Job Discussion Forums

[BrownSauce]

Yes indeed, the famous HCT slogan 'Education is Wealth' is beginning to ring more than a little hollow after the latest decision by the Vice Chancellor and his cronies regarding this year's pay award.

In summary, the pot was first reported to be totally empty, but now a little cash has been found. So OUT goes the new merit pay system (for good apparently) and IN comes the annual cost-of-living adjustment, but reduced by 50%.

So dedicated HCT staff and faculty can expect a whopping 2% pay increase next year - WOW!! And how dignified of the HCT top management to announce the new improved offer at the END of the academic year - after the staff have undoubtedly 'overdelivered' (another HCT buzzword) with half an eye on that merit pay bonus.

Well done, lads. HCT top brass have a crude knack for p*ssing people off at the worst of times, and this is no exception. My better half, who works for HCT in AD, reports a glum mood and little motivation to teach the rest of the semester.

Way to go, Tayeb!!

[Sheikh N Bake]

Yes, I wouldn't work for HCT again. I'd rather have the job I have in the magnificent and beautiful Kingdom of Humanity than enjoy the bounties of Dubai and work for HCT again. Some had a good experience and will forever be apologists for that autocratic collection of contiguous colleges, but all I can say is...all good things come to an end.

[veiledsentiments]

One must still be realistic, even when certain branches are skidding into the toilet at mach speed, it is not those incompetent management individuals who make budget decisions. That definitely comes above their pay grade.

There is also the factor that, as always, some branches suck and some branches are still a decent gig for a contract or two. The catch is also the same... newbies don't get to choose what branch they go to...

Personally I'm wondering about the source of all this sudden austerity. The price of oil is still very high, and they are still producing a significant amount and pulling in mega-millions every single day. I suppose it may be the cost of the bailout of Dubai, which we likely know only that first big payment... and more has probably quietly been sucked into the banking morass. Not to mention, they have probably just realized how much they have lost in their investment portfolios in the last couple years. And of course, since the locals won't cut their incomes, it is the expats that have to make up the shortfalls.

VS

[mamasboy]

Common guys...quit complaining! After-all many educational institutions in "Uncle Sam's" country are laying off faculty and staff. The best of them have no plan for any salary increases....even COLA. Don't like it here...then head home this summer and don't come back. But knowing most Teflers, and truth be told, the pickings are slim, and y'all be back...come August!!

[veiledsentiments]

Reality bites...

VS

[secretsquirrel]

That's right - you can always leave. Or better still, take the craven option and just shut up. A lot of spineless teachers would do that - and there are a fair share of them at HCT!

Walking out requires a certain amount of courage though, but most of all you need to have another, hopefully better, place to go. The most noble (noblest?) choice is to stay put and snipe, publically and privately, but knowing full well that IF you get rumbled, you'll be out the door in a flash.

Hopefully, other prospective HCT teachers will take note of the negative publicity and realize just how bad the place has become - and make the choice to go elsewhere. Only then will things change for the better . . . perhaps!

[mamasboy]

SecretSquirel:
You hit the nail on the head!! Note however, one spineless teacher leaves hundreds more on the waiting replacement list!! Works out cheaper always mostly.

[D. Merit]

[Sheikh N Bake]

It doesn't. Mama's boy has written only nonsense in previous posts, even falsely attributing to me a quote about "number-crunching Indians." I never made such a quote. If baby can't even keep straight whom he's quoting when launching incoherent and ungrammatical attacks, he can't be expected to troll, make sense and chew gum at the same time.

[ckhl]

Some had a good experience and will forever be apologists for that autocratic collection of contiguous colleges, but all I can say is...all good things come to an end.

yeah, it was a good run...four contracts I managed, more or less, to coast through it. Now, mercifully, it's been "over" for a couple of years and is fading.

[uaeobserver]

The National chimes in...


http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100513/NATIONAL/705129837/1019

[herenow]

ZU hasn't given any merit or cost of living increase for the past two years.

[ardiles81]

[quote="BrownSauce"]Yes indeed, the famous HCT slogan 'Education is Wealth' is beginning to ring more than a little hollow ....


because in this country extreme wealth = profound stupidity

[republocrat]

Although I've worked for HCT in Abu Dhabi for around ten years, never before have I felt such a mood of anger and betrayal within our faculty. These sentiments of injustice and disquiet are, I can most certainly say, almost exclusively a result of this unwarranted kick in our collective nuts.

I mean, it's one thing for the HCT top management to unilaterally turn its back on an agreed system of pay structuring that we have ALL worked hard to get working right. But it's an even greater insult for all of us, adding salt to the wound, when the director of ADMC dismisses the whole thing with a short e-mail message that contained not even the slightest hint of an apology, or even recognition that it would leave us disappointed.

We get the idea that he composed the message in a rush, and then fled the building - how brave! Such dismissive treatment reeks of contempt for the faculty members who have helped to make ADMC what it is today, and who owe no thanks to the director of ADMC at all.

[Sheikh N Bake]

Very interesting. And yes, the text of that email I saw somewhere was insensitive and unprofessional to say the least.

Guess I don't need to consult an economist to figure out that the new COLA won't come close to covering inflation. Welcome to salary decreases in real terms for the next few years.