NEOM COMMUNITY UPDATE
#496
Forum Regular
Joined: Dec 2021
Posts: 137
Re: NEOM COMMUNITY UPDATE
#497
Re: NEOM COMMUNITY UPDATE
Haha. Had to laugh at that, my kids left Saudi when they were 11+12. They have no desire to visit at this point in their teenage years, and I'm based in Buraydah. Not a remote camp, but it's not the big 3 either.
My experience would be that Saudi can be great for young kids, for a variety of reasons depending on your circumstances, but by about 12 it's not. The compound I live on is full of young kids running around, and it looks like they're having a great time. For the older ones not so much.
In fact for anyone aged 12-30 I'd recommend staying away.
My experience would be that Saudi can be great for young kids, for a variety of reasons depending on your circumstances, but by about 12 it's not. The compound I live on is full of young kids running around, and it looks like they're having a great time. For the older ones not so much.
In fact for anyone aged 12-30 I'd recommend staying away.
#498
Just Joined
Joined: Nov 2021
Location: UK
Posts: 13
Re: NEOM COMMUNITY UPDATE
I'd rather not be so public with the information. You can DM me.
Bear in mind - the 'spouse program' has a capped salary but to be employed as a Full Time Employee, you're on the same salary scale as everyone else.
Spouse Program employment is for 3 months only. After which the contract can be renewed.
From what I've seen, the spouse program is aimed at those who have been out of work for several years and want to get a foot back in the door, or, do not have the qualifications or experience usually required in a full time role.
I'd assume that a spouse who actually does have all quals+exp from the onset could just apply for a regular FTE job from the vacancy listings on the website.
Bear in mind - the 'spouse program' has a capped salary but to be employed as a Full Time Employee, you're on the same salary scale as everyone else.
Spouse Program employment is for 3 months only. After which the contract can be renewed.
From what I've seen, the spouse program is aimed at those who have been out of work for several years and want to get a foot back in the door, or, do not have the qualifications or experience usually required in a full time role.
I'd assume that a spouse who actually does have all quals+exp from the onset could just apply for a regular FTE job from the vacancy listings on the website.
#500
Just Joined
Joined: Nov 2021
Location: UK
Posts: 13
Re: NEOM COMMUNITY UPDATE
My 19 year old girl is actually looking forward to coming, for: the pool, the desert, the sea, and hopefully she can get an internship job for the summer too.
#501
Just Joined
Joined: May 2022
Posts: 2
Re: NEOM COMMUNITY UPDATE
Im sure everyone has their reasons but some of them would be:
NEOM caters for your every need basically
NEOM has great benefits
NEOM has decent housing, with Bechtel/Aecom you will not be living in decent housing
NEOM provides schooling for kids
NEOM is the client
NEOM has a wider range of roles
NEOM caters for your every need basically
NEOM has great benefits
NEOM has decent housing, with Bechtel/Aecom you will not be living in decent housing
NEOM provides schooling for kids
NEOM is the client
NEOM has a wider range of roles
#502
#504
Just Joined
Joined: May 2022
Posts: 20
Re: NEOM COMMUNITY UPDATE
CLS in Canberra did my visa and attestation of documents. Did everything in about 4 weeks. Good service, but needs a bit of pushing every now and then to keep on top of things for you.
They are doing my family visas now for my wife and daughter. I wouldn’t have gone back to them if I didn’t think they had done a good job the first time.
Good luck going forward with the rest of your process mate..
They are doing my family visas now for my wife and daughter. I wouldn’t have gone back to them if I didn’t think they had done a good job the first time.
Good luck going forward with the rest of your process mate..
Thanks for that mate, CLS Capital Link Services found them great will give them a buzz
#506
Just Joined
Joined: May 2022
Posts: 1
Re: NEOM COMMUNITY UPDATE
Is everyone enjoying the work environment? I'm in the process and read an article in the WSJ today with the headline "Expatriate Executives Flee Saudi Arabia's Bad Bosses" and talks about Neom.
A lot of it seems to be from 1-2 years ago so am wondering if things have improved a bit?
A lot of it seems to be from 1-2 years ago so am wondering if things have improved a bit?
#507
#508
Just Joined
Joined: Jun 2022
Posts: 2
Re: NEOM COMMUNITY UPDATE
Hi all, I am new here as yesterday I was approached by a recruiter about an opportunity for a job at NEOM within the Energy division.
The opportunity has peaked my interest, but having worked in the UK all of my life, it would obviously be a big move. I have been reading through this forum and the amount of information people have shared has been very insightful, I was hoping people could clarify a few things and give some general advice.
I am in my early 30's and have a young child, due to our circumstances at home, we wouldn't all be moving to the ME, it would just be myself. So in order to justify a move like this obviously the pay and perks of the job would have to be worth it. The opportunity offers the usual pay % increase of 25%, accommodation, meals, 2x internal flights within Saudi per month, flights home per year (only 1 I presume?), 20-40% bonus and 24 remote working days. There is no mention of annual leave, but judging from others, I expect this is 25-30 days?
