Yep, if the problem or expertise vacuum is severe enough the answer is to just throw
money and consultants at it. It will eventually get resolved. Isn't that in the job description for management. And here I thought it was to lead by example, pitch in, brainstorm and
problem solve...silly me.
Put a different way, the answer to a lack of expat talent is to 'plug and play', if you catch my meaning.
It seems Saudi management has about the same respect for the masters degree western technical experts as they do the Bangladeshi office cleaners. In their eyes, both are a dime a dozen.
IMO...Continually down hill since Jumah departed. You were once desired and treasured. Now you are a necessary evil, for the time being. And a commodity at that.
You can only understand when you see what we saw.
I left BC (before COVID). It was getting bad then.
The way you pronounce Nasser is "yes sir". He does what the prince wants when the prince wants it. Aramco used to be semi independent. Not anymore. Treating expats like one time use tissue comes right from the very top of the country. Its going to keep getting worse until something really big breaks. I'm afraid that what breaks might result in some people dying. Hope I'm wrong about that.
I have to second @2qeg+1bvHjHm5 ‘s comment on the CEOs vis a vis expat treatment. Falih made sure expats were happy and compensated them for putting up with BS. The new dude made it a point to strip most of the perks expats were promised.
It is true that culture has dramatically downgraded in last few years especially since current CEO took over. All his policies are visibly anti-expat. Previous CEO was a practical guy who believed that expats have made this company what it is today and they still have a key role to play.
Now a days expats are being treated as cleaning staff who are only there to clean up the mess created by hosts. There have been several major leaks, incidents in past 2 years but management always hide it under the carpet by forcing expats to write cover-up reports. Now days management openly threats If expats Fail to 'co-operate''.
Expats are being forced to do illegal and unethical things, which would cause jail term in western world.
@xcd+1bvHjHm5 now you made me remember the fires in control buildings in an unnamed facilty that were recorded as "smoke". Even when talking about the fire incident we were reminded by the Saudi geniuses that it was a smoke, not a fire.
Does EOD report up to the Technical Services SVP or the Upstream SVP? Tech Services is pretty bad overall, while Upstream can be OK depending on your boss. I'm not very familiar with Seismic, but it sounds like the number of departments/people you need to interact with is small. This is a VERY GOOD thing at Aramco. The more departments you interact with, the more likely you are to run into somebody who will make your life miserable. On the other hand, you called what you do a commodity, and Aramco is rapidly outsourcing services they think are commodities. Sorry I don't have anymore more specific to share.
Good Luck
Thanks for the info guys. I would be working in the EOD, seismic data processing.
Still weighing my options. My skills are really just a commodity these days and it
is a service company career, so I was looking for more of a big oil company job
like the days of yesteryear rather than the ups and downs of the life of a contractor.
Good Guy,
I'm going to guess that if you are considering Aramco then you are unemployed with no current job prospects or your current jobs is terrible and you haven't been able to find a better one. That situation certainly described me. I was in my late 40s and had just resigned from a job that was ki----g me. I was looking for a job (unsuccessfully) and a friend suggested I try Aramco.
Long story short, I got hired for about $200k all-in (salary, expat premium, bonus), which was slightly more than I was making before. At first, I worked for expat management and it was fine. The situation gradually deteriorated to the point that I resigned after about six years, during which I had saved enough for a modest retirement.
Am I an angry expat? I don't think Aramco did anything bad enough for me to be angry. Things went sour and I quit. That's the way it goes at many (most) companies. I did see bad things happen to others. For example, an expat was framed for a manager's mistake and then downsized after being at the company less than a year. He brought his family over too. For what it is worth, I think the company culture has changed dramatically starting about 2018, and if you ask people who left before then, the answers they give you won't be relevant anymore. The way things are going now at the company, you are unlikely to last six years, but if you do you could well become the angry expat you speak about.
The tone of your post makes me think that you will accept Aramco's offer assuming they have given you one. Good luck to you. We all do what we have to do. If you are really undecided, you can post the general area where you got an offer (eg. Technical Service, Law, etc.) and I'm sure people here will try to give you a little more color. Some areas are definitely better than others.
Extremely balanced post by @xcd+1bvHjHm5. Heed him well OP.
Aramco hasn’t acted in a very trustworthy way over the past 6 years that I’ve been here. First a bunch of expats died in a fire due to gross negligence. Aramco covered up the bypassed fire alarms, lied about the number of dead and treated those that survived and those that lost loved ones extremely poorly. Then they screwed a bunch of medical people out of their pensions with the switch to JHAH. They’ve had two rounds of layoffs and both times they targeted expats who were very close to achieving major financial milestones. Either 5 or 10 years for Americans or 6 years for global. We’ve seen the government tax our wives and children with no off set from the company. We’ve dealt with nonsensical coronavirus restrictions that have left us separated from our families for long periods of time with no recourse. We’ve put up with this while working for Saudis that are equal parts arrogant and stupid. It gets old after a while and people need a place to vent. Coming to Aramco isn’t necessarily a bad decision. If you get in the right department work can be tolerable and my kids have been happy on camp. But do not trust the company and try to come in with your eyes open and a backup plan.