:04

PM sent.

Cheers

[M001]

I travel to various places in Norway fairly regular and love the place. Apart from the sky high prices, but expenses cover that, there is nothing not to like.

In Oslo, i have never seen so many stunning women and everyone is friendly and chilled out wherever you are.

If i had the opportunity, and my girlfriend didn't hate the cold so much, i would love to move there.

[Robert Burns]

jshell said:

Robert Burns said:

Apart from that, Good looking girls but the Oil and Gas are either in Hammerfest (where I am) or Rigs. Not really a huge amount onshore.

That's not true, Stavanger is Norway's Oil Capital and is booming. Simply cannot get people into the industry fast enough with expansion everywhere. Everything from IOC main offices to construction quays and every offshre contractor you can name.

I should have put in that even Aberdeen is not massive,

Huge I mean Middle East, Norway has a good amount but as you say can't get industry fast enough, just like anywhere in the world in the sector, Brazil want the skills, Middle East Still, Asia, North America. Its is a world wide skill but the skills coming in aren't keeping up.

[MagicalTrevor]

tomash said:

I'm assuming Oil and Gas Means Stavanger so bear in mind it gets dark in November and light again in February. While snow is great for a week or so after 3 months of snow and Freezing conditions (thats probably averaging -25C) it tends to get you down a bit. You will need to buy decent cold weather gear, do it in Norway not in the UK.

Stavanger is in the South West of the country and is similar to North Scotland in terms of daylight. Yes, it gets dark early but nothing like "dark in November and light again in February", that's the North!

Stavanger is lovely though, I have family out there. fking expensive though!

[NRS]

MagicalTrevor said:

Stavanger is in the South West of the country and is similar to North Scotland in terms of daylight. Yes, it gets dark early but nothing like "dark in November and light again in February", that's the North!

Stavanger is lovely though, I have family out there. fking expensive though!

I've been living in Norway the last few years. Trondheim first, and now up to Harstad (up past the Arctic circle). Travelled to Bergen and Stavanger a lot so have a good feeling of the general changes.

Stavanger - as said similar to Scotland in regards to light and winter weather. Someone mentioned snow sucks after a while. However in Stavanger (and even more in Bergen) you will get a lot more rain, which in my opinion sucks even more. In Trondheim the winter is colder, but it means you can actually do stuff - cross country skiing is good fun. It's easy to dress for a cold day to keep warm. However cold rain will eventually get you wet despite having good clothes, so you're more likely to be enjoying activities outside with snow. Much more busy in regards to traffic. But more going on with international people.

Trondheim winter - bit darker so you have to do stuff to keep happy. The general stuff is cross-country skiing, downhill skiing, chilling out at people's houses. However it's not too bad. Temperatures go down to -25C at the coldest, but normally are around -5C (perfect for XC skiing). Summer activities are walking in the mountains, mountain biking, BBQ, utepils (beer outside), fishing etc. Up to around 27C, probably more normally around 20C though. However around 20C and sun and you get the benefit of a lot of girls out in the parks in bikinis.

Harstad - Moved here a few weeks ago so not got too much to say. Much smaller, it appears there are no girls between 17 and 35, not much nightlife. However amazing nature, quiet roads, they don't seem to care as much about speed limits, brilliant skiing. Already light the whole night.

Few general comments:

Girls, amazing. Not sure where the redheads are - not seen almost any here!

It takes time to get to know Norwegians. They also don't feel the need to talk all the time either, which can be nice. Very friendly though. Family is very important to them. Generally they appreciate what they have more than the UK - I think it's as a result of this that they look far less worn out and tired. However they're very social and talkative when drunk. Quiet like the UK, just missing the violence and shouting abuse at each other.

Work - you're as important as the work. 4pm - office empties. On a sunny Friday that will be nearer 2:30 as everyone leaves for their cabins in the mountains. The cake time at 2pm on a Friday is to stop people leaving even earlier I assume!

