There is a tax that only you can measure it once you leave the kingdom, I called the Saudi invisible tax, employees could be comfortable at work, certainly some departments take care of their expats but family, your wife and kids are taking a huge... — read more
Profiles of expats
I generally find expats fall into these categories in Aramco. Maxing it out until retirement. Have a target $$$ and therefore planned leave date. Recent joiner and wondering WTF to do (my category) I’ve yet to encounter what I was... — read more
Fear based corporate culture
Here is the portrait of the "ideal" Aramco manager according to what I saw. This manager communicates expectations, usually from higher up who in turn took their orders from Riyadh. However, first he increases them, so if it was supposed to be done... — read more
E is for Expat
Anyone ever gotten more than this rating? Given I run the show and do everything in this dept, it’s a kick in the teeth. My boss told me in as many words, that it won’t ever go higher as others in the dept (Saudis) take precedence as they are... — read more
Info regarding Expat salary For technical job for Geoscientist/engineer
Hello everyone. Currently an American about to accept an offer from Aramco in SA. Entry level is SG 14. Is that a good entry level ? Can you negotiate the SG level? Any idea about salary differences? Any help will be appreciated
Layoffs 2023
A new one coming before March -general restructuring of the company - Saudis affected and expats old payrolls -->Not 100% confirmed but ALMOSTTTT.
Air quality
I’m a recent hire in Dhahran, living in camp. The air quality is very poor. Is it like this year round? I’m concerned about long term health consequences of living in this environment. Any experiences? Thank you.
Career progress
I am very disappointed because I thought that I would be able to make a lot of progress in my career here. At first I thought that it might take a long time before I can be seen as a valid candidate for promotion. However, despite all my efforts, it... — read more
Fast regret
I moved here a few weeks ago, family due to join next month. Early impressions are negative. housing is old/unpleasant with many defects that are taking time and nunerius phone calls to remedy. Told no options for min 2 years to change. ... — read more
2% payrise…
So a real terms pay cut. Nice to see locals getting 10%+ still. Yet another reason to polish up the resume.
Saudi Aramco Base Oil Gets Nod for $1 Billion Riyadh IPO
Saudi Aramco Base Oil Co., a unit of the state-owned oil producer, has received regulatory approval for an initial public offering in Riyadh, as the world’s biggest crude producer looks to list some of its... — read more
This is about Aramco's incompetence
Solar and wind are viable inside the Kingdom. It is just that Aramco is too incompetent to get it done. Five years ago, Aramco had a great alternative energy team. Then, Riyadh got Green and the work Aramco was doing got noticed. The locals promptly... — read more
The world should be worried’: Saudi Aramco — the world’s largest oil producer — has issued a dire warning over 'extremely low' capacity
The global oil market remains tight according to Saudi Aramco, the largest oil producer in the world. And that does not bode well for a world that still relies heavily on fossil... — read more
Good to see nobody is mentioning layoffs
People keep arguing about other stuff but it seems everybody has accepted there'll be no cuts any time soon. You can say what you want about SA, but when it comes to job security, we are doing better than most. Especially right now, considering the... — read more
Where do you see Saudi Aramco in 5 years?
How will things play out?
Aramco. Best employer according to Forbes.
Nice to see Saudi Aramco getting top spot among peers as best employer as documented by a recent Forbes survey. Also has a very good overall rank among all global companies. The company must be doing something right! I know not everyone will agree... — read more
Unbridled Arrogance or extreme insecurity?
This is everywhere in Aramco with management. Is it some kind of national personality disorder or consciously adopted as a mechanism for personal advancement? I’m curious as I’ve seen some badly run company’s in my time, but the calibre of people... — read more
Animosity or bad planning?
I'm glad that someone here mentioned that issue in one of the threads, because I've been facing it lately. My boss constantly delegates work at the last minute and thus creates a huge amount of stress and panic. Is it just bad planning or is it... — read more
Sometimes it's better to pretend that you don't know much
Pro tip: Half of them really are incompetent. The other half are just pretending, because they discovered that once they demonstrate more than the minimal level of competence management will never stop demanding things. Also, competence is almost... — read more
It's hard to take your job seriously at Aramco
Not something to be proud of, but such an atmosphere has been created at Aramco that now hardly anyone takes their job here seriously anymore. Am I wrong? I have been working here for a long time and it is impossible not to notice how the employees... — read more
Rethink
Work shouldn’t suck. Work shouldn’t create emptiness in us. Work shouldn’t destroy our confidence or self esteem. Work shouldn’t make us feel excluded and isolated. Work should add value to our lives. It should add connection. It should add... — read more
I have never worked with more incompetent people
It may sound ugly, but I have never worked with such mediocrity. What is happening here? I used to have the privilege of working with people who were top experts in their field and from whom I could learn a lot. Now, unfortunately, there... — read more
Things that could get even worse?
