Is the dream dead?
 

Re: Is the dream dead?
 

Re: Is the dream dead?
 

Re: Is the dream dead?
 

In no particular order the two numbers are 40 and 30. I'll let you decide which way round they are. As a clue, I don't have a pinay girlfriend though as I still have a modicum of self-respect.

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Sounds bitter. Is your Pinay girlfriend too old now?

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Yeah and they stop looking like kids...

Re: Is the dream dead?
 

As a western expat I don't believe any region is capable of providing a long term gold plated lifestyle, surely the cycle is that the region improves to the point where foreign mercenaries are no longer required and then the lucrative opportunities disappear.

Dubai 2.0 is the land of opportunity for people coming from India or similar places, the moment has passed for the the run of the mill 48 year old red nosed engineer, unless he is prepared to readjust to that new reality.

Re: Is the dream dead?
 

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Dubai was never a frontier. Small-town Saudi Arabia - there is the challenge.. Not for softies ! No snowflakes there !

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Heard today that 150 people have been let go from the Burj al Arab, with jumeriah also letting more go from other properties - all nationalities affected not just the expensive ones.

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Where is the next gravy train for UK expats ?

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Absolutely correct, Saudi is going to be the land of opportunity for the foreseeable.

Agree with your comments on Dubai. It's KSA next though.

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In my line, probably SEA. Already putting feelers out in Vietnam, Myanmar.... Been to Thailand and Vietnam working before, but they are still slowly trying to work their way out of the trough...

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We do little/no work in Dubai and use it as a hub for MENA only. In this regard, we are winding down our Dubai office and ramping up Jordan. Total disaster operationally in my opinion but Dubai is just too expensive. Hopefully, I'll be the one to turn the lights off as I'm not going to Jordan... would make a case to camp in the Lebanon office over that.

Re: Is the dream dead?
 

Why? Jordan is a fairly good and comfortable get.

In my field Southeast Asia, and to a smaller extent, Central Asia, though neither to the extreme that the Gulf was at 10-15 years ago.

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From what I've seen in the construction world, the next or current gravy trains are in medical related and data centre construction and trains themselves (HS, viaduct and underground). Oil and gas maintenance is coming back but exploration still seems a dead duck

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Actually, I really like Jordan as it is chilled... but I would prefer Lebanon as a bit more edgy and stuff to do.

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It's getting a refurb in the summer im told so it might be the pre clear out .

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Thing about being an expat. You get used to it and don’t really want to go home.

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I live in small town Saudi. It's okay and Riyadh is only three hours away, but KSA does attract more than it's fair share of oddballs. Lot of Walter Mitty types too. Currently working with a guy who's done more in his life than that guy out of Catch Me If You Can.

Re: Is the dream dead?
 

land of opportunity for what though? The past couple of years have seen loads of westerners having to leave.

Saudi is changing at breakneck speed but as far as the economy goes I'm not so sure. Unemployment is still running over 12%.

I just take it one year at a time,, can't plan for longer than that. But the important thing is to be ready to go.

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KSA - I did 17 years in spells of 1,2, and 6 years at a time. Always regard it as "one paycheck at a time"

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I'm in O&G and you are completely correct in regards to well head maintenance. Last quarter of last year and currently increasing at an alarming rate. I know that companies will soon be scrambling to get guys back on their books as they are offering big day rates to consultants. Contracts are out now for drilling (existing slots). I cant see anymore exploration until it starts hitting $100 again.

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In my field KSA pays less than the UAE.

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We're getting more bids for KSA on big programmes and projects than anywhere else. The UAE will tick over nicely now but the Saudi property / hotel / resort / big development market appears to be a real thing for a while.
THat being said, it ties in with Saudi progressing, so MBS needs to keep forging new ideas from the foundries of conservative-tolerant-but-still-appealing-globally-tourism.

Yeah. We pay 20% on the basic + retention bonuses for most. It's not getting ***** to go there, it's making them ****ing stay.

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I remember when I first came to Dubai in 2008 thrilled to be making 25k a month as an architect and then I met a dumb blonde from Australia who'd come over on a whim and walked into PA jobs making 20k, with no quals or degrees....

It was a weird time. Literally anyone from a western country could get a job. I'd never experienced anything like Dubai in 2007-2008 and won't again.

Cenary: expatdom is ephemeral. I spent 10 years as an expat in the Gulf and Singapore and while I had a good time except for the two years in Qatar, I have no desires to be an expat again. It's a highly transitional environment and the conveyor belt of friends coming and leaving and constant moving and constant living out of suitcases wears you down after a while.

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Construction

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Under sea have just picked up the exploration contract for the red sea

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I worked in AUH for two years just after the GFC. I left in 2011.

I was taking a look the other day at job offers. I was shocked. Salaries (including major local companies or international companies based in the UAE) are lower than what I was paid and back in the day I had car/housing allowance. So something like this:

2009: my salary was (let's say) AED 25k + house + car + flights
2019: I see salaries max. AED 20k with no allowance of any type (!)

Maybe housing costs are down now, but my acquitances there keep me telling how expensive the UAE has became (food, utilities, fuel, enterteinment). I really cannot make those numbers.

To live pay check to pay check I would rather live anywhere in the civilised world. This is an advantage people with a 1st-world passport have compared to a Filipino or an Indian which have a slightly harder time to get a job in Europe, the US or any Western country.

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agreed - we are getting a lot of decommissioning work and the usual maintenance work, which is keeping us ticking over. But definitely no exploration currently.