It was something that I’ve dreaded for several years now and it has finally happened. It is a stress-relieving event for me. This is no longer the company of choice. It is common knowledge that those expats on the older pay and benefits plan are being surgically-removed and replaced with people willing to work for no future.
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Geat comment! Everything has been said in a nutshell. All the truth about Aramco expats future, if the things do not change.
Meanwhile, the upvote/downvote count goes in a certain direction.
Things that make you go hmmm...
:@3pqb+1cQVjcnw
Nice comeback. The reality of the matter is too many interests are intertwined. Until interests shift in another direction, life will just go on until a major disruptive event occurs
You are right, but be sure that for only 200 to 300 USD they can easily find an Ukrainian (mark my words!), a Mexican, a Pakistani, an Indian, an Argentinean, a whatchamecallit, or whatever engineer with MSc degree and they will be happy, g-y, jolly and cheerful and dancing around a wasta for that money. Well, expect some moaning from Ukrainians, but this is their way, they moan and they work for peanuts, already for 3000 years. If you believe that 1200 or above a day is one's price, you are living in a dreamland "2014".
“As a US citizen, I think it's time the US government started surplussing its agreements with the Saudis. After all, the agreement is old, taking care of the Saudi's is expensive and we can no longer afford to take care of an ungrateful, lazy culture.”
The US govt is enraged that a foreign company has terminated the employment of a few of it’s citizens. They deeply empathize with said salty citizens but refuse to provide them with a comparable level of compensation, and feel it’s the responsibility of Saudi Arabia to do so.
Going forward, the US govt will no longer issue visas to Saudi nationals, and it will either cancel or not renew any existing agreements.
There is merit to your point. However, why would they come here for any less? Would you relocate everything in your life to the Arctic for less? Just stop hiring them.
@2pnb+1cQVjcnw
Definitely they are taking out incentives for atracting real talent.
Agreed, oil will continue flowing. But be very careful when it comes to local talent and the show aspect of things. All those megaprojects coming up will have to be paid for. The problem with a few talanted problem solvers is that they are many times diregarded for the sake of giving the spotlight to a wasta endowed rockstar. We all know how that goes. As oil prices are a cyclical thing , I can foresee some problems down the road.
The oil will still flow w/o good quality talent. We need just a few top notch problem solvers and a large local labor pool. The rest is just show for the world stage; conferences,
symposiums and conventions... papers, papers, papers, patents, patents, patents and of course those that can produce them.
You should work for a market price, and that is currently not more than 500 USD per day. All above that is way to expensive. Things are changing, the price of your work plummeted in last couple of years. 500 USD per day at most and no business class flights.
Game over I guess.
Technical services and finance Expats are treated the worst imo. You didn't lose much. I don't expect US retiree medical to be around much longer anyway. They have already converted it to a fixed sum on a Hewitt exchange. Do some research and you will find cases of companies doing that before ki----g the program.
I had been on Married-Single Status with Technical Services for nine years. I was hoping to get the Medical, but was under 50 years old. I wanted my family to stay in the States.
Post ID: @1jpk+1cQVjcnw
agreed...time for some real quid pro quo.
How long was your tenure? Which BL & dept?
As a US citizen, I think it's time the US government started surplussing its agreements with the Saudis. After all, the agreement is old, taking care of the Saudi's is expensive and we can no longer afford to take care of an ungrateful, lazy culture.
Sorry to hear about your situation!!! It sux to have worked under those conditons. My advice, get the movers there asap and just leave. Don't worry about all the "final exit" bs or paying back your loans. Just leave.
What BL?
Good luck m8, No worries, there is no future for anyone here. Expats leaving, promising young Saudis leaving. Wrap it up and sell it to the Chinese, game over. At least you tried.
Well, best of luck pal! All I can say. My "heartbreak" if you can call it that lasted me a full 15 minutes, till I assessed my finances and my severance. All said I spent the rest of my time waiting for the clearance just to get the he-l out of there. Godspeed!
Well that chapter of your life is over, its time to move onto the next chapter. Good luck. There really should be no layoffs if the company had a handle on manpower planning, attrition and forecasting. The wheels are falling off this company and it will take an expat CEO to turn it around and make it efficient for the future rather than a care center for locals.
Yep, totally agree. It started as a covert operation, a slow trickle but is now steadily gaining momentum. I can't really blame them. They have finally figured out that they don't need all of these high priced expats to keep the oil flowing. If I were them I would do the same. The golden era of expats is all over save for a few choice individuals.
Damn dude, I feel bad for you. Right at the start of the school year too! I hope you don't have kids in the Aramco school.
Which department did you work in?