Re: How does your company cover school fees?
 

I still get lots of clients with families to relocate...did one today, 4 kids between 5 and 12 years old, planning to be here for 5 years, 250,000 dhs housing allowance, utilities paid for, school fees fully paid for...and they are not an exception at all.

Re: How does your company cover school fees?
 

are these jobs in construction or what? I'm starting to really wonder what someone has to do/be to get such a package...

Re: How does your company cover school fees?
 

no, never even had a client that works in construction...
these are people working for major international companies in different fields, but they were already working for these companies and were asked to relocate to Dubai...oil companies, medical/pharmaceutical companies, chemical companies....

Re: How does your company cover school fees?
 

They've got to be the exception , they might not be the exception for your dealings but i imagine you'll be doing business with a very specific group of expats , specific enough to hire somebody to help them out as a start up service ?

Obviously these deals are still around and they'll still be around for years to come but they're not the norm that's impossible , the breakdown on industry and geographical home countries of expats will give you an indicator. Also the collapse of the Construction market and Property market will have had a massive effect on these packages along with the demise of the Quasi Governmental Developers who were the biggest package whores in the GCC.

I've worked for Construction companies overseas for nearly 20 years and packages now are on the wane and drastically , case in point Dubai ,especially for the construction , property and manufacturing related entities.

There's nothing to build , sell or make anymore so there's no need for big deals. Different professions will obviously have different constraints , that i can't comment on but i'm sure there's differentials out there.

Re: How does your company cover school fees?
 

phew - that's reassuring in a way! I was starting to think we were missing a trick!

Re: How does your company cover school fees?
 

as I said, I have never had anyone working in construction, so I have no idea about that area...the companies that hire us are big multinationals, and they offer the relocation assistance to their newcomers, and they are not all big shot CEOs or MDs, just your avarage 'manager' types. We have about 20 consultants working, and I have about 5 to 6 clients per month with about half of them coming over with their family...I am assuming that the same goes for my collegues.

'my' oil people get housing allowances up to 280,000, no difference for singles or families, lots of single guys living it up in massive penthouses in the Marina, lol (was 325,000 until June 1 when they brought it down) with everything paid for including schools. And again, these are just guys with 'normal' type jobs.

Re: How does your company cover school fees?
 

Looking at my neighbours, one side Canadian Chinese, 4 kids, other side American 6 kids.

In terms of the wider compound Australian 4, Uk/Us 4, US 4, Uk, 4, Ozzie 3, British 3, Danish 3 and loads of 2s. They were mostly recruited over the past couple of years with all their kids. Anecdotally, it was understood that Emirati's like big families.

I didn't even know of any families with more than 4 kids before i got here and am now surrounded by them.

Re: How does your company cover school fees?
 

The specific industry and level will dictate the terms of the package but it's not the norm , i wish it was , well saying that i don't think i'd be able to spend 280,000 in Qatar...:)

Re: How does your company cover school fees?
 

thing is, the age at which someone has kids is generally around the 15-20 years work experience, and quite frankly those folks are better to hire for complicated jobs than a single guy with 2-3 years experience.

penny wise, pound foolish.

Re: How does your company cover school fees?
 

Ahhh, I love when these questions pop up every so often.

Lets see...

Housing Allowance, Schooling paid for any and all kids, Car allowance, All utilities paid (Havent seen a DEWA bill in 4 years, have no idea how much that stuff costs...), phone, internet and TV paid, full international medical for all family members..

Oh, and a cracking salary..

I love feather beds....

Re: How does your company cover school fees?
 

Yes mate, and welcome to the 'Real World' of The Middle East! - Nice Temptations, but were they ever paid? I can remember coming home after an especially Hot Afternoon on site during August, only to find that 'The Company' had decided to change its policy and NOT pay for Utility Bills! - The change in policy was made three months earlier, but no one was informed! - DEWA came to call!

Re: How does your company cover school fees?
 

You are working for the wrong company, mate...

9 years and never had anything cut..


In fact, raises...!!!!

Re: How does your company cover school fees?
 

It depends who you work for! - I got a bit 'Niggled' that night!