Hi Everyone, I am currently in a visa process and looking forward to relocating to Neom. As I am quite stressed about new environment and possible cultural differences, I was searching for some cross-cultural trainings. I have found some, however, I believe they would require an organized group for those companies to organize it. I thought I could ask here if anyone would be interested in participation with me? It's an online one, so quite independent of your location.

got the onboarding and benefits pack sent through. It's not a rotation. It's 30 days +12 public holidays plus 24 days of remote working / working from home.

so , not ideal but not actually the worst although these 24 remote days might be critical to make it a sweet deal.

Hi DeepSix,

If you read through the threads youll find that people are saying the 24 days are 2 days per month, and that your 2 days can't be carried over into next months. I asked my recruiter and was told it depends on your manager. Not sure if it depends on the team or the recruiter has outdated information.

Do you know what job grade the role you're applying for is in?

Nothing to do with your manager. It's NEOM policy.

it's a senior managers role.
2 days a month would be sub optimal. It would mean 2 days working from camp as no point even traveling to say Dubai as your going to miss a work day getting back.
I guess you could do something like add it to a week home so that 2 days home you're working but again that's a faff.

if this is policy and cant be negotiated then it's not as sweet a deal as hoped-for.

The new policy goes into effect on July 1. The days can’t be carried over and the system does not let you book more than 2 per month.

Sounds like a talk with the manager but basically 2 days a month is going to be - 2 days of "cant be arsed to get out of my PJ's" - sit in the compound digs and work from the kitchen table - - a bit like now post COVID

I suspect this is all because people have been taking the piss and booking "work from home" but really do very little and get some more holidays.

Oh well - - back to the old days and be on site 12 hrs a day - - its why we get the "big" money

That’s the hard part. As long as you pass the basic background check etc, you should be fine. It’s just a game of time and paperwork now.

Without discussing company policy, I can confirm that what pkingston says is absolute. It’s 2 days a month, use them or lose them. There’s no ‘chat with your manager’, the system will only accept hare within the rules. How you use them is up to you. Personally, I haven’t found any issue with the new way the remote working days are applied - it still gives a lot more flexibility than you’d get otherwise. I can travel at the weekend to see my family, use a day of remote working at the start and end of a week to at at least be able to be with them, then add some annual leave in the middle.

If you were looking for them to be ‘free leave’ where you do no work, then yes, you’re probably going to be disappointed.

hi, hope you’re well! I would be, can you provide more details?x

Seems to me that the offer that NEOM make, with salary plus leave schedule, plus "medical" plus housing allowance etc etc is rather mislesding.
the benefits such as 24 days pa work from home, a free internal flight per month, free food and accomodation are what puts the cherry on the cake
Oh and of course married / family status
it now seems:
No family accommodation for 1 year plus due to shortage and no news on availability if 1 bed units
No school places for at least a year
2 bed units when available now will cost 4000 SAR per month with a possibility of charging for the dogboxes masquerading as studios
because family must stay outside KSA due to no accoms for family, the medical insurance is not valid, and must join BUPA which NEOM will only fund 50%
the benefits are not specifically borne out in contract document and when this point was raised, the answer was : this is the way NEOM does things
seems to me then that some teenager in a shiny suit, somewhere in HR / accounts is fiddling with benefits to look smart
soon we will be paying for food, and accomodation....with the extra cost of maintaining a family outside KSA this then starts to become less attracative, biting heavily into the " 30% " uplift in salary.....
oh and 4000 SAR for a 2 bed prefab unit of maybe 80m2 on a vcamp in the middle of the desert ? i pay less for a 250m2 unit in the UAE.....
If they are serious about attracting talented individuals, to complete mega projects on challenging timelines, Keeping the staff motivated and happy should be the prime objective, not penny pinching on already very average social conditions

???
The 4000sar for the family accommodation has been in place for nearly 2 years mate. Nothing has changed. The family cabins are more than 100m2 and if paying for extra space isnt up your alley, then suggest you stay where you are in your flashy 250m2 palace in the UAE.

Other than the work remote change, every other 'benefit' that you are whinging about is exactly as it was.

There are 3000 people on the ground here, so clearly they didnt have any issues being attracted to the project.

Perhaps this one isnt for you...................

Is it exactly as it ever was though? Because there are dozens of pages on this very thread that shows that the benefits are indeed not the same as it ever was. People obviously have their families at NEOM now, but now that option is indefinitely on hold; the whole "uplift and reclass" was a given, until it wasn't; having a place in the school for kids was part of the journey, now it's also indefinitely on hold; a cost for family accommodation was also not an original factor but was brought in later on--the posts on this thread by others confirm that, complete with the "wait, what" reactions to it. Just because someone has managed to have their family on site with their kid(s) in the school doesn't mean that it's available for everyone because the conditions have in fact changed. Those people who have those priceless (and they are privileges) should maybe spend more time realising that they were fortunate enough to come on board early enough to when those things are available rather than dismissing later-comers' clear disappointment that they really are not getting as good a deal as those before them. That is a fact. And I'd suspect that some of the 3,000 on-site did indeed have a problem but the potential of NEOM outweighed that so that chose it anyway.

I suspect an equaliser can start with NEOM giving people who join later than a certain date more flights home (maybe 2 or 3 rather than one) and maybe make those flights a higher class than economy. Or maybe they allow people who join after July 1 to keep the old remote work policy. Those who are there already with their families (or at least have their families in the queue that has since closed--again, another change) shouldn't have issue with this since there is at least a process underway to have everyone together.

There could be other measures but we know that won't happen because they understand that the real attractor to NEOM moving forward will not be to get wealthy and be "set for life", but instead to spend a finite amount of time for a chance to deliver things that most people think are undeliverable and have it on their CV. And as long as people keep joining they will see that as enough and they're probably right. On the other hand if the numbers dry up, they might consider other sweeteners.

Hi,
I would appreciate your feedback on how to get an interview with Neom or Red Sea Global.
I've trying for the last 3 months applying through career website, following recruiters and messaging them on LinkedIN but no luck.
I have structural Engineering background and looking for project manager or similar positions.
thanks!

On the tax front I can offer a bit of insight (UK and US Citizen with AUS PR)

- US, you still need to file for Federal taxes, depending on your state, you should be able to break state tax residency. Your first $110,000 or earned income isnt taxes, but then the relevant marginal rates kick in for each dollar above that. Investment income is taxed as normal, stay well clear of any non US investment scheme or fund

- UK, you need to break residency. This is based on days in the UK and whether you have a house there. If you're not a tax resident you pay nothing. You may want to keep up your NI contributions.

- AUS, again you need to break residency, and you won't be taxed on your income (earned or investment). There are pitfalls including, exit tax (paying capital gains) when you leave AUS, for example on shares and investment properties, potentially loosing your capital gains exemption on the family home (after 5 years) and state land taxes. Get advice before you go if you own assets or have a large super fund. Breaking residency is complex and the rules may become much tougher if ScoMo's old proposals come though.