Smoochy Girl

Ok here's a difficult one ................ my dude's company who fired about 140 peeps some weeks ago (rehired some of them cos of some weird reason) is now cutting their salaries - up to 30% is the rumour.

What would you do?? He works in a very responsible position - some have said they wouldn't have got a job they're working on without his c.v. - he is still going to talk to "them" not to do this because he's very happy working with the company he's with; however, having worked himself to the bone (he's put in about 4 months worth of hours overtime over 2 years - unpaid of course), he's hoping that they will see sense!!

We definitely cannot afford to take any cut at all so thinking of relocating elsewhere if this goes ahead.

Can anyone suggest/help us decide where would be good - we have no kids, we're middle-aged and we'd like to retire somewhere in the Far East (on an island so i can live in a sarong and go fishing preferably) eventually.

This is just me collecting ideas to chew over with my dude - so any ideas from you clever clogs out there would help.

Blue Cat

alot of Companies are talking about pay cuts, whether they are genuine due to the economic climate or not we will never know. I suggest he speak to them before making any major decisions. He did say before that whilst the basic may well be cut other allowances would be increased. Wait until he speaks to them before making a decision.

You can't leave, I won't allow it

Smoochy Girl

hehe I know ........... but for some reason the Far East is truly beckoning to me; I'm tired of all the hours of work - both for him and for me; and saving nothing. My jewellery is just sitting here and everybody who knows what I make can't believe that nobody in the UAE is interested So I think for my sanity I would like to move. Note that da dude doesn't feel like this - if the company cooperates, he'd love to stay so like I said, this is just for me to chew over.

Blue Cat

wherever you move to Mr Smooch will still have to find work, that would be the deciding factor. Have you thought about Goa?

commander

ahh i have just sussed out who you are..

Blue Cat

that took a while!!

Smoochy Girl

NO! You're not supposed to know who I am ............... my dude will kill me







PS - No haven't thought of anywhere yet. Did think of Singapore till I learnt how crowded it is from Ginger ......... and you know me and people ............ and apartments and no gardens ........... and claustrophobia etc - I'd end up jumping out of the frigging high rise window! errrrm or was that Hong Kong??!!!!

busybee2

SG this is happening, I know for a fact that other companies are doing it, and this is basically due to them not being paid "what they are owed" by big government owned companies here, which obviously anywhere else in the world this would not happen the way it is here. so as long as you have enough coming in to pay what is going out then what choice do you have. I know people in uk who are very well experienced and they have been made redundant and have had to take a job well below their "level" and also not at home too.

Smoochy Girl

BB2 that's all well and good except we happen to know that Mr Smooch is being charged out at 4 times his salary and the project is going ahead with no discounts demanded by client !! So the reality is that this particular company is just taking advantage of the peeps they hire and who are working twice the hours they should .......... my dude has not had a weekend in the last 3 weeks

Blue Cat

exactly SG, if it is genuine no one minds but this sounds like they are taking advantage of the situation to me.

commander

his company are maybe charging him out at 4 times his salary, but that is normal(ish)

so are my company...infact a heck of a lot more than that..

but there are employee overheads to consider, pension, healthcare, indemnity insurances etc etc..

infact, 4 times his rate to me means, he must get paid a fortune or his client has a great deal...

Smoochy Girl

Well I have no idea how it works; I think the company has the best deal all round especially since (1) we have no kids so they're saving all that money of schools and air fares (2) we were hired from here so no relocation was paid (3) pension?? What pension??????? - there wasn't even a bloody bonus - ever !! Oh and (4) they refused to pay for my visa so that was also out of pocket. Now if we were to leave, Mr Smooch would have to be replaced - let's hope if that happens, the right applicant would have 4 kids, has to come from Australia or somewhere equally far and expensive etc etc etc.

Why a company would fire all those people and then go ahead and reduce salaries for everyone without any warning is taking their employees for granted no matter how you look at it. And although there is a recession, there are still jobs out there and companies that respect experience and age!

PS - What would you consider a fortune I wonder?? Suffice to say that we came to UAE 3.5 years ago to save and haven't saved a penny - in fact we're still paying for our cars. The rip off with the rents, the cost of living, the DEWA and maintenance fees in a tax free country are ridiculous. So a fortune?? I don't think so ................ oh and before you talk about lifestyles - Bluecat can tell you that I HATE shopping (unlike most women), hate going out of the house altogether so really don't even eat out and have never been to a cinema here!! My addiction is for books and I buy those at the fairs for 5 dhs each ;-)

Blue Cat

I confirm, she hates shopping

commander

aye ok calm down, your missing my point i think. Im saying that its perfectly normal for companies to charge out to their customers 4 times what the employee earns..

this isnt a UAE thing...its business.

Smoochy Girl

Sorry Commander - Yes I know that they do this; A long long time ago I worked in a large cable TV company so I'm quite aware of how things work. My point about that was not that I resent what they charge; it's that I don't get the reason for cutting their salary when they are getting so much more for it. My reasoning is that if a big company has had to cut back enormously on their staff, and hence expect the remaining staff to do all the work as and when needed (usually on a Thursday at 4:00 just before they're leaving for the weekend), and the poor staff do it because they're happy to oblige in these hard times, then isn't the company obliged to keep the few employees happy?? We're not asking for gratuities, bonuses, gifts or anything extra ........... just let us live as we have been living. Some time ago I wrote that we were on top of the world because the landlord gave us a discount - well if the company is going to cut the salary back, there goes our saving from the house - back to square one. That is what I'm angry about !!