Saudi roles

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Discussion

z4RRSchris

Original Poster:

11,544 posts

187 months

Wednesday 17th August 2022
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There are some pretty mental numbers jobs going in Saudi at the moment mostly around NEOM.

Anyone doing it? Have you gone mad yet?

dxbtiger

4,441 posts

181 months

Wednesday 17th August 2022
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z4RRSchris said:
There are some pretty mental numbers jobs going in Saudi at the moment mostly around NEOM.

Anyone doing it? Have you gone mad yet?
Big talent drain from Dubai to them, we (large multinational) have seen quite a few jump ship and go.

I know a Head Hunter that has placed a few senior people into them, was chatting to him last night, I quote 'hard gig but worth it if you can stick it out 2-3 years', the money they are throwing at people is massive.

It would still be a last option for me, I like the lifestyle here too much and wouldn't want to move the family.

Matt p

1,051 posts

216 months

Wednesday 17th August 2022
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Currently looking at the moment. A lot of jobs have popped up on my companies intranet job portal.

jgrewal

829 posts

55 months

Thursday 18th August 2022
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Are these technology roles or construction/development? What kind of salaries are we talking (obviously its tax free) v UK?

Edited by jgrewal on Thursday 18th August 18:06

IanH755

2,012 posts

128 months

Saturday 20th August 2022
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Spent 4 years in Saudi doing aviation engineering - Leave all your expectations of what levels of work ethic you expect from people, and how truthful you expect people to be at the border when you enter.

If you're lucky you'll be directly interfacing with mostly various nation ex-pats with minimal Saudi oversight or direct work contact and at least your "work life" won't be a morale drain. If you're unlucky you'll directly interface with Saudis above/below you and you'll get the blame for everything and you'll have to accept that being knowingly lied to your face is the norm from 95% of the Saudis you'll meet but try not to take offence, it's just cultural not personal.

I did 4 years, made enough to leave and never go back but you can see that those who've spent 15+ years there are like Life sentence prisoners who don't know how to cope on the outside, very few ever return to the UK, most head of to Far East instead.

Outside of work it's not as bad as you may imagine TBH, although the cost of living in the 4 years I was there doubled at a minimum (Petrol costs went up 500%!!!) so it's not as cheap as it used to be so the wages, as great as they can be, may not be as amazing as they first seem once you factor in the huge rise in basics like food where a can of RIO tuna can be £7.50 etc.

I enjoyed my time as much as I could but it was very much a "bite your tongue, get through this and think of the money after all this is over" rather than genuinely enjoying it, although thats a very personal opinion rather than a general "everyone thinks like this".

Edited by IanH755 on Saturday 20th August 19:15

Countdown

42,160 posts

204 months

Sunday 21st August 2022
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IanH755 said:
Spent 4 years in Saudi doing aviation engineering
Ever meet an Ex-RAF guy called "Raf"? (worked on the electronics side of things, probably looked more Saudi than the Saudis?)

bobski1

1,863 posts

112 months

Wednesday 24th August 2022
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where do people go to find roles over there? Something in engineering over there would be interesting, as others have said earn enough to not have to go back

mondie

628 posts

150 months

Wednesday 24th August 2022
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I too would be interested to know what kind of roles are up for grabs and how big the money really is. Where are these roles promoted as I haven't seen much in the usual places?

abzmike

9,325 posts

114 months

Wednesday 24th August 2022
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https://careers.neom.com/search/ … if you think it might float your boat. No idea about money though.

IanH755

2,012 posts

128 months

Thursday 25th August 2022
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mondie said:
I too would be interested to know what kind of roles are up for grabs and how big the money really is. Where are these roles promoted as I haven't seen much in the usual places?
You won't see the salaries of the "big" roles like project leads, head engineers etc posted, it'll all be negotiated instead, but the "lower" end jobs with advertised salaries are starting at around £3k+ a month tax free (still have to pay NI for 1 year though) but on average a dude fixing equipment should be asking for around £4k, based on my prior experience, which would be the equivalent to a £70k a year job in the UK.

