In Western and Northern Europe, who may take a job matters as much as where it is advertised. Citizens of the EU, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland can work in almost every country in this directory without a permit, while everyone else needs an employer-backed permit, and the UK has been outside that system since 2021. Most countries also run a free public job portal that carries a large share of their vacancies, so the government site is often the best starting point, alongside one or two private boards.
This directory covers 13 platforms across the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Iceland, plus EURES, the EU’s cross-border job portal. Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg are covered through EURES because their national sites could not be checked. Each site was opened on 7 November 2026; listing counts are what each site displayed that day. Sites that did not state whether job seekers pay are marked as not stating it.
Who can work where
The EU Blue Card, a work and residence permit for highly qualified non-EU workers, applies in all EU countries except Denmark and Ireland, which run their own schemes, according to the Council of the EU. Norway, Iceland and Switzerland are outside the Blue Card but give EU citizens the right to work. Switzerland caps work permits for people from outside the EU and EFTA at 8,500 a year in 2026, according to the Federal Council. The UK’s Skilled Worker visa has a general salary threshold of £41,700 a year, according to a UK government review.
| Country | EU, EEA and Swiss citizens | Others |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | Need a visa unless Irish or holding EU Settlement Scheme status | Skilled Worker visa with employer sponsor |
| Ireland | Free to work; UK citizens also free under the Common Travel Area | National employment permits (no Blue Card) |
| France, Germany, Austria | Free to work | EU Blue Card or national permits |
| Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg | Free to work | EU Blue Card or national permits |
| Switzerland | Free to work under the free movement agreement | Quota permits for highly qualified workers |
| Sweden, Finland | Free to work | EU Blue Card or national permits |
| Denmark | Free to work | National schemes (no Blue Card) |
| Norway, Iceland | Free to work under the EEA Agreement | National skilled worker permits (no Blue Card) |
The table simplifies: each route has its own salary, qualification and labor market tests, and Sweden’s rules tighten again in December, as covered at the end of this directory. JobBridges’ guide to the EU Talent Pool explains a separate EU matching platform for shortage occupations.
The UK and Ireland: a government site and a national board
The UK and Ireland are the region’s two main English-language markets, and Irish and UK citizens can work in each other’s country without permits. For everyone else, the UK route depends on finding an employer with a sponsor license, so the employer list matters as much as the job board.
Find a job (UK)
Find a job is the UK government’s free job search service, on the Department for Work and Pensions domain. Job seekers can search without an account but must sign in to apply. The site gave no listing count on the day checked. Its homepage carried a warning that scammers are impersonating recruiters on WhatsApp with fake job offers.
- Strength: free and government-run, with a visible scam warning.
- Weakness: no filter for jobs that offer visa sponsorship.
IrishJobs.ie
IrishJobs.ie is one of Ireland’s main job boards, with listings concentrated in Dublin, Cork and Galway. It showed 8,971 jobs and 606 or more companies hiring on the day checked. It also publishes a salary survey and career advice. The homepage does not state fees for job seekers.
- Strength: a published job count and employer count.
- Strength: salary survey useful for checking offers.
- Weakness: the operator is not named on the homepage.
EURES, France and Germany: the public portals and the biggest board
The EU’s own portal links national employment services, and France and Germany both run large public job platforms that are free to use. Germany’s government also runs a dedicated portal for skilled workers from abroad.
EURES
EURES, the European Job Mobility Portal, pulls vacancies from national employment services and offers living and working information and access to EURES advisers. It runs in the 24 official EU languages plus Icelandic and Norwegian. The homepage gave no vacancy total on the day checked and does not mention fees. It is the simplest single search for Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, whose national boards are not listed here.
- Strength: one search across national public employment services.
- Strength: advisers for cross-border moves.
- Weakness: listing quality depends on what each national service passes on.
France Travail
France Travail, formerly Pôle emploi, is France’s public employment service and its free job site. It publishes its own offers alongside offers from partner job sites under agreements with those sites, so one search covers much of the French market; the agency says centralizing all offers would need new legislation. In September 2026 it ran a week of events advertising nearly 85,000 opportunities in digital jobs, according to a France Travail press release. The site is in French.
- Strength: free, with a very large pool of offers.
- Weakness: French only, and partner ads vary in quality.
