Job Discussion Forums

Lord T · Joined: 07 Jul 2015 Posts: 285

One major attraction for some ex-pats was the generous housing allowance they were given when working in the kingdom.

People who were used to living in modest surroundings back home, felt like kings and queens whilst living on expensive compounds.

Is the dream coming to an end for these people, and if so, how will they manage when reality hits them in the face?

nomad soul · Joined: 31 Jan 2010 Posts: 11454 Location: The real world

How do they manage when their "dream" fizzles out? They either move into cheaper accommodations (realistic) or look elsewhere for a job that includes fancy housing or a super-duper allowance that allows them to continue to live the high life (good luck with that). It's a no brainer.

Seriously, no one is feeling sorry for expats who foolishly spend all of their housing allowance (and more) on expensive digs just so that they can live like "kings and queens." But sadly, living above one's means is common in our home countries. Why do you think so many westerners look to KSA as their solution to pay down huge debts incurred back home.

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

When employed by Saudi Arabian Airlines I lived on their compound on Saudia City in Khaledeyah, Jeddah, A villa with two bedrooms and three bathrooms. 747 pilots got the same. Not many EFL teachers live like that !

Then the airline realised that they did not need English teachers.

Desert Dueller · Joined: 20 Jul 2015 Posts: 45 Location: Montreal

There once was a German organization running technical colleges in Riyadh and Ar Ras. All their staff lived in plush compounds, including the ELTs, and everyone tried to "keep up with the Jones's" by trying to outbid each other in the 4WD vehicle department. That also included a select few ELTs who, predictably and slightly deluded by their "apparent" expat status, never made it to a Hummer or FJ, but could only muster enough shekels to bid for one aged Range Rover and a dented Ford sedan instead......
When the Germans kicked out the ELTs from the compounds a while back, some sent their "families" home while continuing to collect the overly generous family housing allowance. This rip-off went on unchecked for years - until the Saudis finally saw the light and terminated the Germans.
Since then, a Brit outfit has taken over one of the colleges and, slowly but surely, the expat lifestyle on the best compounds of Riyadh is coming to a close. Remaining staff - soldiering on for lack of alternative employment options and waiting for salaries and housing payments to arrive - are presently shunted into one of the worst, run down and previously shunned compound in the city. Ah well, they'll just have to put up with it until they, too, are either sacked or the lights finally turned off in what was once one of the better educational establishments in KSA.
Also gone, btw, are most German staff with their FJs, Harleys, Hummers and other gear which they could never afford to run at home. This kind of deluded existence of snobbish expatriate "luxury" is slowly coming to an end in KSA.

leggeymountbatten · Joined: 11 Mar 2016 Posts: 74

There are certainly CoE colleges in Riyadh where there have been drastic changes to the provision of compound accommodation.

The former German college mentioned by Desert Dueller (now Brit run) is one where such changes have been very radical. By all accounts the changes have not only been radical, but they have been detrimental to the teachers concerned.

Given the general economic outlook in Saudi, these kind of changes will become all too common I fear.

Balzac · Joined: 14 Jun 2007 Posts: 266

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

If I were starting in a career in ELT now I would be heading for China.

Makkah · Joined: 08 Oct 2014 Posts: 113

Lord T · Joined: 07 Jul 2015 Posts: 285

Balzac · Joined: 14 Jun 2007 Posts: 266

Amerrycan Muslim · Joined: 01 Jul 2014 Posts: 51 Location: KSA

An argument could be made that as oil prices fall and salaries follow them... All western expats will feel the pinch, not just teachers and compounds will be forced to lower prices while probably cutting back on services they provide to make a profit...

desertfox · Joined: 14 Jun 2015 Posts: 120

Amerrycan Muslim - I think that process is already well underway.

The state of the CoE's all over Saudi is very sobering. They have all been established on a profit making (neo-liberal) basis, and many of them are struggling.

Naked profiteering in the education sector is unseemly and ultimately counter-productive.

The Saudi State is letting down its citizens and their futures on the back of falling oil prices. Moreover, the Saudi State has a responsibility to ensure that if they invite foreign providers into their education system, then they should ensure they have the basic competences to carry out the task.

Leno · Joined: 20 Dec 2015 Posts: 51

If housing allowances is provided, the employer must also add transport allowance.

Balzac · Joined: 14 Jun 2007 Posts: 266

Amerrycan Muslim · Joined: 01 Jul 2014 Posts: 51 Location: KSA

Desertfox and Balzac, I won't disagree with your posts. And I am sympathetic to the students where I am and the wider student body around KSA who are being pushed towards these providers. For the most part, and there are exceptions, these providers are as you both have stated and it feeds into the idea that most Saudis (and probably Arabs for that matter) believe that if it's from the West then it's best... They have a bad habit of being hypnotized by anything shiny and glittery...