Thread regarding Saudi Aramco layoffs

Domestic Refining TSU is now “Global Manufacturing TSU”. There’s a good group of both expats and Saudi there however most of the work is not hands on. Be prepared for lots of meetings, KPI tracking, report development, and ad hoc work handed down by management. The position will be low stress. Everyone has their own opinion but our family enjoys Ras Tanura and our kids love the schools. Life is much slower at RT but it’s a great community. Again, just my opinion and there’s always people that will give their negative views.

Dude I was pulling in $200k+ BEFORE Aramco
How come they are recruiting so hard here? They must have a vast database of applicants 😂
What you say and what you do are two different things. If you have to lie here about that ho-e to recruit? LMAOO

No mate, I am happy here. I wouldn't trade this for any other job in the good ole US of A. I'll probably pull 150K back home before taxes and once all expenses are paid, I will have me a whopping 67.50 in my Credit Union. Whoopie. Not happening. I am an old timer here and my package is worth 550K net and I get to save 90% of my greens. I call that the good life. I am not going anywhere unless they ask me to. At which time, I will thank them for the opportunity and move on with my life to greener pasture (retirement and never to work again). I will not be coming on here complaining, that's for sure.

@1tck+1bIQdLDZ while there is truth in your statement, the bottomline seems to be a bit distorted. I could cite many cases where the bottomline was getting silly prepaid certificates and diplomas (ISO, Energy Efficiency, King This&That Award, Operational Excellence) regardless of the real bottomline which is either cost reduction or profit increase. I could cite many examples but to keep this anonymous I would rather not. At the end it's whether you get along and roll with the punches or try to sell an actaully sound and productive idea.

I agree the financial package is unlike any other, it's a matter of enduring all the manure that comes with it.

“As for the guy who said Expats are overpaid. Riddle me this ... Why are so many leaving? Why does Aramco need to make 10 or more offers for 1 hire?”

So many aren’t leaving…so many tripping over themselves to get hired. Even more are desperately trying to return after either leaving voluntarily or being laid off. Let’s face it, no other company pays the same.

Aramco is a business like any other which has to watch it’s bottom line. The only difference being, it is far more tolerant and accepting of bad behavior, incompetence and general mediocrity than any other company. This is precisely what leads to many expats developing overinflated egos and delusions of what their talents are actually worth. Returning back home is always a metaphorical return back to earth. You discover there are a million people doing the exact same thing as you, and you will have to work very hard for very little to even retain your job.

Just google the FT article. I think you only have to pay when you follow the link. I just googled it, clicked on the link, and it was free.

As for the guy who said Expats are overpaid. Riddle me this ... Why are so many leaving? Why does Aramco need to make 10 or more offers for 1 hire?

@uts+1bIQdLDZ I recommend you get a trial or lookup the article elsewhere. Here's the title:
Missiles, bullying claims, a tragic death: what’s going on at Saudi Aramco?

Exactly what yur+1bIQdLDZ said.

After all aspects of the compensation are factored in, Aramco employees of the past were paid thrice as much as their U.S. salaries, and often even more. Most of them came from Houston where they barely pulled in 85k before taxes, if that. 120k before taxes back home would be considered fantastic for most of these folks. In Aramco with all their allowances, their company compensation is equal to that of someone making 500k plus on the expensive coasts. For many, the travel allowance alone is equivalent to what many folks in the U.S. earn annually.

I would wager new employees will be paid their fair market value salaries, and with the other expat benefits such as free housing, free medical care, no utilities, taxes, free schooling, etc, they will still net more than they could ever hope to back home.

Thanks everyone, unfortunately the FT article requires subscription.
I think the position is based in RT to Jazan, any idea how the locals in this group

In my neck of the woods, we call that draining the swamp. Get rid of underperforming expats and retain the talented ones. They should do this twice a year, for both Saudis and expats. Enough hand-outs and keeping excess weight when they cannot execute.

That's is how they roll, hire and fire, plug and play professionals.
If they have a serious issue, or what someone with wasta considers a serious issue, call in the consultants and throw riyals at them. Been that way for years.

@yur+1bIQdLDZ

Of course in a Universe where there are notions of logic your statement would make sense.

However in the case of Aramco, they fired mostly non congenial employees. While a few actually unproductive employees might have been sacked, I can assume it must have been mostly non complying expats. Having been in the belly of that beast called Aramco I could see expat talent subutilized, mostly babysitting PDP's. Of course the usual crowd of yes men will have better odds at surviving. The only thing that keeps Aramco from collapsing is sheer luck because management is a joke at best.

Very simple. Company fired overpaid, less productive employees and replacing them with fairly paid productive employees. Aramco, being nice as it is, has tolerated certain employees for a very long time, who were costing it half a mil a year and nothing to show for. These folks were making 100K before taxes in the US. Any company with a shred of common sense would do the same.

@OP+1bIQdLDZ
I think this is the article. I hope this helps in your decision making process.
https://www.ft.com/content/34242eae-0f43-4da7-a826-f5246495cd20

@min+1bIQdLDZ Good call!
That's true coud be Jazan. If so you will get an additional bonus but you have to take in account that you will be isolated, and relatively close to a war zone.
I know a bunch of people who just want to get out of there since it takes a toll on their family life since they live there in some sort of camp while their families are in Dhahran.They only get the weekends to spend family time.

@OP+1bIQdLDZ it's a matter of you deciding whether these conditions make sense to you so make sure to ask everything related to location, accomodation and incentives.

Downstream Technical Support?
This smells like Jazan.

If so, based in Dhahran just means you come back every weekend. There is an article in the Financial Times you should read.

If you are based in Dhahran you may be slightly safer than being based in one of the operational areas. I was laid off June last year and I can tell you based on seeing very brilliant colleagues being laid off before that that it's just luck of the draw.

If the money makes sense to you go for it but have a plan B at the ready. I would highly recommend to be as frugal as possible and not get carried away getting a fancy car and goods. Focus on saving. Also if possible keep the Mrs. and kids at home. However if you do bring them and the kids are of highschool age consider sending them to boarding schools since Aramco will foot the bill.

As posted elsewhere any notion of logic you may have leave it at the airport. It is best to keep a low profile and try not to rock the boat. Try to get along with the locals.

You will be exposed to very asinine ideas, just nod your head and don't argue. That's a big mistake I made on the first 3 years of my 6 year tenure till I just decided to go with the flow and collect my 200.