Then on top of the base wage you get all the "perks" like travel money (to/from UK), free housing, medical etc and then any negotiated monetary perks like school fee's etc.

Where I worked our "top level" folks were on £10k a month tax free, about the equivalent of £220k a year in the UK, where the pay for the same job would be about 1/3 of that, so the money you can earn sounds impressive at first.

z4RRSchris

Original Poster:

11,544 posts

187 months

Thursday 25th August 2022
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unless you are exec roles the money seems to be 130% of what you are on in the UK, with no tax.

If you are exec, then its 500k - £2m

mondie

628 posts

150 months

Thursday 25th August 2022
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Thanks for the link and background info. I will do some sniffing smile

shirt

23,543 posts

209 months

Thursday 25th August 2022
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Neom themselves are trying to peg salaries by asking for proof of current salary and applying a % on top. I hear those moving over from jobs in uae are seeing a 30% uplift, with a review after 12 mths.

Contractors are different gravy, so aim to find out who’s winning contracts.

mk2driver

168 posts

124 months

Monday 29th August 2022
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IanH755 said:
You won't see the salaries of the "big" roles like project leads, head engineers etc posted, it'll all be negotiated instead, but the "lower" end jobs with advertised salaries are starting at around £3k+ a month tax free (still have to pay NI for 1 year though) but on average a dude fixing equipment should be asking for around £4k, based on my prior experience, which would be the equivalent to a £70k a year job in the UK.

Then on top of the base wage you get all the "perks" like travel money (to/from UK), free housing, medical etc and then any negotiated monetary perks like school fee's etc.

Where I worked our "top level" folks were on £10k a month tax free, about the equivalent of £220k a year in the UK, where the pay for the same job would be about 1/3 of that, so the money you can earn sounds impressive at first.
What sort of role do you mean by top level folk? What sort of responsibilities do they have?

I’m seriously considering a potential lifestyle change to working somewhere outside the U.K. with my family

Edited by mk2driver on Monday 29th August 21:06

GT03ROB

13,572 posts

229 months

Monday 29th August 2022
quotequote all
IanH755 said:
You won't see the salaries of the "big" roles like project leads, head engineers etc posted, it'll all be negotiated instead, but the "lower" end jobs with advertised salaries are starting at around £3k+ a month tax free (still have to pay NI for 1 year though) but on average a dude fixing equipment should be asking for around £4k, based on my prior experience, which would be the equivalent to a £70k a year job in the UK.

Then on top of the base wage you get all the "perks" like travel money (to/from UK), free housing, medical etc and then any negotiated monetary perks like school fee's etc.

Where I worked our "top level" folks were on £10k a month tax free, about the equivalent of £220k a year in the UK, where the pay for the same job would be about 1/3 of that, so the money you can earn sounds impressive at first.
I would normally expect to see 1.75-2 times UK base for Saudi delivered tax free based on my experience working in Saudi.

The “perks” you list are not perks they are costs!

2 GKC

2,063 posts

113 months

Monday 29th August 2022
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No amount of money would make me even think about going there let alone working there.

shirt

23,543 posts

209 months

Tuesday 30th August 2022
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Speaking to a recruiter last night, construction pm roles around 13k a month plus housing, car, travel, health etc and a per diem.

Bit low as I know people I lesser roles on 15.5 a month so appears construction roles at least are slowing up.

Kermit power

29,472 posts

221 months

Tuesday 30th August 2022
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I've only been a few times, never for more than 2-3 days, and not for around 20 years, but how anyone could ever bear to live there (or even worse, inflict it on family!) for any money is beyond me.

Utterly hideous, hypocritical, boring sthole!

z4RRSchris

Original Poster:

11,544 posts

187 months

Tuesday 30th August 2022
quotequote all
you go there to change your life financially,

first year pays off the mortgage, year two sorts the kids school fees, then you leave.

Countdown

42,160 posts

204 months

Tuesday 30th August 2022
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z4RRSchris said:
you go there to change your life financially,

first year pays off the mortgage, year two sorts the kids school fees, then you leave.
Years 3-10 enable you to buy 5 BTLs cash, you then come back to the UK and semi-retire.....