When Ricardo Schmitz’s brother was visiting him in Vilnius, Lithuania, the pair went for a wintertime walk at midnight — something he said they’d never do back home in Brazil.
“My brother hadn’t seen snow since he was a child, so he was super excited. We walked from midnight to three a.m.,” Schmitz told CNBC Travel. “Not at any moment did I feel stressed or concerned. For me, that is priceless.”
Schmitz first got here to Vilnius in 2018 as an exchange student in a study abroad program. After securing a full-time role, he returned in 2020 and now works as a senior consultant for Deloitte and a lecturer in finance and tax law at Lithuania’s Mykolas Romeris University.
“Once I got here back here I had that peaceful feeling that I’m at home,” he said. “The plan for the foreseeable future is to remain.”
Expert employees wanted
Schmitz is one in every of many foreigners living in Lithuania, whose numbers rose from around 145,000 in 2022 to greater than 200,000 in 2023, based on local media.
The tongue-in-cheek “Vilnius — the G spot of Europe” campaign hit global headlines in 2018, while government-funded organizations — like Work in Lithuania and Invest Lithuania — aim to draw expert foreign employees and investment to the country.
Ricardo Schmitz.
Source: Ricardo Schmitz
With a population of just 2.8 million, Lithuania has a shortage of local talent to fuel the country’s growing technology and finance industries.
Young professionals like Schmitz are drawn by these profession opportunities. In a survey of 1,300 foreign students currently studying in Vilnius, 42% said they see their life after graduation in Vilnius.
The streets of Vilnius at night.
Craig Hastings | Moment | Getty Images
“I began as an intern, then I moved to consultant, and now I’m in a senior position,” said Schmitz. “Since it’s a small market here, you are exposed to more opportunities, and it helps you grow.”
Visa processing times decreased from eight months to simply one, and there is even an arrival allowance of three,444 euros (around $3,764) awarded to foreigners who work in occupations the country needs. In line with Work in Lithuania, around 400 allowances have been granted.
A healthy lifestyle
Indonesian national, Misha Johanna, in Lithuania.
Source: Misha Johanna
“My company here really encourages people to take all of their vacation. That is very different from the working culture in Indonesia where I’m from,” said Johanna, who’s from Jakarta.
Like Schmitz, she got here to Vilnius for education, her selection influenced by her desire to be together with her Lithuanian boyfriend, whom she had met in Bali, she said.
Indonesians are inclined to be more relaxed about work than Lithuanians, Johanna added. But in Indonesia, she feels bosses are less more likely to approve vacation leave, meaning employees are inclined to make up reasons, often involving family, to cover their vacations, she said.
“I do not have to do this here,” said Johanna, who works nights from her apartment in Vilnius as a manager for the marketing data platform Whatagraph. It leaves her days free for her side hustle as an actor, she said. Johanna has appeared in commercials for Burger King, the delivery app Just Eat, and most recently, a campaign for Work In Lithuania.
The air quality in Vilnius is healthier than in her hometown of Jakarta, Indonesia, said Misha Johanna.
Aleh Varanishcha | Istock | Getty Images
“The air here is exceptionally good. In Jakarta, you can not breathe whenever you step outside,” said Johanna. “Vilnius can also be very walkable, and that is one other thing I am unable to really do back in my country, because roads there are usually not made for pedestrians.”
Laura Guarino moved to Vilnius from Italy in 2021, also through a study abroad program. She said she was comfortable to say goodbye to the traffic and crowds of Naples, swapping them for a 10-minute commute to her office.
“I just fell in love with town,” said Guarino, who works as a business development manager for Teltonika Telematics.
“Napoli is so crowded, there are only buildings in every single place and a lot traffic — it’s totally annoying,” she said.
“Vilnius has such an excellent vibe and is so relaxing, so I just don’t need to depart,” she said. “I also like swimming within the lakes and going for hikes within the countryside.”
Ups and downs
Guarino, Schmitz and Johanna all feel it has been easy to slot in, as most locals are proficient in English, although all of them said they’ve taken classes to learn Lithuanian too.
Culturally, they’ve had to regulate to a more reserved, structured approach, which is at odds with the open, emotional and highly conversational attributes of Indonesian, Brazilian and Italian cultures.
Laura Guarino moved to Vilnius from Italy in 2021.
Source: Laura Guarino
Vilnius, nevertheless, is just not the low cost city it once was. Guarino and Johanna say the price of rent, bills and groceries aren’t cheaper than they’re back home.
The three foreign employees are adjusting to long, harsh, Lithuanian winters too. Johanna has embraced the local tradition of “ekete” — a sauna session followed by a dip in an icy lake, which she describes as “an out-of-body experience.” Schmitz, meanwhile, has taken up the winter sport of curling, competing on the Lithuanian national championships.
Brazilian Ricardo Schmitz engaging in the game of curling.
Source: Ricardo Schmitz
And Guarino has her coping mechanisms for winter, which she admits can get tough.
“I just must take my vitamin D, and ensure that I travel back to Napoli for Christmas, and I will be high-quality,” she said.
