I feel like I can now speak up about our experience at Aramco. I worked for an agency that was recently replaced by another. We came on board during the IPO. We were kept because the department director became extremely dependent on us and by dependent I mean he wanted slaves to yell at on a regular. He demanded we have 4 people in their office at all times just to say how high when he said jump. We have worked with a lot of companies globally and I can safely confirm that Aramco was by far the worst experience any of us have had. Sure they paid us but paying an agency doesn’t mean you treat them like garbage, demand reports that make no sense and essentially service your every personal need because you are scared of how to provide advice to your management. Even with a number of experienced expats who they treated like garbage with the exception of one or two it was like working in a hostile, nonsensical environment where you are demanded to complete an advice note in the middle of the night for something a director of one of the largest companies should be able to synthesize with his own brain. We transitioned over a week ago and I can only say we hope the new agency sees what they are getting into for peanuts. Good riddance.
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Auditing
Reporting AMS, Director of Media & Executive Communication
- AMS informed the Agency representative of …..regarding the cost estimate of a bidding contract. He ensured is aware so thet he wins the bidding, which he did, despite the active Agency at the time “…” being qualified. To prove that it was planned and was not qualified, was fired after 2-3 months and(…) was brought back on. was also informed that employee who works in The Communciation Strategy Department owns the Agency , and thet AMS is aware and is supporting him unethically. AMS had many meetings with Agency beforehand to ensure alignment and to ensure he wins the bid. Later on the employee skipped the company and the country ( corruption)
- AMS met with an existing agency on December ,2023 and asked them to develop their own scope of work for a bidding contract in an effort to ensure that they win.contract is lot of MM annually. amount to even small of amount ( Wasting money)
- AMS hired the agency(….) and paid then large sums of money in 2022 and 2023 without having any actual deliverables.
Social Media Conduct Under Scrutiny
Several years ago, AMS, while overseeing the company's official Twitter (now X) account, reportedly "liked" a comment referencing Aramco's alleged support for the LGBTQ+ community. This action drew attention given the sensitivities surrounding such topics in the region.
Misconduct: Misappropriation of Company Property
In 2018, the same individual, AMS, was reportedly involved in an incident concerning the misappropriation of several company-owned iPhones. This matter led to an internal audit.
Despite the investigation, it appears that no disciplinary action was taken against AMS. Instead, it is alleged that the individual was instructed to replace the stolen devices, effectively resolving the issue without further penalty. This outcome suggests a potential cover-up or intervention that prevented formal repercussions.
Misconduct and Concerns within Corporate Communications Department
Reports indicate significant concerns regarding the operational practices and leadership within Corporate Communications, formerly known as Public Affairs.
This area has been the subject of internal discussion due to managerial misconduct and a perceived lack of accountability.
One notable incident involved a director, referred to as AMS, who leds the Media and Executive Communication Department. This director os always engaged in questionable actions, seemingly with impunity, attributed by some to undisclosed influence or connections.
A specific example highlights these concerns: an expatriate employee, approved to speak at a conference and with travel arrangements confirmed, was reportedly ordered by Director AMS to cancel her business trip. Despite the employee's attempt to fulfill her commitment by utilizing personal leave, her request was allegedly denied. Furthermore, her exit and re-entry visa were revoked, effectively preventing her return to Saudi Arabia if she departed for the conference. This action reportedly raised serious concerns about the director's authority and ethical conduct.
Feeling her safety and professional standing jeopardized, the expatriate employee reportedly sought assistance from various external entities, including the Embassy in D.C., human rights organizations, and the Ministry of Human Resources. Ultimately, the employee resigned and has since returned to her home country.
There are ongoing questions regarding the continued tenure of Director AMS despite these serious allegations. Some internal observers speculate about the nature of the protection afforded to this individual. Recent organizational restructuring has reportedly led to a reduction in the scope of his department, including the removal of an entire division previously under his purview, and the omission of the term "Executive" from his department's title. These changes suggest an internal acknowledgment of issues, though concerns about his overall accountability persist.
After all the concrete evidence and concers we bave read about this individual, why is he still allowed to exist?
