They don’t tell you this up front and when I challenged my relocation advisor, he claimed he didn’t know. This is a genuine post and is based on a recent experience. I am a Christian and moved across. My wife is a certain religion that is... — read more 

Hi everyone, First of all, thanks for your honest feedback about Aramco and the lifestyle in SA. Much appreciated. I'm considering applying to Aramco and would appreciate some relevant information. Could you please share the current basic package... — read more 

If one goes by aramcoexpats.com seems to be a happy thriving place. Yet reading here it’s very different. Is anyone actually genuinely happy in their job?

Since Aramco is on a mission to reduce the expat experience, what are alternative companies experienced US citizen O&G professionals can go to as expats and still make bank? Rotational assignment preferred to keep family in US and make family life... — read more 

https://english.elpais.com/science-tech/2023-04-18/saudi-arabia-pays-spanish-scientists-to-pump-up-global-university-rankings.html

There you will find such nonsense as “Human potential is the energy that drives us forward.” Plenty of greenwashing and other such propaganda. It would be entertaining if not so serious. Aramco’s feed makes it seem like the best company in the... — read more 

“Across our organization, we live safety all day, every day, in our facilities and in our homes, on and off the job.” https://www.aramco.com/en/creating-value/sustainable-business-operations/health-and-safety Except they don’t. This is propaganda... — read more 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-04-09/should-expats-move-to-saudi-arabia-salaries-housing-schooling-issues-to-know?

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-04-09/should-expats-move-to-saudi-arabia-salaries-housing-schooling-issues-to-know?utm_source=website&utm_medium=share&utm_campaign=linkedin?sref=n5LiIHhd

Air Quality https://www.iqair.com/saudi-arabia/al-mintaqah-ash-sharqiyah/dhahran

Is this true? If so, that means that new US citizens no longer get ERISA protected retirement, post retirement health care (or any health insurance in the USA for that matter). Americans founded Aramco, but I guess the Saudis forgot that.

LOTS of private data on expats has been compromised…. Thank you Aramco, never failing to surprise.

Jobs are going, BL changes happening. Nebulous pointless depts that do F all will merge into new depts that do F all.. Some bald men in dresses will not be happy.

How can you be interviewed for a job and then don’t know which job you are being offered? How can they keep doing recruitment roadshows for what looks like the same jobs they have advertised previously? Why do the people who sign off the offers... — read more 

This wasn’t in the onboarding materials. Why am I expected to work 50% more hours than everyone else in my office? What’s the best way to approach the next month? I am not putting in extra effort to cover my coworkers, they’d never do the same... — read more 

I hear stories about people taking a one way ride on an exit / re-entry visa, for various reasons. What’s the consequences of doing so? I believe you will be add to some GCC list and can be picked up when travelling in the future. Not sure how real... — read more 

What is the obsession about gaps in your cv going back more than ten years? it seems overly thorough. Can anyone advise please?

I cannot describe the feeling of relief, I am a new person. It’s difficult to underestimate the amount of grief and mental torture this place has produced. I’d become institutionalised and didn’t fully appreciate just how unbearable the job had... — read more 

I received an offer from Aramco to work as an expat in KSA. GC is 14 and the net annual salary is close to $200k. The issue is that I have a PhD in Chemical Engineering and almost 20 years experience in oil and gas working in Oklahoma. Is this a low... — read more 

Please be subjective but I am waiting for an offer for a senior role at Aramco based in Dhahran. What is good about the company and the surroundings and what should I watch out for.

After a month of the date of my interview, they launched my pre-onboarding tasks to complete online. The issue id that I have not received any offer letter yet. My question how long it takes to received an offer letter.

With SAIP days away, it's time to collect your Saudi severance package (errrr.... a new Saudi bank loan). Good luck!

Hi, How is the Grade code 13 and 8200 USD/month salary for someone with a PhD and 6 years of experience? Currently have an offer from an IOC as well. I feel it is a bit on the lower side. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

I left a good job to come here. Negotiated and got to an acceptable level (I thought). Was subject to the usual negotiating tactics around lifestyle benefits and tax savings. Except the lifestyle benefit is a big fat lie. One can argue that not... — read more 

Finance is Aramco's ugly step child. Some areas are better than others, and I'll give you my opinion about the different departments. Controllers and Treasury. I lump them together because I think they are both uniformly cheap and dysfunctional, and... — read more 

I have an offer at $13k base for GC14. Total is just over 20k a month = $240k per year. This excludes bonus and travel payment which I’m not including in the calculation. I’m on $260 base at the moment exclusive of a 20% bonus plus decent retirement... — read more 

There is a tax that only you can measure it once you leave the kingdom, I called the Saudi invisible tax, employees could be comfortable at work, certainly some departments take care of their expats but family, your wife and kids are taking a huge... — read more 

I generally find expats fall into these categories in Aramco. Maxing it out until retirement. Have a target $$$ and therefore planned leave date. Recent joiner and wondering WTF to do (my category) I’ve yet to encounter what I was... — read more 

Here is the portrait of the "ideal" Aramco manager according to what I saw. This manager communicates expectations, usually from higher up who in turn took their orders from Riyadh. However, first he increases them, so if it was supposed to be done... — read more 

Anyone ever gotten more than this rating? Given I run the show and do everything in this dept, it’s a kick in the teeth. My boss told me in as many words, that it won’t ever go higher as others in the dept (Saudis) take precedence as they are... — read more 

Hello everyone. Currently an American about to accept an offer from Aramco in SA. Entry level is SG 14. Is that a good entry level ? Can you negotiate the SG level? Any idea about salary differences? Any help will be appreciated

A new one coming before March -general restructuring of the company - Saudis affected and expats old payrolls -->Not 100% confirmed but ALMOSTTTT.

I’m a recent hire in Dhahran, living in camp. The air quality is very poor. Is it like this year round? I’m concerned about long term health consequences of living in this environment. Any experiences? Thank you.

I am very disappointed because I thought that I would be able to make a lot of progress in my career here. At first I thought that it might take a long time before I can be seen as a valid candidate for promotion. However, despite all my efforts, it... — read more 

I moved here a few weeks ago, family due to join next month. Early impressions are negative. housing is old/unpleasant with many defects that are taking time and nunerius phone calls to remedy. Told no options for min 2 years to change. ... — read more 

So a real terms pay cut. Nice to see locals getting 10%+ still. Yet another reason to polish up the resume.

Saudi Aramco Base Oil Co., a unit of the state-owned oil producer, has received regulatory approval for an initial public offering in Riyadh, as the world’s biggest crude producer looks to list some of its... — read more 

Solar and wind are viable inside the Kingdom. It is just that Aramco is too incompetent to get it done. Five years ago, Aramco had a great alternative energy team. Then, Riyadh got Green and the work Aramco was doing got noticed. The locals promptly... — read more 

The global oil market remains tight according to Saudi Aramco, the largest oil producer in the world. And that does not bode well for a world that still relies heavily on fossil... — read more 

People keep arguing about other stuff but it seems everybody has accepted there'll be no cuts any time soon. You can say what you want about SA, but when it comes to job security, we are doing better than most. Especially right now, considering the... — read more