alloush2828

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!

Trailing_Hubby

YMMV

alloush2828

what does YMMV mean?

aussieaggie

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.

MissieDe

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

Juliedickerson

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

alloush2828

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.

alloush2828

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

alloush2828

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.

christmasoompa

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

Thanks.

Juliedickerson

Thankyou!!

Aschia

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?

Dee8

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.

alloush2828

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!

Ottawa

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

Anyone else willing to share their experience?