I think it’s getting progressively worse for expats at aramco. I really do feel the sense of insecurity and the “them and us” approach from management has hit new heights. I’ve noticed almost everything I suggest is completely ignored. Personally my job has become a waste of time. Some of the newly onboarded expats are the lowest grade characters I’ve seen.
Tips on how to get to the top of the layoff list?
its a zoo so behave accordingly...no need to take anything seriously just play the game and collect 200 as you pass GO.
To the poor soul who's considering ending their life: LEAVE ASAP
Once you reached such level of thinking your only choice is to abandon ship. Sorry pal they won and this isn't for you. Good luck
If you were brave enough to leave home for Aramco, then you are equally brave and resourceful enough to leave and go home.
@we9 Leave asap. Nothing is worth your damaging health for. You can guarantee things will not get better trying to tough it out. Don't kid yourself. Godpseed with your decision.
Today i felt i wanted to end my life. Someone must have noticed or knew somehow and saved me from that decision. I am quitting soon, just can't anymore
Start telling everyone you want to leave this place, that you could take all benefits & be laid off, and repeat that for a while. This works cuz I did it a year ago. You don't need friends up high or anything. Best decision of my life!
Welcome to Aramco. The only solution is to quit or find a way to do the time and bank the monthly apology. Their game, their rules, no matter how ef'ed up you or I or anyone else feels that they are.
@1vw
You are absolutely correct! I have been there over 10 years and the management is pathetic. They have no idea what they are doing and only reward people that pretend they are brilliant.If you point out anything that is wrong then you are considered a troublesome employee…
I think also with newer expats being the a-s kissing, desperate, sycophantic type (of a certain background with a plastic passports and clearly cash poor) doesn’t make things any easier.
The dying breed of those that came with integrity and ready to do an honest days work, are quitting in droves and will all be gone within the next year or so.
For those soldering on:
Never mind, just watch the pay checks, plan the short trips, do courses and qualifications on company time and focus on the goal.
@b4h same as it ever was.
it feels like this year feels especially challenging...more and more work laid on expats as if someone just trying to su-k it all out...departments want to grow larger for higher titles for management but with incompetent workforce the work is not being done in line with dpt sizes...sooner rather than later this will catch up...feels like it has already started...
I left last year. Since saudization-m0r0niza7ion started I couldn't take it anymore. So I did hate my job from the very first day.
Falsehood everywhere, incompetency, arrogancy, and on top of that the jet fighters, polluted air water, high heat-humidity, threatening geopolitics. Be brave and leave.
Lots of layoffs and resignations coming up June to September
Ahhh, sniveling Peon, how marvelously entertaining….
@82h+1jpd50cez...ah see you are wrong. You assumed and you missed the mark widely.
I am an ex-expat, retired now living in the US again. Seems some people are just a bit whiney. I worked hard kept my mouth shut and my head down, realizing that I was just a hired g-n and then did my best to make the situation tenable. Was I always treated fairly?
No. I suggest that you check your attitude. You will not bend them to your wants. Make your peace with it or plan your exit. Best of luck to you.
@7m9+1jpd50cez Your life is easy because expats are doing all the work and you waltz in at 9am to come & sh*t, have coffee and lunch all day. Some of us are used to working hard and living meaningful lives, not an arranged life leaning of nepotism and brown nosing. You work at your predestined job, go home to your arranged cousin with your 15 genetically questionable children. Ground hog day for a ground hog. Expats have actually earned their stripes. We have world class experience and that’s why you need us. You, for example, would NEVER successfully work anywhere else in the world except here. THIS is where you will work 30yrs and still be incompetent, following mindless instructions and hoping that the next boss “takes you up with him”. You don’t have the work ethic, professionalism or ambition to tell us about an easy life.
Or it could be a guy who did 21 years and retired. And yes, the fighter jets flying over really s-cks.
It could also be someone who's been fired or quit. After all, a lot of those do miss their version of easy life.
The list of "can't take it anymore" should include scrambling jet fighters and frequent scams. And yes, I can't take it anymore either.
The comment on the easy life by @7m9+1jpd50cez seems strange. Perhaps he's speaking from a locals point of view. The esteemèd group qithin the workplace who live off the hard work of the expats, knowing the game is rigged in favor of them.
You're going to miss the easy life when you're out of there.
Hate is a big word but i can't take it anymore. The country. The treacherous workplace. The "leaders". Air quality and dust. The heat. The constant shutting up about important things. Family issues. The flights. Lack of respect. JHAH being the worst. The culture.
Too much I am ready to leave this Summer
It’s easy. Simply start doing your job, and do it well. Point out failings in writing. Follow them up. Ask for written commitments from management and watch them squirm. Make comparisons to IOCs that paint Aramco in a bad light, just be honest. You will make all those locals around you look incompetent and they can’t have that!