Cars - don't ask. My MX-5 costs around £7000, whereas a similar one in the UK is probably nearer £1500-£2000. Take the UK price, times by 4 and you're probably near the Norwegian price. However if you have a contract of a year, perhaps 2 then you can potentially import one for that time without the tax. After 2 years you'd have to pay the import costs or sell.

Roads - often terrible. But there are also some amazing ones too, if you know where to look. Speeding fines are massive - and generally above 30% of the limit and it's jail time. However some really fun roads that you don't need to break the limit for. And often much quieter than the UK.

Drinks - £7 a pint. Get people to bring the full duty free allowance when you have visitors.

Other taxes - really high, but generally the salary makes up for it. The main problems are the car and alcohol that make things more expensive in a relative way to other places. The flip side is getting a Norwegian wage to spend elsewhere when on holiday. This means you can buy the best quality stuff and still think it's really cheap!

Food - not that great but fine enough. Saying that even in the few years I've been here I have noticed it getting a bit better. You have what you need, but there isn't as much choice unless you pay a lot (go to a chain called Meny if you want more choice/ better quality).

Jobs - lots of jobs for certain industries. However if you have a partner without the required skills it can be very hard for them. There's basically no "lower" paid jobs available like bar work etc - there's so many Swedish people who come to work in Norway due to the better salary, and they can basically speak Norwegian so there's no need for anyone else.

All the lower paid jobs are paid very well, the higher ones not so great. Bad for making as much money as possible, great in that it makes people more equal so there's less of a "race to the top" or people doing jobs they hate just for the money.

Any more questions just fire away!

[jshell]

NRS said:

I've been living in Norway the last few years. Trondheim first, and now up to Harstad (up past the Arctic circle). Travelled to Bergen and Stavanger a lot so have a good feeling of the general changes.

Stavanger - as said similar to Scotland in regards to light and winter weather. Someone mentioned snow sucks after a while. However in Stavanger (and even more in Bergen) you will get a lot more rain, which in my opinion sucks even more. In Trondheim the winter is colder, but it means you can actually do stuff - cross country skiing is good fun. It's easy to dress for a cold day to keep warm. However cold rain will eventually get you wet despite having good clothes, so you're more likely to be enjoying activities outside with snow. Much more busy in regards to traffic. But more going on with international people.

Trondheim winter - bit darker so you have to do stuff to keep happy. The general stuff is cross-country skiing, downhill skiing, chilling out at people's houses. However it's not too bad. Temperatures go down to -25C at the coldest, but normally are around -5C (perfect for XC skiing). Summer activities are walking in the mountains, mountain biking, BBQ, utepils (beer outside), fishing etc. Up to around 27C, probably more normally around 20C though. However around 20C and sun and you get the benefit of a lot of girls out in the parks in bikinis.

Harstad - Moved here a few weeks ago so not got too much to say. Much smaller, it appears there are no girls between 17 and 35, not much nightlife. However amazing nature, quiet roads, they don't seem to care as much about speed limits, brilliant skiing. Already light the whole night.

Few general comments:

Girls, amazing. Not sure where the redheads are - not seen almost any here!

It takes time to get to know Norwegians. They also don't feel the need to talk all the time either, which can be nice. Very friendly though. Family is very important to them. Generally they appreciate what they have more than the UK - I think it's as a result of this that they look far less worn out and tired. However they're very social and talkative when drunk. Quiet like the UK, just missing the violence and shouting abuse at each other.

Work - you're as important as the work. 4pm - office empties. On a sunny Friday that will be nearer 2:30 as everyone leaves for their cabins in the mountains. The cake time at 2pm on a Friday is to stop people leaving even earlier I assume!

Cars - don't ask. My MX-5 costs around £7000, whereas a similar one in the UK is probably nearer £1500-£2000. Take the UK price, times by 4 and you're probably near the Norwegian price. However if you have a contract of a year, perhaps 2 then you can potentially import one for that time without the tax. After 2 years you'd have to pay the import costs or sell.

