The Company currently needs new hire expats that are willing to work for lower pay and little benefits. Expats on the older pay and benefits package are being encouraged to resign or be eventually laid off. In other words, the Company does not want the expensive employees hanging around any more.
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I know some cases in those particular departments.
On another note I was looking into AI today and was thinking about Aramco adopting it. It could be a possible saving grace for them in the future. At the same time I think about Aramco Managers and "Experienced" Operators who "know better" opposing it and a wide smile comes to my face.
Reminds me of the site I worked at when troubleshooting some equipment issues and giving clear recommendations only to be met by a sn-t nosed "experienced" operator telling me he knew his equipment. Later be met by my boss (useless id--t with wasta) complaining about the problem not being solved. I would later present the solution to him and management and explain basically that the only thing standing between the problem and the solution was the operators' reluctance to do anything about it.
I even remember a local P&CSD guy coming to the site to recommend the exact thing I did and to be met with the same dismissive comments (maybe he was of the wrong tribe). Meanwhile business and usual and millions down the gutter.
As stated before selling common sense to these tribal bipedals is a waste of time.
That's unusual because they are part of ES and other departments such as CSD and ID struggled to get extensions for staff. How about Operating Area Departments and extensions?
@3ujr+1cahw5ZY
P&CSD and Facilities Planning to my knowledge. There might be others.
Which departments are still giving extensions?
Extensions I know about happened because the company didn't have enough people to do the work. They over fired, got really cheap, can't hire, and now have to keep very expensive people on the payroll another year. Welcome to the LFZ that is Aramco.
I do know a few cases of expats who got extended and I am talking about very competent and recognized authorities in their fields, not the adulating type. Worst of all their advice is not followed while they cash in and laugh their way to the bank.
Not sure if that’s correct as many expats are still getting extensions. The issues with SA lies with the promotion of unqualified / undeserving locals that in turn promote their own generation of incompetents. It’s quite the vicious circle.
In the USA there is a saying....."you get what you pay for." For Aramco getting rid of experienced expats and hiring cheap inexperienced expats or locals, it will come back to bite them in the ar-e. In their ignorance they will ask "What happened?" and hire over priced consultants who have even less oil & gas experience than the low priced id--ts they hired. Welcome to Saudi Arabia!
If there was any logic, then again we are talking about Saudi Arabia, the expats would be hired to mentor the young PDPs so they could acquire the skills and climb up the ladder. Reality is in spite Aramco paying for all their education whether in Kingdom or Abroad (I seriously question whether Aramco pays for their education or just the Diplomas) is that many PDPs come with very brash attitudes, especially those educated above. The worst is that many are given fast track promotions way above their real degree of competency.
Reality is much different, a lot of tribalisms, wasta, etc. On the expat camp there is also a lot of backstabbing going on in some sites. Meanwhile the PDPs are given "fast track" trainings where they are sent to Dhahran for XYZ courses given by very competent instructors while they are just playing Candy Crush or similar on their phones.
Also one way to pursue Saudization is to cut costs on Expats, which is understandable from a financial sense. But this also deincentivizes expats from giving their best and Aramco in turn getting what they pay for.
Let's see how it plays out. In the short term I can easily see them hiring expats for a dime a dozen while those on the older terms start a mass exodus. In the long term I can see Aramco desperate to pay top dollar again trying to capture real talent from anywhere as their performance goes down down the gutter.
Agreed. Plus keep a few of those older expats around to mentor the masses of YP's that they have heavily supported throughout their education. They have invested beaucoo bucks in these young ones. Those YP's don't make much and they have to fight tooth and nail to claw their way up the ladder and higher pay grades. In addition to being from the 'right' family. That was the plan all along, right? Just getting further along in the process. It is becoming more evident to the casual observer. They will always pay a lot for the right expat talent to mentor the young YP's, but that bar is getting higher and higher. Am I wrong? Tell me where. Expats are still a necessary 'evil' but becoming less so every day.