So am I right in thinking pay wise, say I earn £60,000 now in UK, then 25% increase of that would mean my new pay would be £75,000, but of course this would be tax free, so if I was comparing that pay to a UK job of say 20% tax, that would equate to a salary in the UK of somewhere around £90,000?! Then there is the bonus, has anyone had experience of the bonus and know how likely it is to be paid out and at what %? Obviously it is often performance based, but I know some companies have a habit of mentioning bonuses but don't often payout, or others go the other way and often hand it out but at lowest figure.
Then in terms of work life balance. I have seen people here say they have been working 12 hours a day, and sometimes on weekends... is that standard, or is it job specific? I am asking mainly due to thinking of when I could get home to visit, are weekends counted as working days? Could I in theory visit England every 8 weeks, take say 5 days leave a time (but use the weekends for additional days, presuming they aren't working days) then use up 2 days remote working for another 2 days at home... so effectively stretching the home visit to about 9 days or so (taking into account travelling). Do people do that kind of thing? Obviously this is just an example as the frequency of this is probably too much and would would take away from the point of making a good salary! But just to get an idea about the flexibility...
Finally what is the work environment like? Is there a lot of british people on site? Also do the people you work for speak good english typically, this may sound a bit silly, but one of my initial worries was any sort language barrier. Also in terms of the environment, is there much to do outside of the complex? Can you go out on a weekend and such or are you basically stranded and restricted to what you have on site?
The opportunity has peaked my interest, but having worked in the UK all of my life, it would obviously be a big move. I have been reading through this forum and the amount of information people have shared has been very insightful, I was hoping people could clarify a few things and give some general advice.
I am in my early 30's and have a young child, due to our circumstances at home, we wouldn't all be moving to the ME, it would just be myself. So in order to justify a move like this obviously the pay and perks of the job would have to be worth it. The opportunity offers the usual pay % increase of 25%, accommodation, meals, 2x internal flights within Saudi per month, flights home per year (only 1 I presume?), 20-40% bonus and 24 remote working days. There is no mention of annual leave, but judging from others, I expect this is 25-30 days?
So am I right in thinking pay wise, say I earn £60,000 now in UK, then 25% increase of that would mean my new pay would be £75,000, but of course this would be tax free, so if I was comparing that pay to a UK job of say 20% tax, that would equate to a salary in the UK of somewhere around £90,000?! Then there is the bonus, has anyone had experience of the bonus and know how likely it is to be paid out and at what %? Obviously it is often performance based, but I know some companies have a habit of mentioning bonuses but don't often payout, or others go the other way and often hand it out but at lowest figure.
Then in terms of work life balance. I have seen people here say they have been working 12 hours a day, and sometimes on weekends... is that standard, or is it job specific? I am asking mainly due to thinking of when I could get home to visit, are weekends counted as working days? Could I in theory visit England every 8 weeks, take say 5 days leave a time (but use the weekends for additional days, presuming they aren't working days) then use up 2 days remote working for another 2 days at home... so effectively stretching the home visit to about 9 days or so (taking into account travelling). Do people do that kind of thing? Obviously this is just an example as the frequency of this is probably too much and would would take away from the point of making a good salary! But just to get an idea about the flexibility...
Finally what is the work environment like? Is there a lot of british people on site? Also do the people you work for speak good english typically, this may sound a bit silly, but one of my initial worries was any sort language barrier. Also in terms of the environment, is there much to do outside of the complex? Can you go out on a weekend and such or are you basically stranded and restricted to what you have on site?
Last edited by ohh_danielson; Jun 1st 2022 at 9:14 am.
#509
Re: NEOM COMMUNITY UPDATE
I am asking mainly due to thinking of when I could get home to visit, are weekends counted as working days? Could I in theory visit England every 8 weeks, take say 5 days leave a time (but use the weekends for additional days, presuming they aren't working days) then use up 2 days remote working for another 2 days at home... so effectively stretching the home visit to about 9 days or so (taking into account travelling).
#510
Just Joined
Joined: Apr 2022
Posts: 14
Re: NEOM COMMUNITY UPDATE
Interesting....
https://www.wsj.com/articles/expatri...sr-11654008823
https://www.wsj.com/articles/expatri...sr-11654008823
Everyone I know says it differs a lot by the department, and basically by ED. For this reason I was very careful about choosing which department to apply for (I started talking to 3-4 Neom people 3 months before I applied for anything and gathered intelligence) and even brought this up during the interview, and the interviewers said they’re known to have the best working culture (well according to them) within Neom. So I’m hopeful, and hope the current ED doesn’t flee too soon 😩
2 practical questions to the people who’s already there.
1) After the background check clearance, how long did you have to wait to get the visa documents from NEOM?
(Got all docs ready including degree attestation and still waiting for documents from their side)
2) After the visa, how long did you have to wait for the travel arrangement? And is it possible to choose which day to fly, or it’s only Saturdays where there is a chartered flight to Neom bay airport?
TIA!