Hasn't life at Aramco, work and personal, been fully illuminated by the many posts?
51 replies (most recent on top)
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/apr/20/saudi-crowm-prince-vanity-project-line-cut-short-rowan-moore?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
THIS
Says it all
The lights may have been on, but no one was at the office.
Keep calm and carry on. Working in energy/ power sector is good whatever ones station
https://youtu.be/V8h8snfYidg?si=lDWEBsXgaPDMiLSF
Ha! When I was there the lights NEVER went out, literally, offices burning lights all night.
Will the last one out please turn off the lights.
Apparently there is still quite a lot left to say.
Agreed...keep your mouth shut, your head down and your powder dry. Smile and keep your eye on the prize. You are a hired g-n. Brought in to do a job, if they will let you. I was there a long time. It progressively became more and more as described above, for me anyway. But remember, not everyone has the 'same' experience there.
These days, your best best bet is to hunker down from 7 to 4 and churn out whatever they ask of you.
- Plenty of anecdotal experiences here based on real experiences for new possible new hires to consider.
- Often, those (not all) with time on their hands tends to like keeping it that way and, if they can, will place heavier workloads to those lower on the food chain.
- Apathy and the avoidance of effort is commonplace but nice if you fall on your feet here on the latter.
- The work culture is reactive rather than proactive, meaning that last minute deadlines. They are too frequent and set with almost unrealistic time-lines and of little support found with your full working cohort as highlighted above.
Go, live long and prosper.
BTW... I forgot to mention that, IMO, the work ethic and deflection of responsibility is a 'cultural' attribute.
@ibvv+1rI2Wh9B comments are what I recollect from my time there. Seems like 20% work and 80% pursue your own interests. And speaking of yellow postit notes...OMG!...
everywhere, a sea of yellow 'out-of-office' notices. The work ethic is abysmal. And as an aside, deflection of personal responsibility was elevated to an art form.
Think about this, I did my online MBA during my working hours, work is tedious and easy, you have plenty of time. All people leaves at 4pm, some take several trips to Costa or Starbucks others leaves for medical appointment and don't come back or car maintenance fir the entire day. You will see plenty of computers with post-it notes.
This was the technical side at the pointy end where the hydrocarbons originate... (not the clerical side :-) ----> If you were any good at all, you had no free time after work for relaxation, the deadlines, the huge delegated workload, it was just a non-stop relentless workload.
I say gut it out. Times are tough here in the good ole USA. I'll bet they get tougher, unless a change of leadership occurs.
I’m on one of those menial GC14 roles. I do admin, managing imbeciles in management with last minute everything, and general BS reporting to superiors. It wasn’t what interviewed for, they sprung this on me once I’d arrived. I was promised a decent job and was interviewed by a then SVP (now EVP). They broke their promise, the first of many. At the time I made the call to stick it out, I spent a few years going through denial and psychological stresses dealing with KSA, but now I am numb. I have adapted at a large cost to my mental wellbeing. To add, I am on one of the older payrolls which is highly lucrative the longer I stay. I know new joiners on less than half my take home in the same GC, I don’t understand their motivations on that kind of cash TBH.
As others have said before, everyone has a price, the question is can Aramco meet yours?
Simple...you sign on the line and then you roll the dice.
Recent posts have been superb. The other end of the spectrum of opinions advises lowering your expectations and high resilience. This eventually lowers self worth professionally and personally and coworkers must be resilient to.
As the sun sets on hellscape’s horizon, the sky is painted in hues of blood and gold. The golden hour they say. A sh-tshow of pollution I knew.
The mantra of the two buckets repeated from one to other. When really only spoken to the themselves. Grotesquely warped, while years are traded for gold.
" The ones with no free time are probably the clerical types working on PMP, sucession planning, etc. "
There are plenty of lower GC jobs (14 or 13) that are considered to be "clerical" by management but require extensive knowledge and attention to detail. If you get one of these jobs, your life will often be miserable. You will work under pressure with absolutely no recognition, while those around you sit on their @ss and do nothing. These types of jobs are hard to fill, so management will sometimes force recently hired Expats into doing them. I personally know two Expats who quit when forced into these roles, while others were able to stand up for themselves and management backed down.
I don't know...?
Perhaps it is as simple as a bunch of schizophrenics posting.
We have gone soft. High expectations lead to low resilience.
BTW: CRR, very poetic, your post.
A psychopaths and sociopaths paradise to live and work in. A valley of lost souls where everyone dreams of leaving but speak of false contentment staying. The mantra is of the ubiquitous 'two buckets' analogy which keep changing it's size to help keep some perspective.
Hmmm...?
Seems that the opinions are very polarized.
What can I surmise from that???
The ones with no free time are probably the clerical types working on PMP, sucession planning, etc.
They are also the ones complaining about only getting an E/E+ and getting passed over for a GC upgrade each year.
