Gooday John

Worked in Saudia for 2 years... can give you some idea of the costs involved and what you can expect from your employer -

housing will be provided and it will depend on where you are located in Saudia to what you are given as an allowance... some companies have their own compounds and if not they will give you something between Riyals 40-120K depending on your position.

Salaries are a completely different situation and will again depend on where you are... for a middle management positions you would be looking at somewhere between $US50-80K ... anything below this is a joke especially if you are located in Riyadh.

Schooling is expensive, so if you are bringing your family ensure that schooling is included in the contract. They should also provide a ticket for yourself and your family once a year to go on a break.

Let me know if I can be of any further assistance

Pat Hawkins
pathawkins@hotmail.com

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Hey Pat,

thanks but I worked in Saudi for several years so I know the way it all works generally. What I was after was STC (Saudi Telecom) experiences because as you know treatment varies whether you're working for a domestic or foreign company. The company I worked for before was great, never reneged on contract details and respected me enough to give me 20% raises every year. Yeah, it was hard to leave! But they were a US/Saudi group and supplied into the US DOD.

The people who want to employ me now are a privated domestic group and I need imputs from past or present employees.

Thanks,

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Hi Pat

I am presently working for STC..

What sort of information are you after ??
Which area will you be working in ??

Hamad

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hi, hamad

Is living cost at Riyadh that expensive as what they said? My concern will be accocomodation. What is the rental look like for 500 - 1000 sq ft aprtment.

thanks
Jk315

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Hey Hamad,

sorry I didn't check for answers for ages, but here I am.

What I'm looking for is info about how STC treats it's employees, whether they try to change the contract after you arrive, how efficient they are at getting exit/re-entry visas, how efficient they are at paying you....

I guess you could boil it down to - how and when do they renege on the contract?

Thanks............

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Hi,

I wouldn't work for a company that didn't pay adequate rental expenses.

Adequate to me is a minimum of SAR85K to SAR 100K per year. It's usually taken as a quarter of your salary up to a stated maximum. DON'T pay for it yourself!

If you can get an allowance of the above, you should be comfortably living in a compound with, sports facilities, shops, leisure and security.

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Paddibaldi ,

I supose that by now you are in Saudi working for STC.

Now I'm in the same position, I have an offer and I have the same doubts you had before going.

I've been offered 90k plus 23k for housing and 1 ticket for going and living the country.

No CAR and no health care, that would be on my own expense.

I'm worried about those expenses and others that I may not remember.

Can you share your experience with me?

What's your experience also with taxes in your home country?

Thanks,

jSant

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JSant,

no I'm not yet in Saudi, the visa is being processed.

I take it that the numbers you quoted are $ or £? If they are, it sounds about right.

I lived there for 4 or so years until 1999 and found things to be cheap enough. Cars are very cheap and are best baought from departing expats, but if you're brave or have a Saudi friend, you can get some good bargains at the souq. The one in Riyadh is HUGE and will take some time to search.

The home tax situation is different for each country. In my case, being from Ireland, as long as I spend more than about 197 days per year outside of Ireland, I don't pay tax at home no matter what I earn. In the US, you pay tax on everything over about $70k or so.

In selecting accommodation, ask about who pays for utilities. Electricity can be expensive because aircon is on ALL the time and some compounds charge a "surcharge" on top of the standard rate.

You should be getting at least one paid return flight per year to your home of record.

If you think of any specifics you want to ask me, drop me a line.

Regards, Paddibaldi

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Paddibaldi,

Have you moved to Riyadh and are you now working directly for STC or for one of their Contractors ?

Are they presently hiring ?

What are the monthly salaries (in USD) being offered for degreed engineering middle managers ? How much are the benefits on top of the regular monthly salaries ??

Regards, Podicos.

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