Ten years ago, I received a job offer from Aramco. This site existed back then. In fact, I remember coming here and not finding much at all. Ten years later, WOW! Aramco has almost as many complaints as Exxon with far fewer Western employees. And I hear that it is still getting worse.
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Aramco has not changed. Saudis have….
If Aramco is a well run company then I’m MBS.
I don’t see Aramco imploding. In fact I see it going from strength to strength. I know this might not be a popular view with some contributors. I base my assessment on 35 years of direct experience. The young Saudis that have been hired over the years are (mostly) a really intelligent and hard working cohort. Yes, there a way fewer expats compared to the early 90s when I joined but the transition to a greater local workforce has been a success. Aramco is a fine, solid and well run company. Are there pockets of incompetence? Yea, of course. But by and large, Aramco continues to be a really great company.
It's only a matter of time before it implodes. If, and when it does, there will be no mysteries how it happened.
• Those expats were the ‘glue’ that held the place together. It’s now nothing more than a bunch of warring tribes, each taking their own cut of silver.
• Aramco is 100% Saudi company run just like any other Saudi government department, answerable to Riyadh. That’s what it is now, it can’t even IPO as the numbers are so appalling. It cannot open up its books.
• There are zero expats left in leadership positions. There is a hiring policy to not recruit over GC 14 for expats, unless by an exception process that requires executive level approval.
• Almost all recent expat joiners are from Muslim backgrounds, Americans are very rare indeed. Salaries being offered are less than other IOCs, only those unemployed or from low paid economies take an interest.
• Aramco management literally have zero expertise outside of working for Aramco. Imagine any other IOC having purely internal management?
• The company feels like it’s coming to its natural end of life, who knows what will happens next, but it certainly won’t be positive for expats.
It's is a completely different approach to the expat, Americans are not longer in charge and the new leadership doesn't have the maturity, knowledge or good intentions to rule Aramco.
Also ELP was created to remove low performance or conflicting staff in a periodic way but as usual, locals corrupted and use it in 2020 to take it out most expensive employees from West, in certain way was a coup.
Since then a really toxic culture was nurture against western expats.
Exxon is 10 times better you reta rd3d m0r0 n.