NEOM experience
 

To all those wondering whether they should head to NEOM or not,

I have just returned after spending a few months in the mountainous desert.

As an expat, it was a nightmare. Not becuase of the work load (projects are extremely interesting!), or the living conditions, or the remoteness of it all, or the lost comfort zone,

It was due to bullying.

I left to save my mental health.

On another note, here is the plain truth about living in NEOM:

The living conditions are ok if you are a single person. Salary is very good, an advantage that everyone gets, in comparison to all their previous job positions.

Sports facilities are everywhere in NC1 and NC2 (swimming, basketball, padel ball, volleyball, cricket, tennis, table tennis, etc). Food is fine, very diverse and clean. Medical facilities are all available and proper.

But there is no time to socialize. youc an socialize with peers from different departments, but everyone is in the same situation, so it helps to share one's worries. Its a purely working environment, with colleagues surrounding you from 6am till 10 pm every single day. Hiking is a weekend option in the spectacular but very arid mountains. Aqaba is close by to get out to get for drinks and party a bit, with easy taxi transportation to be booked in advance.

Do not expect an apartment, not even a studio. They will promise you what you don't get. You will get a room, with no kitchen, not even a kitchenette. Bathrooms are fine, with cleaning facilities twice a week.

Unless you are a CEO, you will be treated like a 25 year old junior manager at the max., with as much as a tiny room in a remote isolated area. Availability of better conditions are scarce. There are way too many people with very overloaded housing facilities and options.

If you are coming with your familiy, the chances of getting a 1 or 2 bedroom apartment right now in NC1 or NC2 are close to null. Not until the end of 2023 mid 2024 will the situation change, as people are moved to new project locations in Trojena or Oxagon (both offer much better living conditions btw, though even much more remote!).

Remote working plans were recently changed. Everyone was given the possilbity to work 24 days remotely. Starting July 2023, these 24 days have been reduced to 12. Official holidays are officially 10 with 30 days of holiday/year.

However, for me, i I did not have many reasons to leave. Everything was actually going well. But I chose to leave in order to save my mental and moral standards. I ended up in a tiny team with competent colleagues, but with one of the worst bosses one could ever meet (totally incompetent, full of egocentric ignorance, and continouos mobbing/ bullying). This is not the case in other departments. Many other departments are excelling, with peers doing great, with support from their colleagues, excelling with full collaborative, communicative and transparent management and directors.

It was just my bad luck. And unfortunately, it was useless to complain. It led nowhere, as there is no accountability for such bad behaviour in the HR system. So I refused to be bullied further.

This is as objective as I can be.

Good luck to all of you out there with the hope of reaching NEOM with a full and proper package!

Re: NEOM experience
 

YMMV

Re: NEOM experience
 

what does YMMV mean?

Re: NEOM experience
 

Your Mileage May Vary...which tells me that this person may not necessarily disagree with you, but that their experience may be different from yours, which you did say btw.

I have been told similar about certain bosses by someone on the ground there right now, and it shouldn't surprise anyone. There's a lot of high-achievers on the project, which can bring some ego and sometimes can be hard to work with.. but as you said it's not everywhere so YMMV.

I do appreciate your feedback, however. It's becoming clear that the best way to last as long as possible is to go expecting to be a very highly paid cog in a machine with the short, sharp goal of stacking cash and having the project on your CV, which can be fine if that's all you expect it to be. Things go left when expectations and realities get into misalignment.

Re: NEOM experience
 

Could you please share what department you worked in please 🙏
Thank you

Re: NEOM experience
 

Can anyone tell me what it is like living as a female spouse with no children in neom. What is there to do every day? Will I be bored? Also is the situation with accomodation still a problem? Thanks

Re: NEOM experience
 

I can tell you that you will not have time to do anyhting except work, eat and do some sports. Time flies fast. You might bet bored in the evenings if you dont have friends. There are several recreation options, including some game groups, hikes over the weekends and sitting under the sun at the swimming pool. But there are no issues for women. Accomodation is definitely an issue and its getting harder as more people get recruited. But you might be lucky too and get a bigger room. Only CEO's get full apartments.

Re: NEOM experience
 

I prefer not to mention it. Feel free to contact me in a private message if you wish to know more

Re: NEOM experience
 

Indeed, everyone goes there to make some cash. If the projects are interesting and the management is nice, one can tolerate the rest. Egos can even tolerated. But when management is bad, the boss has no idea what they are doing and bullying is a daily experience, then it becomes almost unbearable.

