When Ricardo Schmitz’s brother was visiting him in Vilnius, Lithuania, the pair went for a wintertime stroll at midnight — one thing he stated they’d by no means do again residence in Brazil.
“My brother hadn’t seen snow since he was a child, so he was tremendous excited. We walked from midnight to three a.m.,” Schmitz advised CNBC Journey. “Not at any second did I really feel harassed or involved. For me, that is priceless.”
Schmitz first got here to Vilnius in 2018 as an alternate pupil in a research overseas program. After securing a full-time position, he returned in 2020 and now works as a senior marketing consultant for Deloitte and a lecturer in finance and tax legislation at Lithuania’s Mykolas Romeris College.
“Once I got here again right here I had that peaceable feeling that I am at residence,” he stated. “The plan for the foreseeable future is to remain.”
Expert employees wished
Schmitz is one in every of many foreigners dwelling in Lithuania, whose numbers rose from round 145,000 in 2022 to greater than 200,000 in 2023, based on native media.
The tongue-in-cheek “Vilnius — the G spot of Europe” marketing campaign hit world headlines in 2018, whereas government-funded organizations — like Work in Lithuania and Make investments Lithuania — purpose to draw expert overseas employees and funding to the nation.
Ricardo Schmitz.
Supply: Ricardo Schmitz
With a inhabitants of simply 2.8 million, Lithuania has a scarcity of native expertise to gasoline the nation’s rising know-how and finance industries.
Younger professionals like Schmitz are drawn by these profession alternatives. In a survey of 1,300 overseas college students at present learning in Vilnius, 42% stated they see their life after commencement in Vilnius.
The streets of Vilnius at evening.
Craig Hastings | Second | Getty Photos
“I began as an intern, then I moved to marketing consultant, and now I am in a senior place,” stated Schmitz. “As a result of it is a small market right here, you are uncovered to extra alternatives, and it helps you develop.”
Visa processing instances decreased from eight months to only one, and there is even an arrival allowance of three,444 euros (round $3,764) awarded to foreigners who work in occupations the nation wants. In accordance with Work in Lithuania, round 400 allowances have been granted.
A wholesome way of life
Indonesian nationwide, Misha Johanna, in Lithuania.
Supply: Misha Johanna
“My firm right here actually encourages folks to take all of their trip. That is very completely different from the working tradition in Indonesia the place I am from,” stated Johanna, who’s from Jakarta.
Like Schmitz, she got here to Vilnius for education, her selection influenced by her need to be along with her Lithuanian boyfriend, whom she had met in Bali, she stated.
Indonesians are typically extra relaxed about work than Lithuanians, Johanna added. However in Indonesia, she feels bosses are much less prone to approve trip go away, that means employees are likely to make up causes, normally involving household, to cover their holidays, she stated.
“I haven’t got to try this right here,” stated Johanna, who works nights from her house in Vilnius as a supervisor for the advertising information platform Whatagraph. It leaves her days free for her facet hustle as an actor, she stated. Johanna has appeared in commercials for Burger King, the supply app Simply Eat, and most lately, a marketing campaign for Work In Lithuania.
The air high quality in Vilnius is healthier than in her hometown of Jakarta, Indonesia, stated Misha Johanna.
Aleh Varanishcha | Istock | Getty Photos
“The air right here is exceptionally good. In Jakarta, you can’t breathe whenever you step exterior,” stated Johanna. “Vilnius can be very walkable, and that is one other factor I can not actually do again in my nation, as a result of roads there aren’t made for pedestrians.”
Laura Guarino moved to Vilnius from Italy in 2021, additionally by means of a research overseas program. She stated she was completely satisfied to say goodbye to the site visitors and crowds of Naples, swapping them for a 10-minute commute to her workplace.
“I simply fell in love with town,” stated Guarino, who works as a enterprise improvement supervisor for Teltonika Telematics.
“Napoli is so crowded, there are simply buildings all over the place and a lot site visitors — it is very annoying,” she stated.
“Vilnius has such an excellent vibe and is so enjoyable, so I simply do not need to go away,” she stated. “I additionally like swimming within the lakes and going for hikes within the countryside.”
Ups and downs
Guarino, Schmitz and Johanna all really feel it has been simple to slot in, as most locals are proficient in English, though all of them stated they’ve taken courses to be taught Lithuanian too.
Culturally, they’ve needed to modify to a extra reserved, structured strategy, which is at odds with the open, emotional and extremely conversational attributes of Indonesian, Brazilian and Italian cultures.
Laura Guarino moved to Vilnius from Italy in 2021.
Supply: Laura Guarino
Vilnius, nonetheless, shouldn’t be a budget metropolis it as soon as was. Guarino and Johanna say the price of lease, payments and groceries aren’t cheaper than they’re again residence.
The three overseas employees are adjusting to lengthy, harsh, Lithuanian winters too. Johanna has embraced the native custom of “ekete” — a sauna session adopted by a dip in an icy lake, which she describes as “an out-of-body expertise.” Schmitz, in the meantime, has taken up the winter sport of curling, competing on the Lithuanian nationwide championships.
Brazilian Ricardo Schmitz participating within the sport of curling.
Supply: Ricardo Schmitz
And Guarino has her coping mechanisms for winter, which she admits can get powerful.
“I simply must take my vitamin D, and ensure I journey again to Napoli for Christmas, and I will be effective,” she stated.
