Blue Cat

I have never said that MM we have always had everything paid for, still do. Eeyore was the one who didn't not us

Meow

Oh come off it. He is not in the oil business and just because things happen a certain way for you, does not mean it can be the same for everyone else. Different industries have different norms/practices. Your experience is not the only one...

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commander

i know lots more outwith the oil company..so your correct, my experience is not the only one

Madam Medusa

oh ok bc, I thought you had a real issue with rent though...?

MM, xx

Blue Cat

nope, in the last job we actually made 35k a year but renting below budget, this Company pay the rent direct to the landlord. When we moved out of the apartment the Landlord was arsy about returning the cheque? remember when we lost that job? maybe you are thinking of that

Meow

I truly think it is nonsense to say that anyone without a 'featherbed' package is on a bad deal. Is the person in a 2 bed apartment provided by their employer with DEWA paid for really in a better situation than someone else on a much bigger salary who organises their own accommodation and pays their own rent/bills? These matters are simply not so black and white.

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Meow

But you were paying the rent, not the company.

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Jeeper

What's your point?....that's a free market.
The packages came down because employee supply went up (for reasons too long for me to list).

That's normal. You reckon people shouldn't come because there's some expats that don't want things to change?

Then employers in 06-08 were struggling to find staff to keep up with the work due the boom and salaries went up again......then in 08-09 there was mass redundancies and salaries went down.

It's all normal.

I don't see how a 35k salary say is any different to a 25k salary with 10k accomm allowance or a 25k salary with apartment included (aside from the gratuity aspects).

As stated earlier....I'd rather have the allowance as I can save most of it.

Blue Cat

the company gave us 120k a year for accomodation, paid in two cheques, they wanted to pay the LL direct and have the apartment in their name which would have meant we would have been homeless last January. (thank goodness we did it in our name!).

commander

agree, if you receive 500,000AED PA for housing and utilities then its a great deal.

What has screwed things up though was people accepting levels of allowances that did not match with the true cost of living and housing costs..

this became the normal, packages went down...yada yada yada

Jeeper

Countries used to buy oil for $40 a barrel.
Then it seemed like everyone wanted oil right now and it went to $150.

Damn those people that were willing to pay $150 for oil.....they should have walked so we could still have our cheap oil.

commander

and take on the risk associated with having contracts in your name etc. There are pro's and con's to everything.

i havent exclusively worked for oil companies in the UAE, i worked for a utilities company and received a housing allowance.

It just didnt sit well with us, so we changed jobs.

Now i sleep easy at night knowing that i can get on a plane tomorrow with nothing in my name whatsoever.

Jeeper

That's still an allowance.

Ethos83

Nope. For apartments the norm is now very much multiple cheques. Know plenty of people who've moved to new flats and not one paid a single cheque up front. Every single one had an op-out clause included in the lease. Check dubizzzle and you'll see how much the market has changed.

Villas are still more traditionally managed but plenty are now offering multiple cheques as well. The standard is now that the more cheques the higher the rent (200K one cheque, 205 two cheques, 210 four cheques etc).

Jeeper

I understand your point about being at risk of loss when paying a years rent...it's something I understood and took on board when I arrived...hence the fact I have always lived cheap by sharing or, as of lately, living in internation shi.tty - cuts the loss should the worst happen. I don't lose sleep either.
It would be nicer to have the accommodation in the company name, sure, but for me and everyone else where I work (a company of significant size) it is simply not an option.

Should I have refused to come? Or should I have maximised the gains and minimised the risks by living cheap. I did the latter and it's worked out better than I could have hoped. I passed on the place with the views for a few years to buy my own place with views for the rest of my life.

People didn't screw it up by accepting less.....they gained by accepting a package that gave them much more than they could have had back home.

You might have it 'great'. Doesn't mean others shouldn't accept having it 'good'.