Re: NEOM experience
 

Please use the 'quote' function so that people know who you're replying to - the bottom of each post.

Thanks.

Re: NEOM experience
 

Thankyou!!

Re: NEOM experience
 

How does professional responsibility look like for managers? Can they be held financially responsible? Has anyone purchased professional indemnity insurance? If yes, could you recommend any?

Re: NEOM experience
 

Sorry to hear of your experience. 1. Is the treatment likely to be more difficult for a single female? 2. Is your unfortunate experience the norm? 3 .Are you able to say which project you were part of?

Thank you so much for sharing.

Re: NEOM experience
 

It was my luck with my director. IThere are no gender inequality issues, as NEOM is full of expats, and everyone is there for the job, not for the living. There are many single women, both expats and loecals career focused, who are very happy and treated equally. My experience is not necessarily the norm. But there are many people who actually leave because they unestimated the hardships, or could not last too long away from their families back home, or they are unhappy with their living conditions and the remoteness of it all. I was fine with all of this, things had been fine on the rofessional level. But it was not the case. It is definitely very important to be self conscious of what you can handle or cannot handle. It is not easy and each person must know their level of tolerance. But when it comes to professionalism, most departments are actually doing well
Good luck wiith your decision!

Re: NEOM experience
 

I’m curious to know how other people’s experiences have been so far.

Anyone else willing to share their experience?

Re: NEOM experience
 

Great so far. No regrets.

Re: NEOM experience
 

But have you been there a while, i.e. earlier when things sounded a bit more understandable, like the time to get hired, the time to get there, the time spent (or not spent) at NC1 or NC2, getting a place in the school, etc? And what level role?

I ask because from reading these comments these things matter. I also follow siselarabia and she seems to have all the time in the world to go to a lot of places on weekend and holiday, but I've spoken with others who seem to have no time at all. She is also Head of Marketing for Enowa and got there ages ago (I think she said her visa took one week?!) She also has quite a nice and big unit that seems rather centrally located in NC1, which is different from the NC2 units.

Would you say your experience has been more like what newbies have (being in Duba, NC2, longer wait times, no wait list for school or families) or like siselarabia's? It would help manage expectations, because it seems if people go today expecting what siselarabia shows, they may be in for a let down. On the other hand, if they know that the experience is much less like that now, they can manage expectations to help them stay longer.

Re: NEOM experience
 

Kind of a long reply, for the summary, hit the last line...
Hi. II'll answer this having been here long enough to be able to answer this thoughtfully and honestly enough to not want to put in details about how long I've been here, where I live, etc.

I think you're asking two things here. One is about conditions and the other is about experience.
Conditions are pretty well laid out in the various Neom and Oxagon threads on this board. People who arrive now are going to have smaller accommodations, not necessarily on a main camp at first and the school rosters are closed for at least six months -- probably longer. Conditions for visas differ based on where you are applying for your visa and how that embassy processes them. Some countries and visa agents are fast, some are slow. Not too much can be done about it. Most of the time Neom gets you the paperwork you need to support your visa in two to three weeks. Sometimes longer, but on the whole, that's what you can expect when moving here and again, is well covered on the board and by the onboarders, when you connect with them.

Now, experience varies from person to person based on all sorts of things from:
* the departments they are in
* what they are sold as their role in the company vs what they do in their role
* how well they adjust to the remoteness of camp
* how well they adjust to any differences between recruitment and real life
* experience as an expat
* personalities
* time management skills
* etc, etc, etc