@2vjp+1uTyAXqD Hahahha! Dude I dont mind being a punching bag if it makes yoy feel more comfortable than talking to this director.
This website is good for venting afterall
It's a machine that will sp-t you out even if you're being ultra professional and simping to your manager. You're going to need a real big fat pay check to have to put yourself through the insanity of the workplace and poor senior management. Don't even begin to reconcile with what you'll be putting your wife and kids through.
If you want to have mental health and destroy your career, please join Aramco. You will probably make more ( if you have low wage wherever you are currently at), go ahead. That place is completely trash.
That place will never change. It's cultural, systemic, ingrained.
So sad, so very sad that these managers can not only hold their position, but get rewarded for this behaviour. Lets see what happens as the oil industry declines. Will these arrogant fools seek protection and prosperity in the west when they have bankrupted their company, country, culture and their children's future.
No one should be surprised by this. This director was acting for several years only to be made permanent recently. Multiple managers have had negative experiences with him. How many departments demand both his agencies have people in office. He does not understand how media works. What a sad state.
"Everyone in North and south Admin are talking about this so your boss will see them, don’t worry."
In that case he will likely receive a promotion. Bullying is seen by those at the very top as the best way to get the most out of people in the shortest amount of time. Just look at the WSJ article about NEOM. Aramco no longer cares about keeping people long term, Expat or Saudi, Employee or Contractor. Its a churn and burn strategy that will come back to bite the company and the whole country in the long term, but the people at the top think that it gets results now, and now is all that matters.
@2ktk+1uTyAXqD Looks like the Director has joined the chat. This doesn’t have to do with being ditched. You have been called out for your behavior and rather than addressing it you blame the agency. Perhaps ask every person expat and Saudi who works in your office what they think of how people are treated. Your employees feel the same way the agency did. Aramco isn’t your company. You are merely giving them a bad name with your ridiculous requests. I know you think you can control what people say but you can’t and eventually leadership will see. Everyone knows you deleted the original posts from your worldclass WhatsApp monitoring group and told your team not to post these anymore or share with the VP. Everyone in North and south Admin are talking about this so your boss will see them, don’t worry.
A typical reaction from an agency that was ditched!
Sounds exactly like the Aramco I remember. Conplete Sh€£SH@W of an organization. Aramco is not a place to have a career.
Lots of comments about nonsensical requests. Can we have actual examples to bring this to life?
LOL ... I agree completely with the previous post. Managers who don't know what they are doing and try to compensate by yelling at and publicly humiliating those under them are the new norm at Aramco. If you ask is that happening in {insert name here} department, the answer is likely to be yes.
Three posts and three guesses as to the department in question...amazing.
Everyone in North Admin knows this is about the media department. This department is notorious for having an abusive director. He has had so many complaints lodged against him over the years. He has had multiple people reassigned because he didn’t like the fact they were more intelligent than him. He hosts weekly meetings where he talks to his team like they are his household help. Extremely rude, demands things that make no sense and has no back bone. Our team would talk to some of the consultants he used to have in his office and some of the requests he would make would be completely bizarre. How he is running a media department makes no sense. He probably took a one week Harvard course and is now an expert. The word is he got upset this morning at this post as it was shared over a WhatsApp group and has now changed the policy on what can be posted. This company used to be good when we were growing up here. When people with real experience were in management roles.
This is definitely the Public Affairs department. It is widely known how much money that department spends on agencies for basic services because the management is inept. The stories will slowly come out but this is just scratching the surface at how they their director treats Saudi’s and expats. Surprised it took this long. There were reports on this website circulating from his team for a while. The irony around a report about a website where people share their experience is oddly funny.
If you came on board during the IPO, I am guessing your work had something to do with Finance. As far as I am concerned, this is one of the worst if not the worst areas to work inside Aramco. The government thought that it could get a high valuation for Aramco's stock, and when it turned out nobody wanted to own the stock, Finance became even more of an ugly step child then it already was inside the company. It is bad news for anybody who touches it, either as an employee or through a third party.
Future employees, consultants and contractors considering Aramco should take note of this post. I saw things mentioned by OP, as well as many others, as a former inmate in the Finance area. I hear its only getting worse. Consider your sanity before you decide to come.