I have been working here for a long time and I notice that there is less and less enthusiasm and motivation both working hard and advancing one's career. Some new hires are literally lost, some of them don't even know what to do. No one has ambition... — read more
Are Aramco schools still good?
Was contacted by a friend who is a teacher. It seems that Aramco is making a big push to hire more teachers for it's schools. I didn't know what to tell him because I've been gone for several years. When I was there, the schools seemed pretty good... — read more
Brain rotting away working here
I am mentally unchallenged and my brain is rotting, working for this excuse of a company. I spend day after day dealing with arrogant imbeciles and doing paperwork just like an intern. He do you old timers keep things going? Any pearls of wisdom? ... — read more
Beware Aramco's "bait and switch" job postings
This is becoming VERY common now. Aramco has 334 open positions for Expats. From what I have seen, Aramco is having a hard time filling any of the positions, mostly because of bad word of mouth from former employees. Still, some of these jobs are... — read more
New batch of recent hires
In October will arrive a new big batch of recent hires, ready to cover locals enjoying Fifa World Cup but will be December the next ELP for expats?, there is a lot close to 10 year during first half of 2023.
Us expat tips?
Hey everyone, I am having my 2nd interview with SA. Looking to see what the typical expat benefits are? I am young married and no kids. Is aramco a good long term company? 20+ years? I would be leaving Texas to Dhahran. Any other tips?
Outsourcing corruption
Be aware this is what's happening with outsourcing of business lines. VP's & SVP's are colluding with each other to inflate the running costs of business lines before they are outsourced, look at the $100m overspend in Community Services, which was... — read more
Why Xmas / winter vacation holidays are not being allowed to expats anymore?
My supervisor doesn't approved my vacation because all unit is going also and I'm the only expat and with children.
More people leaving?
Lots more yellow death skips have appeared in my camp neighbourhood… Not seen many new faces except for the Saudi families moving in the street. How long before there are zero expats?
Has this happened to anyone else?
Be aware that this can happen. The department that interviews you, and offers you a position, is not always the one that you wind up in once your arrive. Sounds crazy but it happened to me. Original poster @3omu+1hI76BIM ... — read more
Trying to decide on an offer
Hi, I live in US and I have received an offer to work in Dhahran. Offer is good, at SC 15 and position is interesting: Engineering / Technology development. I have a pretty good job now, with over 10 years with current employer, but Aramco role... — read more
Adjusting to inflation...
In order to retain talent, some companies in the UAE are looking at mid-term increments and increasing allowances. This included fuel stipends since prices have jumped nearly 75% since January 2022. In order to retain talent, on average companies... — read more
Next big layoff, when?
Now we have two years of last 5% expat cut during COVID pandemic but every three years they are firing people as per their schedule policy of ELP. So next batch will be so agressive as last one, another 5% or higher?, western people will continue... — read more
Strategy for retaining the best employees
Maybe not everyone will agree with me but I believe that attrition will increase in the coming period. That is my personal impression. If it comes to that, what will Aramco do to keep people? Will the company do anything at all?
Once again another critic of Saudi Aramco production ability
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Is-Saudi-Arabia-Exaggerating-Its-Oil-Production-Potential.html which is why he claims Saudi Arabia did not produce to oil because it could not... then there is the recent $65 oil prediction with a looming... — read more
300+ vacancies on Aramco website - so why the layoffs?
How effective is the manpower and strategic planning at Saudi Aramco when on July 2, 2022, there were over 300+ expat vacancies advertised and yet Saudi Aramco was cutting expats in 2021 and 2020? It's quite bizarre. Have people been resigning en... — read more
You should head back home
If Saudi Aramco is such a cr---y place to work as so many expats working here are trying to paint it as being, what are you still doing here? Why don't you pack your bags and head back home where I'm sure O&G companies will welcome you with open arms... — read more
Global Recession and Impacts on Saudi Aramco
What do you think will happen to SA if there is a global recession?