Roads - often terrible. But there are also some amazing ones too, if you know where to look. Speeding fines are massive - and generally above 30% of the limit and it's jail time. However some really fun roads that you don't need to break the limit for. And often much quieter than the UK.

Drinks - £7 a pint. Get people to bring the full duty free allowance when you have visitors.

Other taxes - really high, but generally the salary makes up for it. The main problems are the car and alcohol that make things more expensive in a relative way to other places. The flip side is getting a Norwegian wage to spend elsewhere when on holiday. This means you can buy the best quality stuff and still think it's really cheap!

Food - not that great but fine enough. Saying that even in the few years I've been here I have noticed it getting a bit better. You have what you need, but there isn't as much choice unless you pay a lot (go to a chain called Meny if you want more choice/ better quality).

Jobs - lots of jobs for certain industries. However if you have a partner without the required skills it can be very hard for them. There's basically no "lower" paid jobs available like bar work etc - there's so many Swedish people who come to work in Norway due to the better salary, and they can basically speak Norwegian so there's no need for anyone else.

All the lower paid jobs are paid very well, the higher ones not so great. Bad for making as much money as possible, great in that it makes people more equal so there's less of a "race to the top" or people doing jobs they hate just for the money.

Any more questions just fire away!

Great summary too!

[NRS]

Oh, quick comment regarding clothes (someone mentioned buy them here):

In Norway they are expensive, with no cheap options. However the reason is that generally everything over here is good quality. There's not really an equivalent thing to Primark. People have the money so they pay for good stuff as it's important when out and about. However you can get the good outdoor stuff potentially much cheaper elsewhere - particularly the US. So it can be worth buying it elsewhere if you can. Stuff like Arc'teryx, Norrøna, Mammut etc if you don't know good outdoor clothing brands too well. Expensive, but worth it when you're out in the mountains and it starts raining. Plus the high Norwegian wage makes it cheaper in a relative sense, especially from the US.

ETA:

Thought I would try and sneak this in somewhere. Taken yesterday - one of the benefits of the far north, Top down driving, amazing scenery and quiet roads. Plus the roads up here are generally in much better condition than Trondheim - no idea why since there are so few people here!

Edited by NRS on Monday 29th April 18:12

[guru_1071]

my dads worked in Norway loads over the years

I think my favourite story he ever told us was in the mid 1990's when he first went over, a hire car had been ordered and when he got to the desk the guy asked him if he had driven in Norway before

...'er...no'

a bit of muttering and a set of keys was handed over, when he went outside he was presented with a very battered old mk4 shape Cortina

..'its the car we always give you first timers'

was the answer

my dad set off and promptly slid off into a ditch and got it stuck.....

he had to walk back to the hire place to get towed out, they all creased them selves laughing!

they just towed him out and sent him on the way, no moaning about the extra scuffs and scrapes!

...'you all do it'

was the answer!



he also stayed in a rented room once, in a house owned by a women who spoke no English, and had to go to a bbq to be fed, only to be presented with a roast cormorant.......

[Badvok]

This video will tell you everything you need to know this is Norway - youtube

They invented the oil.

[Lefty]

jshell said:

Shops are pretty crap, their designer label is a tractor.

Pfft, no different to Aberdeenshire

How's it going fella?

[Shay HTFC]

Badvok said:

This video will tell you everything you need to know this is Norway - youtube

They invented the oil.

3:00 says it all. Was there for 2 weeks and it was pretty much just crowds of good looking women walking around.

[NRS]

The video made me laugh at a few points - it's very true.

Lefty said:

jshell said:

Shops are pretty crap, their designer label is a tractor.

Pfft, no different to Aberdeenshire

How's it going fella?

But it's colourful tractor pictures! I have to admit one of my colleagues has a Moods of Norway top with tractors all over it that she looks ridiculously sexy in,