First, lets not base our expectations on an Instagram account. I haven't seen anything false or misleading in what she's posted, but remember that is but a glimpse at a small part her week. I'm sure hours a day of meetings isn't as compelling as yoga, hiking and snorkeling.
What I've seen is that, as you point out, some people have longer hours than some; but on the whole, there is time in the day for anyone who wants to to go to the gym, do some yoga, play some basketball, and spend a weekend hiking. Most of the camps have groups that do those things and if that's how you choose to spend your time, your insta posts can rival hers. There is always something to do if you make the effort.
I've seen people here thrive, joining groups, going on adventures, finding new hobbies and new friends.
I've also seen people get annoyed that they aren't getting exactly what they thought and lose the plot. I've seen people not make any effort to make new friends or get involved in the community and spend their spare time wondering why/complaining about nothing going on.
Some of this is because expectations may not have been managed correctly, some of it is because despite having most creature comforts/necessities provided, this isn't home. This is a remote slice of land that has not been very inhabited and that shows. There aren't flights in and out every day. Depending on where you are coming from or going, two or three layovers isn't unheard of to travel. The closest (small) town in 30-75 minutes away and the closest mall is 3 hours. It takes an effort to get places to do things, but that is what happens when you are building something brand new in the middle of nowhere.
This is also because we are working in a company that is still very young and growing exponentially. There are growing pains, there are unpleasant changers in policy, there are pleasant surprises in new policies as well.
The experience one will have here is going to be based on their willingness to become involved and their ability to shake off the inevitable unpleasant surprises that sometimes come with working for a new company still finding its way. Someone pointed out at the beginning of the thread that your mileage may vary, This is very, very true. You will get out of it what you put in. It will either be very rewarding if you put in the effort and work to that, or it could suck. A lot. What someone makes of it is mostly up to them.
Speaking for myself, I like the work and my team. I work a lot but am nowhere near burnout. I have always been able to find time to do what I want, and have found opportunities to try new things. I've made new friends and I like being here. I also look forward to going on holiday regularly and seeing everyone I miss.

To sum up:
There is no single Neom experience. This place isn't easy but you will get out of it what you put into it.

Re: NEOM experience
 

Thank you! This is a fabulous response and so helpful.

Then again, I think you are one of the most (if not the most) helpful people on the forum with consistent responses and balanced thorough feedback. This response would have taken a lot of time, especially to a stranger, so it is very much appreciated.

Re: NEOM experience
 

We came out in the middle of COVID having never even visited the Middle East. Probably took about 7 months from the first conversation to the first day. There was zero information to be had, just a few pictures of the original canteen. There wasn’t even evidence of the camp on Google Maps. Someone on here said NEOM was for “hardcore expats only.”

We arrived and went straight into two weeks of quarantine in Riyadh. There was no accommodation at all available, so we ended up paying for a compound for 4 months. There were no flights from NEOM Bay, no direct flights to places like Dubai from Tabuk so every flight went through Riyadh or Jeddah. The trip to Tabuk took about 3 hours.

When we arrived in camp there was no school, no coffee shop, a tiny store. Even back then people were already going into NC2. At one point the entire camp got locked down for two weeks with everyone having to stay in their cabins the whole time. Travel was very difficult - Saudis couldn’t leave the country and we couldn’t get back to the UK. We left for s Christmas break and the borders closed meaning we had to stay in a hotel in Dubai waiting for them to re-open.

Is it more difficult or easier now? Who knows? It depends entirely on the individual. There’s a wealth of information now, so anyone coming in has no excuse for not knowing what to expect. It’s not Dubai or s compound in Riyadh - it’s a camp in a remote part of the world. There are hundreds of people working and it’s getting bigger all the time so everyone’s work experience will be different. Are people really really coming out here and expecting it to be the same as a curated Instagram account? One would hope not.

There are people who came out, lived in a big B cabin in NC1 and couldn’t hack it while there are others who have lived in an NC2 studio for two years and are fine. People make it work or they don’t. It’s certainly not “for hardcore expats only”, but there’s more than enough info out there now to give anyone a good idea what living here is like. You are obviously making sacrifices to live in a location like that, but those who have been in the region a long time will tell you it’s the best appointed camp they have seen.

Re: NEOM experience
 

Can anyone (preferably a woman) advise on what the dress code at the office is?
I'm not really sure what to pack and would appreciate a piece of advise.

Re: NEOM experience
 

Thank you very much.. I am also looking for answers to this question.. thanks11

Re: NEOM experience
 

Hey everyone,

1. what are the essentials (for men) to pack for the first outgoing trip? Any tips

2. what are the official working hours for direct staff? And dare I say it, the unofficial hours?

3. Are there any cinemas at any malls? And if so, what’s the distance?

many thanks

Re: NEOM experience
 

Answers in red.

Re: NEOM experience
 

this is super helpful, thank you!

