weasel decentral

I can't seem to find anything much on Iran at the moment to be honest, I suppose it is outside of the normal western companies sphere. Perhaps there are some Lebanese companies in there, time to dust off the pointy shoes perhaps.

DXBtoDOH

.... (never mind).

co durham boy

I can't see why there is much of a premium for Qatar or Bahrain to be honest , maybe in a really specific field or high end but not for bog standard roles . Doha is just dull and boring and Bahrain just very very small and a tad limited but better than Doha .

None of them are hardship postings , saying that most of the people in construction coming in now think it is . The factor they calculate for hardship is how many Brunches are in town .

scrubbedexpat141

I completely agree. It just is what it is; 'can't get schooling in Doha', 'there's only one golf course', 'my wife won't like it' etc etc.

My favourite thing is this little wonder, a conversation I have quite regularly;

Leaves Dubai on 50k (for example).
Goes to Qatar for same money because work in Dubai has slowed so much.
Now in Qatar on 55k, nice little bump.
Now wants back to Dubai. Asking for 60k+ because 'it's more expensive here' WHAT?
Gets mighty offended when I say it's cheaper here and 'easier' than Doha so salaries aren't always going to be much better.

Nevermind eh, everyone can have their own opinion and desires on the cash money front. It's fun to argue though.

One more - that all being said, it's less fun than converting somebodies 6day salary to a 5day salary and explaining that one.

co durham boy

I know mate , i do wonder how long some of these guys have been around and what their pedigree is . I meet them all the time here , most of them don't know shit from custard . We call them the 'Prosseco Project Managers'.
out here .

Can't get schools , the wife can't settle and all that. Well send the wife and kids back to Grimsby and get on and get the job completed lad .

Cowboys dont cry

scrubbedexpat141

Frankly, I've never heard anyone having to leave Qatar because of schooling. I'm sure there must be cases but not as bad as some make out.

My honest favourite is that Dubai is more expensive for housing than Qatar. That, I find ridiculous.

'shit from custard'

co durham boy

Schooling is difficult but it's just the basic standard is below par and the better ones have all got waiting lists , par for the course supply and demand . The housing is nonsense mate as what i pay here in Doha i could get a fantastic place in say Arabian Ranches . Top prices for shite quality in Qatar but that accounts for most things , at least there's continuity.

scrubbedexpat141

'Consistently shit'. Maybe the tourism board could use it?

co durham boy

Saudi's are the only tourists here and it's Paradise to them , they can get laid and pissed whilst the family are holed up in the St Regis eating themselves to death .

weasel decentral

I understand the bad payment, but the shit margins are hard to figure especially from supplier side. Almost every Qatari tender I saw included a clause forcing me to use local suppliers unless they were more than 15% higher than foreign sourced suppliers.
Surely this is 15% margin for nothing?

co durham boy

The whole tendering process here is bent and totally in tuned with sponsorship and feeding certain entities . Most tenders i look at are prescriptive and not performance based so you there is very little chance for adding value . The belt and braces ideal does not work here as people just cheat and they cheat from the very highest level .

Rival companies will undercut you and lose money just to get the job and they will pay money just to keep it . You end up with the worst possible scenario . Obviously there's exceptions to the rule but making money here is very difficult .

We've went from doing major project supply to a more specified supply with better margin and payment terms . It's no good being a busy fool as they say but a lot of local owners here are bleeding cash but will continue to do so and it just totally distorts the market .

commander

How's the rental market out there? Been away 14months now and curious.

Am moving one of my PM's out there and putting together a package.

3 bed in saheel1 now around 300k?😄