Lucio Farinosi from Padova, Italy, is a technical architect at Information Mosaic. He tells us why he chose Ireland as a place to live and work, and how stress-free his life now is.
Where are you from?
I come from Padova, a little town in the northeastern part of Italy. This is not my native town; I was born in L’Aquila in the centre of Italy, near the mountains. I moved to Padova when I started university. Padova is a nice little town, near Venice, and many of its characteristics reflect this proximity. It is a peaceful place to live when you start to know something about the people there.
Padova has one of the most important universities in Italy so there are many students who go there to study and some of them, like me, find a job and settle there. It was be a good place to work in the past; but there are a lot of problems connected with the economic crisis that involved all the European countries, in particular the southern ones.
How long have you been in Ireland?
I moved to Dublin in July 2014.
Why did you move here?
There are many aspects connected with this kind of decision. First of all, since I was a kid I have heard people in Italy talk about the economic crisis. It is something that can really affect you. At the moment, people are accepting of any kind of conditions to keep their jobs and the employers are very good at taking advantage of this.
It is true that the legislation is very focused on protecting the employees, but the current situation results in low salaries and low job offers. The worst aspect of this situation is that there is a lot of people who can’t find work, especially the younger generations.
I cannot say that all the responsibilities of this phenomenon are connected with employers and working environments, but this is for sure one the causes. Considering that there is no sign of change in sight, it is difficult for me to accept this for my children.
Secondly, I felt I had to move to a more technical role. I was a bit tired of working with high exposure to clients and, in Italy, technical roles are not considered with the right level of importance.
Last but not the least, there is another aspect behind my decision to move. I usually spend all my working time in an office, in front a PC. I am not a passionate traveller so I prefer to spend my vacations in peaceful places, especially in the mountains to get back to nature. It can result in a boring life, so I need a big change every a number of years to break my routine and give me the possibility to have new experiences.
What work do you do?
I work as a technical architect. I usually work to study technical solutions for our software products. In the past I used to work in other aspects, focused on satisfying client and team needs, but I never lost my real passion for technical problems. So I am now very happy about the opportunity Information Mosaic has given me. I can now spend hours and hours at my job without becoming bored and this is the most important aspect that, in my opinion, everyone has to find in their job.
How would you describe your working environment?
The office is a peaceful place. Everybody is kind and polite. One of the main differences I can feel is the stress. In some of my previous experiences there were periods in which I felt so stressed.
Now I work in an environment in which I want to be. Nobody performs at their best if they are stressed. I know very well that each task is time limited, but it is the way in which you can discuss your milestones that can make the difference.
What do you like most about your job?
At the moment I prefer to talk with machines rather than with people: I’m joking, obviously. But I am nearly 40. It’s time to do what I like to do – and now I am doing exactly what I like to do.
Was it difficult to adjust to living and working in Ireland?
I think the worst problem is the housing. It is very expensive in respect to the (generally low) quality offered, and the housing market is crazy. Prices change continuously and moreover, it results in too much bias in favour of landlords.
Obviously this is the opinion of an individual that has been here a few months, so my point of view cannot be objective. In any case I know this is a problem to which Irish people look with particular attention, so I am confident that local politicians will find out a solution to better rule this market.
What surprised you about moving to Ireland?
People are very friendly and the weather is better than I expected. I hope I don’t have to change my idea about the last item…
How does your working life help to make you feel at home here?
As I said, I find here the right dimension of my working life. My efforts in my working tasks are appreciated and give good results. Moreover it takes me 20 minutes to get to work. I come from a situation where I had a three-and-a-half hour commute.
What do you like most about your adopted home?
I think I found a nice place to live, with high standards and a good perspective. It’s too early to have a complete idea of this place but, actually, I can confirm I am happy with it.
