brn1411

Hi All,

Im currently working for a big 4 audit firm here in London (7 years experience of which 2 as manager) and been offered a role in the firm's Dubai office as a manager as well.

Salary they are offering is 27k Dhs per month including all allowances plus health and dental insurance on top and annual flights back home.

Is this enough? I'm single, no dependents and will be looking to stay in a 1 bed flat there.

Currently earning £65k here in London, so no real change in salary. Got a mortgage in London back hoping to rent the flat out while in Dubai.

Is the amount they are offering enough? Nervous and existing times!!

Thank you

IKnowNothing

Nope, not enough, half of your 27k/month will be taken up with rent/car/stuff, maybe even more.

If they provide accommodation and all bills (air con mainly) then yes. Otherwise, no.

brn1411

Thank you very much! how much would you reckon is a good salary i should ask for?

having done a bit of research, my approx expenses look like this:

Accomodation - 10k per month (1 bed flat in dubai)
Bills - 2k per month
car - 4k per month
others (food, socialising, shopping etc) - 6k

so in total 22k per month. Is this reasonable or am I being naive?

iggle

No, not enough.

Millhouse

You will probably feel a bit worse off. They are basically using your current salary at an exchange rate of 5. Remember how much it dropped recently.

I think you'd want 35-40k. I don't think you will get it though - the big 4 are rubbish payers (and not great employers).

Don't let them try and tax adjust you. They like to try that one.

iggle

I wouldn't get out of bed for less than 30k a month. Honestly. Working here is to hard (long hours, high expectations, 24/7) too expensive (40AED a beer, rent so high) to paid so low.

OP look at it like this; Cabin Crew get paid around 12k a month, but don't pay any bills or accommodation. 22k-7k (rent and bills) you're not much off a crew wage.

Edit

Just read that its 27k a month.

Any way i wouldn't get out of bed for less than 30. You are British, with British education and British training. Don't accept less.

mission

As a qualified accountant working as an FC for a brit oil & gas company (granted it's not auditing) I have to say that salary is sh*t, particularly more so since you are top 4 tier.
I deal with KPMG, who are our global auditors, and out here in the ME (I'm the FC for the ME region), the last place I would want to work in is auditing....the staff are treated like shyte, expected to work VERY long hours and the pay is appalling.
I am actually surprised that they are looking to hire from the UK, given that they can get excellent candidates who will work for peanuts (and bust their balls) from the Asian continents.
I would not accept anything less than AED 40k a month.

brn1411

Thanks guys for all the info. Informed them yesterday evening that I would need 35k (wish i had seen the messages from this morning as i would have asked for more).

Waiting for them to get back to me now. As all of you have mentioned, I'm not going even going to consider unless they get close to the 35k mark and when i say close nothing less than 34k.

Also annoyed that they are not giving a relocation allowance. So have asked for that as well.

Thank you

KJinDoha

I think that is a good response. If they offer you the 34k pcm plus relocation allowance (at around 30k),annual flights (assuming business class) and health & dental then I would say it's worth it. If your responsibilities are comparable.

You would likely be able to save more in Dubai while earning overseas work experience in a place with great travel opportunities while having your property in London paying itself off. If it doesn't work out and you realise it's not for you then all that would be in reverse so you should be as sure as possible, I would make visits to get a feel for the particular working and living environment.

mission

If you get around AED 34k-35k plus relocation allowance, then I agree with the poster above, that's a pretty decent deal, considering you are single & have no financial dependants.


Good luck with the offer - keep us posted.

mission

Business class is a rarity in this current climate - in my experience only the very top management/board level get business class.

scrubbedexpat141

Are you joking Iggle?

Those figures are bang on the money.
In fact, the car bit might be a bit high (once you purchase, even accounting for saving a bit for maintenance).

iggle

We all have a price, thats below what i would work for. I wouldn't work in UAE for that

DXBtoDOH

Well, it depends on what kind of lifestyle you want to have.

You don't have to spend 10k a month for a 1 bed flat. 120K gets you a very nice 1-bed flat in Downtown or Marina. But you can also easily spend 80K instead for a basic 1-bed in the Marina or JLT or Greens or slightly less in Sports City (Sports City is going for around 70K I think).

Let's assume it's 7K a month, including the 5% housing tax. That's 84K for the year.

Bills. Let's assume your bills are Dewa (not including housing tax), basic internet/TV and you don't have district cooling. Probably 500 a month (350 for cheapest internet/Tv and 150 for dewa as housing tax is figured into the rent figure above). So 6k a year.

Car: you hire a basic Yaris/Tiida for 2K a month.

Food/entertainment: 1K a week or 4K a month.

Total monthly outlay:

Housing: 7K
Bills: 500
Food/entertainment: 4K
Transportation: 2K

Total: 13500 a month.

This is definitely feasible and allows you to live comfortably enough and still save quite a bit of your income.

I'm not going to comment on whether it's worth giving up your current position in London but pointing out you do not have to be spending 22K a month for a comfortable lifestyle. However, as others have pointed out, the set up costs are a real killer so it'd probably take you a year before you really start seeing any noticeable savings.

iggle

4k a month, where do you shop? I spend around 1k every 10days on food alone. Thats not even including the trips to the local off license. Add in the cost of beer, i spend around 6-7k a month on living costs. I am not someone who's out alot either

Also if you want a fit blonde Ukrainian they wont work for less than 30k a month