Thread regarding Saudi Aramco layoffs

Most of the new-hirers will be called “Senior Horse Clump Collectors” or “Sanitary Napkin Engineers.”

Its clear that Saudi Management is less interested in NA and EU expats. If they dont want the best engineers and geoscientist thats fine. Its their company and their decision . If Aramco doesn't want to compete with the top majors for talent thats fine. Good luck Aramco, you'll need it as you fail to compete and eventually falter.

Old News. Pure boring po-p and nonsense post.

Lots of people 'quiet quitting' around here, especially in upstream. Just like it has always been. Actually, much like Post ID: @2cus+1iqeg7CN described.

A lot of talk in these comments about the good old times as an expat being over. From my 22 years there, it all changed when more Saudis got access to confidential payroll data and therefore learned of the crazy salaries some old-timer expats (their colleagues) were getting. In the early days, access to these systems was heavily restricted and only a handful of locals might have been trusted to keep the information to themselves. Since the saudization of many of these HR roles, there was subsequent 'chatter' through the offices, and envy developed. Rightly so! So many old-timers on ridiculously high salaries who brought no special skills set and achieved nothing. Think: admin assistant/editor/blue-eyed westerner schmoozing around the offices complimenting chief position holders and laughing at their jokes - all day, everyday.

The posted jobs are indeed hard to fill. Mostly quite specialised. There will never be hundreds of qualified applicants for these posts. As for putting vaguely qualified people into such positions, respectfully, this is nonsense. The major of the positions I looked at are so specialised you would have to have the right skills to perform the job. A log of negativity in the comments thread. On a positive note, thousands of expats have magnificent careers and experiences with Saudi Aramco, including myself.

The days of Aramco being an easy job for an expat to work until retirement are over. Easy jobs now go to locals only. Expats are a shrinking part of the workforce and there is nowhere to hide. Expect to be worked really hard by a "taskmaster" local boss and then dumped six months before any major benefits vest. This is the new normal. Guys who worked at Aramco ten years ago would be shocked to see how it is now.

Get your cash, hit your savings target, then leave. Quickly. Do not bring your family.

The longer you stay, the harder it is to get back into the real world and your career will die a death.

You’ve been warned! (From an old timer)

That works for the Saudis, not so much for expats anymore.

Following that advice will get you to the top of the next layoff list.

Come on man!
What is so hard about it?

• come in late, leave early.
• have lots of yellow sticky note appts; house maint, clinic, auto repair, inspection etc..., govt offices, bank etc,...really a never-ending supply of time-wasting possibilities here.
• take numerous coffee and smoke breaks.
• keep lots of excuses in your back pocket for late completion dates.
• spend your work time planning your OOK trips.
• k-ss some -ss.
• Do this for 20 years and go home.

What could be simpler?

Good one lol @2hgl+1iqeg7CN
The "cr-p" filled up faster for me!

This is how I came here years ago -the position had very little to do with the job posting. Old tale.
Ruined my career, future -it feels like I sold my soul- I am now hoping money would balance it all. Bad decision.

There is a common and old tale, go to Saudi with two buckets, in one you will put all the money and in the other one all the BS, and leave when whatever one of them is full.

You cannot really check how your boss or colleagues will be, because they get rotated so fast for "development", you start off with someone fairly decent and then you end up with the Boss from He-l. All promises, goals and objectives with the former Boss become null and void with the Boss from He-l and after 10-months of exceeding your goals and objectives you go from E+ to M or D in a heartbeat, because what the Boss from He-l delegated to you from last week when he joined is not yet completed. Or the best joke is when the decent Boss gates rotated out leaving you with goals and objectives in writing and then the Boss from He-l assigns and prioritizes you new ones and then he gets rotated out and the decent Boss rotates back in and of course you have not done what he originally set so your rating is poor...the whole place is one gigantic cluster....

It is a lottery, again, don't move with family, go, check how is your boss, your colleagues, job and then you can easily decide if you continue or better leave it. Remember probation period works in both ways

You’re just a corporate dogs body. That’s it. Aramco think they can buy human dignity.

I was literally asked to become a minute keeper of pointless dept meetings, despite being hired as a 20 year veteran and specialist in my space! WTF. So I’ve Moved half way around the world to be an f’ing administrator.

There were grads and “managers” in these meetings doing F all. Most diiick around on their phones with their office doors closed. People I work with don’t even have an attention span to have a proper conversation, without checking their WhatsApp’s. It’s grim.

In short: work for the Kingdom at your own risk.