I cannot describe the feeling of relief, I am a new person. It’s difficult to underestimate the amount of grief and mental torture this place has produced. I’d become institutionalised and didn’t fully appreciate just how unbearable the job had... — read more 

I received an offer from Aramco to work as an expat in KSA. GC is 14 and the net annual salary is close to $200k. The issue is that I have a PhD in Chemical Engineering and almost 20 years experience in oil and gas working in Oklahoma. Is this a low... — read more 

Please be subjective but I am waiting for an offer for a senior role at Aramco based in Dhahran. What is good about the company and the surroundings and what should I watch out for.

After a month of the date of my interview, they launched my pre-onboarding tasks to complete online. The issue id that I have not received any offer letter yet. My question how long it takes to received an offer letter.

With SAIP days away, it's time to collect your Saudi severance package (errrr.... a new Saudi bank loan). Good luck!

Hi, How is the Grade code 13 and 8200 USD/month salary for someone with a PhD and 6 years of experience? Currently have an offer from an IOC as well. I feel it is a bit on the lower side. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

I left a good job to come here. Negotiated and got to an acceptable level (I thought). Was subject to the usual negotiating tactics around lifestyle benefits and tax savings. Except the lifestyle benefit is a big fat lie. One can argue that not... — read more 

Finance is Aramco's ugly step child. Some areas are better than others, and I'll give you my opinion about the different departments. Controllers and Treasury. I lump them together because I think they are both uniformly cheap and dysfunctional, and... — read more 

I have an offer at $13k base for GC14. Total is just over 20k a month = $240k per year. This excludes bonus and travel payment which I’m not including in the calculation. I’m on $260 base at the moment exclusive of a 20% bonus plus decent retirement... — read more 

There is a tax that only you can measure it once you leave the kingdom, I called the Saudi invisible tax, employees could be comfortable at work, certainly some departments take care of their expats but family, your wife and kids are taking a huge... — read more 

I generally find expats fall into these categories in Aramco. Maxing it out until retirement. Have a target $$$ and therefore planned leave date. Recent joiner and wondering WTF to do (my category) I’ve yet to encounter what I was... — read more 

Here is the portrait of the "ideal" Aramco manager according to what I saw. This manager communicates expectations, usually from higher up who in turn took their orders from Riyadh. However, first he increases them, so if it was supposed to be done... — read more 

Anyone ever gotten more than this rating? Given I run the show and do everything in this dept, it’s a kick in the teeth. My boss told me in as many words, that it won’t ever go higher as others in the dept (Saudis) take precedence as they are... — read more 

Hello everyone. Currently an American about to accept an offer from Aramco in SA. Entry level is SG 14. Is that a good entry level ? Can you negotiate the SG level? Any idea about salary differences? Any help will be appreciated

A new one coming before March -general restructuring of the company - Saudis affected and expats old payrolls -->Not 100% confirmed but ALMOSTTTT.

I’m a recent hire in Dhahran, living in camp. The air quality is very poor. Is it like this year round? I’m concerned about long term health consequences of living in this environment. Any experiences? Thank you.

I am very disappointed because I thought that I would be able to make a lot of progress in my career here. At first I thought that it might take a long time before I can be seen as a valid candidate for promotion. However, despite all my efforts, it... — read more 

I moved here a few weeks ago, family due to join next month. Early impressions are negative. housing is old/unpleasant with many defects that are taking time and nunerius phone calls to remedy. Told no options for min 2 years to change. ... — read more 

So a real terms pay cut. Nice to see locals getting 10%+ still. Yet another reason to polish up the resume.

Saudi Aramco Base Oil Co., a unit of the state-owned oil producer, has received regulatory approval for an initial public offering in Riyadh, as the world’s biggest crude producer looks to list some of its... — read more 

Solar and wind are viable inside the Kingdom. It is just that Aramco is too incompetent to get it done. Five years ago, Aramco had a great alternative energy team. Then, Riyadh got Green and the work Aramco was doing got noticed. The locals promptly... — read more 

The global oil market remains tight according to Saudi Aramco, the largest oil producer in the world. And that does not bode well for a world that still relies heavily on fossil... — read more 

People keep arguing about other stuff but it seems everybody has accepted there'll be no cuts any time soon. You can say what you want about SA, but when it comes to job security, we are doing better than most. Especially right now, considering the... — read more 

How will things play out?

Nice to see Saudi Aramco getting top spot among peers as best employer as documented by a recent Forbes survey. Also has a very good overall rank among all global companies. The company must be doing something right! I know not everyone will agree... — read more 

This is everywhere in Aramco with management. Is it some kind of national personality disorder or consciously adopted as a mechanism for personal advancement? I’m curious as I’ve seen some badly run company’s in my time, but the calibre of people... — read more 

I'm glad that someone here mentioned that issue in one of the threads, because I've been facing it lately. My boss constantly delegates work at the last minute and thus creates a huge amount of stress and panic. Is it just bad planning or is it... — read more 

Pro tip: Half of them really are incompetent. The other half are just pretending, because they discovered that once they demonstrate more than the minimal level of competence management will never stop demanding things. Also, competence is almost... — read more 

Not something to be proud of, but such an atmosphere has been created at Aramco that now hardly anyone takes their job here seriously anymore. Am I wrong? I have been working here for a long time and it is impossible not to notice how the employees... — read more 

Work shouldn’t suck. Work shouldn’t create emptiness in us. Work shouldn’t destroy our confidence or self esteem. Work shouldn’t make us feel excluded and isolated. Work should add value to our lives. It should add connection. It should add... — read more 

It may sound ugly, but I have never worked with such mediocrity. What is happening here? I used to have the privilege of working with people who were top experts in their field and from whom I could learn a lot. Now, unfortunately, there... — read more 

I have been working here for a long time and I notice that there is less and less enthusiasm and motivation both working hard and advancing one's career. Some new hires are literally lost, some of them don't even know what to do. No one has ambition... — read more 

Was contacted by a friend who is a teacher. It seems that Aramco is making a big push to hire more teachers for it's schools. I didn't know what to tell him because I've been gone for several years. When I was there, the schools seemed pretty good... — read more 

I am mentally unchallenged and my brain is rotting, working for this excuse of a company. I spend day after day dealing with arrogant imbeciles and doing paperwork just like an intern. He do you old timers keep things going? Any pearls of wisdom? ... — read more 

This is becoming VERY common now. Aramco has 334 open positions for Expats. From what I have seen, Aramco is having a hard time filling any of the positions, mostly because of bad word of mouth from former employees. Still, some of these jobs are... — read more 

In October will arrive a new big batch of recent hires, ready to cover locals enjoying Fifa World Cup but will be December the next ELP for expats?, there is a lot close to 10 year during first half of 2023.

Hey everyone, I am having my 2nd interview with SA. Looking to see what the typical expat benefits are? I am young married and no kids. Is aramco a good long term company? 20+ years? I would be leaving Texas to Dhahran. Any other tips?

Be aware this is what's happening with outsourcing of business lines. VP's & SVP's are colluding with each other to inflate the running costs of business lines before they are outsourced, look at the $100m overspend in Community Services, which was... — read more 

My supervisor doesn't approved my vacation because all unit is going also and I'm the only expat and with children.

Lots more yellow death skips have appeared in my camp neighbourhood… Not seen many new faces except for the Saudi families moving in the street. How long before there are zero expats?