I’ve been holding this in for a while, but I feel a breaking point coming. Looking at my circle of friends and colleagues, I see us splitting into two groups: those who realize the system is broken, and those who are still in survival mode—clinging to a fragile stability, terrified to admit how risky their position is.

They hide behind the phrase “well, I’m doing fine for now” while denying the reality shifting around them.

The 10-Year Shift: From Opportunity to Servitude

When I moved to Europe 10 years ago as a scientist in inkjet materials, the world felt different. Back then, a Blue Card actually meant something. You had relocation packages, a clear path, and—most importantly—a choice.

I left a comfortable life, a renovated apartment, and a career where I was featured in journals and news, all for a future in a system I believed in. Ten years later, the “immigrant tax” has become unbearable. They say as a migrant you have to be twice as good to get half as much, and it’s never been more true.

The Math Doesn’t Add Up

Today, I’m seeing the same €50k offers I saw a decade ago. But look at the context:

  • No relocation support.
  • No visa assistance.
  • Rent crisis: A basic apartment now costs over €1,000, and no one cares how your family survives.

We are being pushed toward a kind of financial servitude under the guise of “European stability.”

Intellectual Waste and Narcissistic Management

The most painful part? The intellectual waste. I’ve spent a decade in European innovation, only to end up fighting narcissistic management in a factory near Copenhagen.

I was doing “interesting tasks” like making SMD stencils—work for a lab assistant, not an expert. European companies seem to think high-level expertise is replaceable with low-skilled labor. They think we’ll just keep quiet because we need the permit.

There comes a point of no return where the cost of staying becomes higher than the cost of leaving.

Conclusion: Time to Break the Silence

This topic has been weighing on me so heavily that it’s actually blocking my technical work. I need to get it out. I’m thinking of starting a YouTube series to talk about this reality—the stuff they don’t put in the relocation brochures.

Is this the “new normal” we are just supposed to accept? Or are we finally ready to admit that the “European magnet” for talent is losing its pull?