Vienna - Post Report Question and Answers
What is the relative size of the expatriate community? How would you describe overall morale among expatriates?
There is a large expat community. Coming out of the pandemic, it's hard to answer this. Morale had been down. Now it's up. Everyone is happy to be able to enjoy the city and travel again. I have not experienced or seen a lot of homesickness here. - Sep 2022
Given the number of diplomatic missions and the UN, the expat community is huge. That said, my friend group was at least 50% locals; I didn't feel the need to socialize exclusively with expats. Most people seem happy living in Vienna, although of course there's always a few people that will find something to complain about. - Sep 2021
Morale was high. It is a very large post and so, you need to be proactive in making connections. A lot of families traveled extensively. - Feb 2019
Huge and morale seems to range widely. That said, most of the complaints I heard seemed trivial (i.e., the people complaining would probably never be satisfied). - Jul 2018
You've got the United Nations here with tons of staff and delegations. Plus the universities bring in international students. - Jun 2016
For a city consistently ranked with such a high quality of living it's surprisingly mixed. The Viennese are, generally speaking, a somber bunch in public and this can wear on you after awhile (glaring/shushing of children, dirty looks, etc). A few local expats have told me they loved it until they learned German well enough to understand what people were saying about them. If you can just enjoy the beauty around you and shrug off the grumpiness you'll be ok. Within the USG many, many people are unhappy with the work environment and of course this spills over into personal lives. I wish I'd counted the number of times I've heard people say to newbies "Don't worry it's not this bad at other posts." - Mar 2015
Expat community is split into missions, and, not only that, but often in big posts like this, you don't have high morale. People are off doing their own thing. - Jul 2014
The community is pretty large. I think morale here is a mixed bag: although quality of life is absolutely excellent, and people do enjoy it, work can be another matter. - Mar 2014
Huge. - Aug 2013
HUGE. The biggest I have ever experienced. - May 2013
Pretty large. The U.S. has three missions here, so everyone is pretty spread out. - Jan 2013
Very large. - Aug 2011
HUGE. There are 3 missions here, as well as the United Nations. The community is incredibly diverse (the expat community, that is). - Aug 2011
Huge --- lots of diplomats, corporate expats, educators. - Aug 2009
Large. - Aug 2009
Comparatively large, considering the size of the city (only 2Mil), I would rollerblade all around the city in decent weather and hear many different languages as I went thru the well travelled areas. There are also some growing immigrant communities, especially on the western side of the city. - Jul 2009
Large. - May 2008
Enormous. - Apr 2008
Large. - Jan 2008
