Most popular cities to work in Europe in 2025

There is a huge expat attraction and therefore many language specific jobs in the service and tourism sector in Southern Europe. You can find a lot of exciting jobs for foreigners in popular cities like Athens, Lisbon, Limassol, St. Julians, Malaga, Barcelona, and Sofia. Some of the jobs are seasonal, and others are long-term (at least 6 months, which is also most recommended for your own satisfaction and CV).

If you’re looking for a job abroad in the technology, IT, or iGaming sector there are rapidly growing demands in Sliema or St. Julians, Limassol, Tallinn, and Riga.

No matter if you just finished education or are taking a gap year, or if you’re just looking for a new career path, you can easily find jobs for foreigners. The most common and popular cities for jobs that don’t require work experience are Athens, Crete, Lisbon, Limassol, Riga, and Sliema or Valletta (updated in January 2025).

You will get all necessary training before you start working, and the training period is always paid by the company. 

These countries are popular for expats and companies because of lower costs of living, lower taxes, simpler work permit requirements, and the existing expat communities.

The most common and popular jobs abroad for foreigners are customer support, technical support, travel advisor, game presenter in online casino, sales agent, and content moderator. 

These jobs abroad are often language based. This means you will be working in your native language and assist clients from your country. You will have colleagues from your own country as well as international.

The answer depends on your citizenship and the country you’re moving to. Members of the European Union can in general freely move to and work in other member states of the EU (due to the law of free movement). 

It can be more difficult for non-EU residents to land a job in EU for different reasons. Read more about how the job market is different between EU and non-EU residents.

As of 2025 the highest ranking average wages in Europe are countries like Denmark (€67,604), Ireland (€58,679), Belgium (€57,989), Austria (€54,508) and Germany (€50,988). The taxes and costs of living are also higher in these countries, and it can be difficult to find jobs for foreigners – and even more so jobs without previous work experience.

Germany is a popular destination for studying and work visas due to high quality education combined with a robust and more international job market. The Netherlands and Sweden also has big expat communities and options for foreigners. 

If you are interested in getting a decent wage as a foreigner in a job without work experience, while paying low taxes (around 20 % or below) and low cost of living, you should consider choosing Greece, Portugal, Cyprus, or Malta. In these countries you will get a higher salary than most locals due to your langauge proficiencies – especially if you’re from Nordic or Westen countries where the living standards are high and fewer people speak these languages.

Yes, you can find language based jobs abroad that enables you to have a hybrid work model, or where you always work from home in your new city. Especially Athens and Cyprus are offering several positions with work from home options.