Remember they can’t handle the truth.
As others have said, tell others openly about wanting to leave, they 100% will tell your management. They love backstabbing, it’s a national sport.
Finally, do all of this with a spring in your step and be civil. No need to be rude, think about the blue skies over the toxic Dhahran skyline.
ARAMCO IS A SCAM. THEY ARE NOT A REAL COMPANY. THEY TREAT YOU LIKE SERVANT. ASK MOTIVA AND ARAMCO PEOPLE WORKING IN DOWNTOWN HOUSTON.
I do hate my job and life in here
Being owned by and at the complete mercy of the lowest ranking local is never fun. Just accept it that we are indentured servants, and get on with it.
@19s+1jpd50cez
Agreed, treating a pompous PDP, especially the US Educated ones (you will identify them by all the American college paraphernalia on their desk) like sc-m is a good way of getting noticed to be on the layoff list.
Looking back, sure I could have laid low. But these guys and their subcontinental lackeys do have a way of irritating the most patient of souls.
My friend got off by critisizing bad management and deplorable way to map and report reserves. This was while chatting with a young rñarrogsnt ret4rd. Another one bit the dust. Some of us were present and told him how could he be so stupid. He replied he was 100% certain that little mo--n would go to his superiors and he was ready to leave but not without maximizing his payout. 2 months later ...he was gone
I agree with the comment below! All you need to do isstart spreading the news you wanna leave this charade forever that you wish you could take all your benefits by being laid off and repeat that to the gossipers and brownosers (esp second-in-command expats) hehe assure you this works
Want to get laid off? Present FACTS that paint the thobes in an incompetent or lesser light. That isn't difficult. Present multiple sources and stand by it. You can do it with a smile on your face and as an opportunity to improve failed Aramco efforts. KPI's with Aramco at the bottom of the performance list or a negative trend in KPI performance will win over the heart of any Aramco manager/VP and win you a ticket home during the next layoff.
What I do:
Retired in place after reliable smart expats were gone (years ago)
Give off stinky but animated PowerPoints.
Gather useful info, anything, for my future. Invest. Keep your employment opportunities alive.
Call for useless meetings. Talk and say nothing.
Work hard for PMP 2 months a year and always include locals in whatever was produced, making them look good.
Never trust anyone's word, especially expats (yes)
Arrive later = leave early, smile like Jack Nicholson and enjoy it
The way to be included in a layoff list is: 1) either you have a good friend high in the Company and make arrangements, or 2) you carefully start spreading comments like "i wish they lay me off and i get out of here". With a grin, like it came out unintended but not so much. Those sterile lives feed on gossip and your comments will reach someome important in no time.
Good luck
It was also run your side business while at work. I remember hearing all the pitfalls od ŕunning a vegetable store/coffee shop/bakery/etc. Just from the telephone conversations around me.
It's funny how Aramco always claimed they hire best of the best. What a joke!
'Retire in place', didn't know that it had an actual name. Was just kind of what everyone was doing back in the day, plan your vacations, finances, build your retirement home. Remembering back, it was approximately a 33% E&P and a 66% other for the expat...just look busy and be ready to flip that screen. Was even worse among the local professionals. Probably more like a 10/90 ratio. Of course there were anomalies within both groups. I seem to recall a lot of taking the wife and kids to SAMSO and governmental appointments. A sea of yellow post it notes up and down the hall. It was really quite striking. And I'll just leave it to your imagination how it was around the local holidays.
Retire in Place. Maximize your training opportunities. Improve your resume. Try to get onto assignments that will sound good on your resume.
if you came here to make some kinda difference, you came to the wrong place...just pack ur bags and leave u won't miss much if laid off...expat severance packages will not be good...if you came here to make money and save - keep ur head down and soldier on...who cares if no one listens to you...their loss at the end.
That's easy. Stop caring too much. It's not your circus. They will then either lay you off if they see you are not worth keeping anymore, or they'll barely notice you even exist, while you continue to cash out their checks. Back in my day, some just milked it until retirement.
Start preparing for and consciously planning for your inevitable departure so that you do so on a good footing. If you are being ignored, you are likely on the list, when is the only question.
Just stand up for yourself. Also, point out when things are egregiously problematic, an insane waste of resources/time, and/or potentially illegal. Bonus points if you point out the EU transparency laws that they'll be beholden to in 2026. I remember hearing from several people in HR that they were real nervous about that, but I'm not exactly sure what it entails - just that it made some folks nervous.
They'll make sure to get rid of you ASAP, because they hate being reminded how incompetent they are.
Aramco doesnt take hiring seriously. They hire you and fire you after 3 or 6 months. Destroy people career.
Lose weight and grow muscles. With muchos muscles doors will open up for you.