Does anyone have any idea how much are contractors with the same qualifications cheaper than expats? Some say as many as 10 times. Is that correct?
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Very innovative concept Anon. They just have to figure out how to get the sanitizer guy through the door on the plane, he keeps getting stuck and it delays the flight.
I always thought the hand sanitizer guy could maybe get Jazan running
Doing the work themselves would do Saudis and the country a world of good. At Aramco, the problem is that there is basically no incentive for that. A local with Wasta will get promotions, a local without generally won't. Hard work and skill plays a much smaller role than it does in the West. There is no quicker way to ki-l productivity than blatant unfairness combined with guaranteed employment. Hard to blame the tea drinkers when you understand what is really going on.
Still complaining about expats?
In 2018 I told you GDP per capita is inversely proportional to percent expats in the Saudi workforce.
Saudi Arabia peaked in 2015, now KSA is under $19k per capita.
Get off your b-ms, put down your mobiles and teacups, and get cracking.
Keep selling that story to your buddies.
There are not really enough Expats to complain about anymore.
What, a few hundred specialized Americans and even fewer Brits, Europeans, and East Asians? The old Aramco Community that existed for nearly a century is gone. The American era is over. You will need to find a new gripe.
Further, the market is speaking, talented senior Saudis, leaving for more money, and opportunity. For talented young Saudis, this is just a stepping stone to Riyadh or Neom, and they will be gone soon too. The American's who survived the purge, leaving on their own. There is nothing more to do but wait.
Meanwhile, I will sell my skills to a consulting firm and bill you four times what you were paying me as an employee. I do have fond memories of my time in KSA, but I have kids to feed.
Good luck Habibi, its been fun.
It is so simple, there is a Performance indicator for all of us but system works?, nah, each supervisor accommodates as per their manager agenda. A sustainable organizational promotes diversity and keep easily a performance indicator by individuals, groups or departments. Alas, requires a completely rebrain this to the bone. People's keep talking about salary, nationality, their neighbour and is forgetting the main goal: Get the oil to the ships, at some point will be going less and certainly somebody will ask why.
Expats are way too expensive, milking Saudis for money, without justification. Too expensive, are they movie stars? Hollywood? Leonardo Di Caprio? Leo Messi? Kylian Mbappe? Premier League? Manchester United? The most beautiful cammel?
The did hire lots of Egyptian engineers before. The problem was they kept waiting for some Western expat to tell them what to do.
Haha, ten times indeed and look how messed up Egypt and Syria are compared to other countries…maybe ten times… you will reap what you sow…
Expats are pure rip-off for Saudis. Expenisive beyond immagination.
Egyptian engineer will do sometimes better job for 10times less. Mind you! 10 times! And remember Steve Jobbs was somewhere from those countries. Syrian I guess. 10 times less!!! And no tickets to New York or SF in busiess class! 10 tines. .
The problem is bigger with local “engineering consulting” firms at least in Khobar or Dammam. Where engineers from Asian subcontinent supposedly put together engineering packages, but instead some have informally subcontracted their work to unqualified fellow nationals who take a break from washing cars to cut and paste packages for a modest fee. So many packages have simple mistakes, they don’t even update the plant numbers, never mind the applicability of the technical aspects. If you are reviewing engineering packages be extra cautious.
Use a Company called “Peak Load.” Peak Load will send out a red van full of true professionals in the areas of Engineering, Accounting, Inspection and Procurement Supply Chain Management. Each professional receives great training from the Dhahran Dining Hall personnel. All such professionals wear yellow jumpsuits and work for peanuts. It should be noted that Peak Load Professionals come equipped with shovels and can be identified by their great-smelling body odors.
Boring. Real 🥱 Yawner.
Lol ..
Yup. We need front end engineering done for a new separator ... And make sure they know how to clean toilets too! The bathroom is a mess!
Better yet, have each Department send a mini van to Khobar each morning to pick up just how many workers they will need for the day and then drop them off in the evening. No need to worry about any of the other stuff.
Why not just round up some yard workers in yellow jump suits and let them processing planning and economic assessments? Think of the money Aramco could save that way!
Going to a business meeting? No problem. Just give them sport coats to wear over their jump suits. It will work splendidly and many promotions and awards will given to those who save the company so much money! I can almost guarantee that management will never see a difference ... Until later ... and by then you will have moved on to better things. Maybe you can even write this into vision 2030 ... Make it part of the labor mobility initiative.
If you are equating SMP labour's with the ones being laid off, you really have very little understanding about what is required to keep Aramco going.
Yep, you can find 10 -12 times cheaper contractors with MSc degree at some places in Aramco. Western expats are very very very expensive in comparison. Very. Very. Very.
Boring Topic. This subject has been beaten into the ground.
Contractor=SMP
Western Expats hired in 2011 -2014 are twice of similar colleagues hired 5 years before, Egyptian are really cheap and most of then are direct employees. Not so many contractor are in Aramco and rates are reduce since 2018 but not to 10 times range. It's no only salary, if you have boarding school and live out of camp most likely you are receiving more than those with a higher salary.
What exactly is a "contractor"?