Make it in Germany
Make it in Germany is the German federal government’s portal for skilled workers from abroad, with a job board in English, German, Spanish and French. It listed 33,427 positions on the day checked, the largest group in health care, social work, teaching and education (12,241), many of them nursing and care roles. The portal links to visa, recognition and relocation guidance, and the Federal Employment Agency provides personal support.
- Strength: listings chosen for international applicants, in English.
- Strength: visa and qualification recognition guidance in one place.
- Weakness: heavily weighted toward care and health roles.
StepStone
StepStone is one of Germany’s largest private job boards, run by The Stepstone Group. It showed 216,173 jobs on the day checked, though its own description says more than 150,000, and it states that job search is free. The site is in German.
- Strength: a very large pool of German private-sector jobs.
- Strength: free for job seekers.
- Weakness: two different job totals on the same page.
Austria and Switzerland: German-speaking boards
Austria is in the EU and the Blue Card system; Switzerland is not, and its quotas mean employers must show they could not find a suitable candidate in Switzerland or the EU before hiring from outside. Both markets expect German for most roles, with French and Italian also used in Switzerland.
karriere.at
karriere.at is an Austrian job board advertising jobs from what it calls Austria’s top companies. It gave no exact count on the day checked, only “thousands” of opportunities. Registration is free, with job alerts and recommendations for registered users. The site is in German.
- Strength: focused on Austrian corporate employers.
- Weakness: no published job count.
jobs.ch
jobs.ch, run by JobCloud AG, calls itself Switzerland’s leading online job portal and runs in English, German and French. On the day checked it showed 32,020 jobs in the German-speaking region and 4,264 in medicine, care and therapy, with no national total. It offers profiles, a salary estimator and an app. The homepage does not state fees for job seekers.
- Strength: English interface for a multilingual market.
- Strength: regional breakdown by language area.
- Weakness: non-EU applicants face quota and priority checks that the site does not flag.
The Nordic countries and Iceland: public portals first
The Nordic governments run the main job portals in Sweden, Norway and Finland, and Denmark’s largest board is private. All are free to search, but most listings are in the national language.
Platsbanken (Sweden)
Platsbanken is the job board of Arbetsförmedlingen, the Swedish Public Employment Service, and describes itself as listing tens of thousands of vacancies. It gave no exact count on the day checked. The site is in Swedish. It does not state fees, but it is a public service.
- Strength: the broadest view of Swedish vacancies.
- Weakness: Swedish only on the pages checked.
Arbeidsplassen (Norway)
Arbeidsplassen is the job board of Nav, Norway’s labor and welfare administration, listing vacancies nationwide. Employers post ads at no cost, which keeps coverage wide. The site is in Norwegian, and the homepage gave no listing count. It does not mention any charges for job seekers.
- Strength: free posting draws small employers as well as large ones.
- Weakness: Norwegian only.
Jobindex (Denmark)
Jobindex is a Danish job site run by Jobindex A/S, that showed 36,600 jobs on the day checked. It offers an English interface, a salary check and CV tips. Denmark is outside the EU Blue Card, so non-EU applicants use national schemes. The homepage does not state fees for job seekers.
- Strength: English interface and a large published job count.
- Weakness: most ads are in Danish.
Job Market Finland
Job Market Finland (Työmarkkinatori) is Finland’s public job and employment services portal, in Finnish, Swedish and English. Logged-in users can save postings, build an applicant profile and handle matters with employment officials. The homepage gave no vacancy count and does not state fees.
- Strength: English interface for a public service.
- Weakness: no published vacancy count.
Alfreð (Iceland)
Alfreð describes itself as Iceland’s largest job search platform and listed 483 jobs on the day checked. The interface is in Icelandic, but filters let users find jobs that do not require Icelandic, and some listings, including tech and hotel roles, are in English. The homepage does not state fees for job seekers.
- Strength: a filter for jobs that do not require Icelandic.
- Weakness: a small market, with hundreds rather than thousands of listings.
Sweden’s 2 December switch to the 90% salary rule
Since 1 June 2026, a first Swedish work permit requires a salary of at least 90% of the national median, currently SEK 34,470 a month, according to the Swedish Migration Agency. People who already held permits could extend under the old 80% rule until 1 December 2026.
From 2 December 2026, extensions must also meet the 90% level, so non-EU workers paid between 80% and 90% of the median face the higher bar at their next extension. Our guide to Sweden’s 90% salary rule lists the exempt occupations. Switzerland’s Federal Council is due to set its 2027 quotas for non-EU workers in late 2026, as it did on 19 November last year.