I am in Brazil and it's really interesting being here at this moment in time. Brazil is currently running a $250billion surplus, which my GF tells me is genuine, as opposed to there being hidden "off-balancesheet" fiddles. The economy is growing at 5% a year, and in terms of jobs, many corporations are struggling to keep hold of high flying graduates when they get their first jobs after leaving uni. Many older Brazilian companies are seen as conservative, stuffy and too restrictive compared to the sexy newer tech companies like Google for example.
My GF is pretty well connected in the business world and once I have completed my writing she has a lot of contacts lined up who have said they would like to meet me. It seems there is a lot of energy and creativity in Brazil, and so long as you have the contacts, looks like employment is not going to be an issue for me.
After saying that, there are downsides. I love the country, but there is poor infrastructure, and there are no nice suburbs to live, most living is in apartments in the centres of huge cities. There is still the well known problem of poverty here, and one wonders just how sustainable the growth is. It certainly is not sustainable for the planet.
Many consumer goods here are way more expensive that in other countries due to the high taxes (state and country-wide). There is nothing such as social security, and medical things etc have to be paid for.
So yeah, Brazil is a great country, but living here is very different to how you imagine it to be, for example living it up on the beach at Rio. The country is simply enormous, and most travel is by plane rather than train or car.
So yeah, I have nothing to moan about – should be able to get a job, but will be sure to miss many things in the UK despite it being up the toilet really.