Contracting in Middle East help and tips

[wurzel]

Not sure if its still like it but a friend of mine worked there for 10 years and he said if a saudi person runs into your car it will be your fault as they believe the accident would not have happened if you had not been in their country

Very True. And if a westerner runs into a Pakistani it will be the Pakistani's fault as he is lower down their pecking order.

[SimonMac]

Be a man.

[alreadypacked]

I wouldn't bother. Rates are crap compared to the UK cos it's chock full of Indians who will do the job for half the price, and it's not a cheap place to live. There also have terrible problems with late payment, it's a way of life, and the roads are pretty dangerous (think 1st or 2nd highest rate of fatal accidents in the world...)

+1

Apartment rents are paid 1 year in advance.
Pay rates are reduced as soon as they think you want to stay.

[wurzel]

Spent a few years working in Dubai and Saudi as a consultant for a middleware vendor (I was permie).

I don't think I met any other westerners over there who were not on some kind of expat package.
Local rates were crap then (late 90s) and I have no reason to think they'd have got any better.

Technical roles were more and more being taken by Indians and, in Saudi, there was a policy of Saudi-isation where locals were being encouraged to work. Not that you'd be able to swan into Saudi and pick up a contract willy-nilly anyhow as you need a sponsor.

[Sysman]

Spent a few years working in Dubai and Saudi as a consultant for a middleware vendor (I was permie).

I don't think I met any other westerners over there who were not on some kind of expat package.
Local rates were crap then (late 90s) and I have no reason to think they'd have got any better.

Back in the 70s and 80s Middle East expat packages could be worth doing to stack up the cash to buy a home outright.

Crap expat rates started n the aftermath of the Kuwait war. The UK economy wasn't too hot at the time and folks were being offered the equivalent of UK permie salaries with the carrot of "But there's no tax"*. To attract people they provided better facilities such as squash courts, satellite TV etc.

I knew several hardware engineers who would have been no better off under those deals. Instead they could keep their company cars, stay with their famiies etc, No contest.

* and beware returning to the UK early in case you ended up being liable for that tax anyway

[wurzel]

Back in the 70s and 80s Middle East expat packages could be worth doing to stack up the cash to buy a home outright.

Crap expat rates started n the aftermath of the Kuwait war. The UK economy wasn't too hot at the time and folks were being offered the equivalent of UK permie salaries with the carrot of "But there's no tax". To attract people they provided better facilities such as sports facilities, satellite TV etc.

I knew several hardware engineers who would have been no better off under those deals. Instead they could keep their company cars, stay with their famiies etc, No contest.

Yes, plus the 365 day rule.

[Sysman]

Yes, plus the 365 day rule.

Crossed posts. See my edited addition about returning to the UK early.

[pacharan]

Crossed posts. See my edited addition about returning to the UK early.

They'd only just brought this in when I was offered a job. I negotiated a bonus with the company which they paid in the following tax year.

[wurzel]

* and beware returning to the UK early in case you ended up being liable for that tax anyway

I spent 3 months in Brazil at the end of my stint

[Sysman]

Yes, plus the 365 day rule.

When did that come in?