Re: NEOM experience
 

Dress code in the office is very similar to all other corporate offices maybe a little more casual and a little more conservative. I tend to wear things which cover my shoulders and are not too tight or short. I find the offices very cold especially in contrast to outside so a jacket or cardigan to chuck on top of a dress or pants and top is useful. High heels are rare with most people wearing flats or even nice sneakers. There is a very wide range of attire from abayas to jeans with a t-shirt (especially on Thursdays).

Re: NEOM experience
 

Thank you very much GNK... do we need to also cover our arms? Will Polo-T with sleeves covering your arms half way from the shoulder to the elbow be OK?

Thank you again

Re: NEOM experience
 

You don't need to cover your arms. A lot of men and women wear polo shirts. Some departments give out Neom branded polo shirts which people wear to the office too.

Re: NEOM experience
 

Thank you GNK. Could you advise on what preferred dress length is?
Also,any suggestions about fabrics? I've purchased a number of pure linen/cotton stuff. Will I need a cardigan or so for the office due to aircon?
Is it ok to wear sandals at the office?

Re: NEOM experience
 

I wear a lot of linen/ cotton and yes I need a cardigan in the office due to the aircon.
In relation to fabrics choose fabrics which are very durable and won't shrink when washed as the laundry here is quite hard on clothes. I buy everything a size too big because it all shrinks after a few washes. There is a self service laundry where you can go and wash your own clothes to avoid this but it's easier just to send it off twice a week to be done by the laundry.
Regarding dress length, I tend to go with a midi length, definitely below the knee. There really aren't any strict rules it's just about being respectful to the variety of cultures.
I wear sandals everyday and even Birkenstocks on casual days. Might put on a low heel for a very important meeting. Some ladies wear heels every day, some wear sneakers with pants and shirt everyday. Wide variety of styles
​​​​

Re: NEOM experience
 

Well I think as long as your clothing is modest, there's no specific dress code.

Re: NEOM experience
 

Wise words here, this is true for Neom and life in general, thank you for your candor

Re: NEOM experience
 

I'm interested to know more but as a new member i'm not allowed to send private messages. Please message me if you have some time, I want to know about Enowa in particular.

Re: NEOM experience
 

Clarification: The remote working policy change didn't take away the 24 yearly days, it simply took away the ability to use maximum five at once. Instead, it is now 2 days per month use them or lose them. The official holidays are 13 days - which is a standard amount.

Different teams have different challenges. It is true that even managers at NEOM were at the top of their department at their previous jobs. There are egos, but many visionary projects need egos to drive (think Steve Jobs). You quickly learn the toxic people and team. It travels fast. However, like the OP pointed out - there are some incredibly interesting, talented people here whom you may have never met otherwise. It also helps if you've previously worked in the region as you aren't as surprised.

One last point - if you don't have time to socialize with your colleagues - that's on you. There are plenty of ways to meet one another, which your induction day serves just that purpose. It is a unique situation to work and live together, but my best advice is to make friends outside of your department. It gives you an outlet and also provides insight into another area.

Re: NEOM experience
 

This was a very helpful post. Thanks for taking the time to share!

Re: NEOM experience
 

Thank you for sharing very wise words.

Re: NEOM experience
 

Thnx for sharing.

in the terrible situation like such, are there possibilities of:
1. Changing your job within Neom once you are there?
2. Promotion to the next grade due to a new role or if your boss leaves the job?

Re: NEOM experience
 

Hi Everyone,

I might be moving to Neom and would like to ask about dogs, aware they are allowed in there but are there any dog parks or dogs daycare incase I have to travel on the weekend and can leave my dog at the daycare? What's the situation for dog parents there when traveling?

Re: NEOM experience
 

Hi!
I can tell you that in NC1/NC2/OXAGON there are dogs around, though I don't think any formal daycare; but, the community dog owners typically are able to help each other out -- so do the folks who have left their dogs behind. HOWEVER, as I'm sure you've read or heard, accommodations around here are a little thin. You may spend your first few months in a hotel or some apartments away from the those camps. I do not know the rules there. Even if you do get a place in camp, it may be pretty small, which could present challenges for your pup.
You definitely want to check with your recruiter and your onboarder about what options you have.
Good luck!

Re: NEOM experience
 

Thank you BMH77 for the feedback! Truly appreciate it.

I didn't know the accommodation is currently limited, worth checking with the recruiter to ensure my pup can join me upon moving.

Thanks again!