Regarding no free time after work if you were any good. I guess most of us were no good. I always remember ‘the factory whistle blowing’ at 16:00 and a mass exodus from the Tower building, Al Midra, etc. You would get knocked over if you were going in the other direction. One thing about the place for vast majority of folk was when 16:00 arrived you were out and home - maybe to the pool, the golf course, tennis courts, even the beach on longer evenings, or just home to the family. Maybe some had to stay back but these people were very few and far between. Maybe it’s changed since my day. Doubt it though!
If you were any good at all, you had no free time after work for relaxation, the deadlines, the huge delegated workload, it was just a non-stop relentless workload.
The poster that found the place great must have been working in upstream. For the rest of us in downstream and technical services, not so much. Especially after about 2003-2004, when most
The post work activities and camp life are true, but the work environment started to get toxic.
Camp life became a bit toxic as well after the post radium regulations came into effect.
I thought the place was really great. Granted, I’m retired a few years but i earned well, and enjoyed my time there! Brought up my family there and we all have really fond memories of Aramco life - the free time after work, no commute, coaching kids soccer, taking part in triathlons (anyone remember the Sunfish triathlon - what a great event), early morning cycles around camp, the beers around the bar, camping at the beach, lunch time pool swims, holidays all over the world, weekends in Bahrain and Mai Tais at Trader Vicks, being able to take early retirement. These are just a few random good memories. Not saying there are no downsides, but the upsides were way more. For me (and all my pals) anyways!
If you’re coming to LSA and having to take out a loan, then says a lot about your personal circumstances! Good luck to them I say.
Yep. When I was there, lots of newbies buying Chinese from the dealerships. Many did indeed take out loans. Lots of second hand Hyundais too. Can’t say I blame them in that environment.
Driving inside the camp isn't a genuine threat. Funny as it is now I recall what appeared to be a ten-year old boy smoking a cigarette driving on the free way. I only wanted to take notice of the driver as we had overtook him because before that he's driving almost had me run off the road!
Most new expats drive Hyundais, or cheaper Chinese junk these days. Some even take auto loans as soon as they arrive. It’s a sign of the times…
More Ubers? What's with all the Ubers? Does no one drive themselves around KSA anymore? Just kidding...I know the risks are high for an expat to drive. You have to pick your spots when driving yourself is a must. Many a horror story about expats involved
in local accidents, they were automatically the guilty party when up against a local. One time I was rear ended on camp by a house boy (please no jokes) and I wanted restitution for damages so I, the house boy and the house boy's sponsor all end up at one of the security offices. Long story short, sponsor was a local and nothing was done.
On the subject of Ubers, I remember getting an uber at Dhahran mall, got into the car and the back and side windows were covered in dust and sand..couldn't see a thing. I was like I want to get out of this country with my life intact and immediately got out of the taxi. Reported him to uber, and got another one. The next one was abit better lol only in Saudi!!
The camp has changed a lot, particularly in the last couple of years. In my street half the occupants are now Saudi families who never socialize, they live closed lives, only one old timer is left. The rest are recent joiners from South America, Eastern Europe and Expat Muslims from Canada and England. They seem nice enough but it’s a change from before, for the worse from my perspective as no more beer Fridays or BBQs which is a pity!
About 29 years ago, I took a local taxi from the airport to Dhahran. Not knowing better. As luck would have it, the driver was one of the few Saudis, and spoke no English. I said Aramco camp, and he nodded his head.
After a 200 kph journey from the new airport, we headed up the old Abqaiq road, and dropped me off at a disused Aramco building where the Midra complex is now.
It took me a few hours to get my way home.
There’s always something new to share, even if small it paints a picture. Like the time I took a dilapidated Uber back to camp. On approach the security guards all but drew their we-pons. Turned the driver away and I had to walk.
Well take a walk around the Dhahran residential compound. You’ll see some interesting things. Expensive cars abandoned. Open doors that should be closed. Foundations from burned out apartment blocks. Sewage water used in irrigation of play areas. And others.
True to an extent. But there’s always more to say big and small. And it keeps up with the latest and declining conditions.
I think the poster below who said the real game here is risk is spot on. For all the many reasons given.
People should go and see for themselves if offered a position with the company, because automatic first thoughts are that it can't really be as bad I am reading here.
You might be right and you should dive into the opportunity and make the most of the offer as I did and left Canada for the warmth of Saudi.
The are many similar themes that keep repeating themselves in a wide spread of posts. These are not complaints but real experiences that lead to instability, uncertainty and vulnerability in both work and private life in the camp.
Some impacted on personal physical, psychological and emotional health. Sadly, some also impacted on the health of employee's children.
If it doesn't live up to what you thought it was going to be like, that's fine, resign and move on and say you tried to make a real change.
Easy if you come alone, but tricky if you are uprooting your family and no job to walk back into. It's all a risk but the real game here, risk.
Take a good leaf out of the locals book to not take things too seriously and not be too expectant in your work life. I would half consider returning strongly bearing this this in mind.