Salaries

I would say around 30,000 Euros pa gross (= £22,000) and you take home under 2,000 Euros
(not a bad salary by Maltese standards).
(Yes, I know. it's pathetic and less than a fresh graduate with an ordinary just pass degree in o'logy would get in the UK) but this is Malta!!!

That is if you're very lucky and find a job. Malta isn't an industrialised nation and manufacturing or product development jobs are very scarce here. I actually very much doubt you can find a job here at the seniority level you expect.

Sorry to be bearer of reality and bad news!

reality check but you can live well on lower wages for that field.... IF.......

Hi thanks for your reply.

Hell I knew it would be low but that is poor. I estimated about 38k Euros - by halving the UK salary and converting to Euros.

I am applying for jobs because I have only about another 5 years to go and want to retire in Malta, but will need an income in the meantime.

If I relocate to Malta, I will have about 90 k Euros capital. Would that buy me a decent 2 bed flat in Malta ? I looked at rightmove - but you can never tell with these web sites

Well, 30 or 35. what's 5k between friends! Even at 30lk, it's more twice Maltese national average income. Finding a job in the first place is the biggest challenge. You would live well on 2k nett. Most people are on less than 1k gross

Maybe you will consider start a small specialised dev company and give me a job to design the firmware and write the code for the gear. I've worked in real-time area for many years, we've been colleagues all the times! working in the same smallish team.

Hi thanks for replying.

Well perhaps you can live OK on that salary. I could probably get away with not running a car since the island is small and there are plenty of buses.

As for starting a company - you need lots of capital. I have been involved in a few start ups, but you need 15 million at least, depending on the technology you are developing.

I believe there are a couple of small electronics companies on the Island.

Look at Frank Salt

Yes, you would be able to buy, but vast majority of people would strongly advise you against buying.
Cost of buying and selling is high and prices only very gradually move up. Rents are reasonable or even low. 500 Euros is good budget for rental (rent only)

Here you don't really need a car: busfare is 1.50 euros per day for all day unlimited use
no car insurance
no maintenance
no petrol
no depreciations
no MOT
no accidents
then
no council tax
no tv license
standing charge for water and electricity are 5 euros each. If you use sensibly, you get it at a discount. If you live alone, you get it at a different price (this I am not sure how it works to be honest). No standing charge for gas as you buy gas bottles that last forever....

It depends what you develop. In my time working as freelance firmware specialist, I've even done firmware for 1-man companies, say developing intruder alarms or specialised monitoring equipments. It can be done on a 10k budget but of course depending on a lot of factors, least of all dev time and technology involved, equipment needed, volume of production, tooling and NRE charges etc etc.

Yes, there are a few small electronic companies dotted around.