Job Discussion Forums

Lord T · Joined: 07 Jul 2015 Posts: 285

A forum member has just kindly sent me a pm to point out that a well-known kfupm teacher sadly died a few weeks ago - more details are on this forum.

My previous post was in no way meant to be connected to that unfortunate event, but if I gave anyone that impression, I apologize unreservedly.

Lord T

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

Lord T

that is the sort of behaviour we would expect from some sleazy back-street operator. My employers at KFUPM always behaved correctly and were benevolent employers. This was particularly so when I was on sick leave during a time when I had open-heart surgery.

Salaries might not be as high as they were with some of the "Merchants of Death", but all-round a good place to work !

Lord T · Joined: 07 Jul 2015 Posts: 285

scott47, as I wrote previously, most of the comments on this forum about kfupm have been positive, and I have also found that to be the case when it has been mentioned in staff room discussions at places I've worked in Saudi.

Perhaps they are now having to operate on a reduced budget which is both preventing them from paying up the old boys (65+), and recruiting sufficient
new teachers for their needs.

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

Lord T

I do not think so

Teachers' salaries and ESB are very small as part of the total KFUPM budget.

hash · Joined: 17 Dec 2014 Posts: 456 Location: Wadi Jinn

Lord T · Joined: 07 Jul 2015 Posts: 285

Hash, thanks for the post, it's very informative. I didn't know their end of service benefits were so poor. That may explain, in part, why so many carry on working there after the age of 65.

desertfox · Joined: 14 Jun 2015 Posts: 120

I agree with Lord T. The relatively poor benefits (as outlined by Hash) do seem to go some way towards explaining why so many oldies hang on there for so long when they could be off enjoying a fulfilling retirement. The conditions of employment seem extraordinarily poor.

My information on Kfupm (PYP) is this. Apparently they lost roughly 1 in 7 of their teachers over the summer period, and they only managed to recruit 3 to replenish the numbers. One of the 3 wasn't even a fresh face, he transferred from the English Language Department at the university.

So as it stands, the PYP are something like 7 teachers understaffed. This may explain why people are now having their arms twisted to do overtime.

There is a proportion of teachers, I understand, who are not expected to do overtime due to health issues. As I commented previously, this puts a heavy extra burden on the shrinking number of teachers who have no ready excuse to avoid it.

If you couple that with the news that the academic timetable now obliges teachers to be there continuously from September 2017 (now) to May 2018, with only a week holiday in between, during the 8 months.

Then you can understand why people are feeling a little fed up and taken for granted. That timetable is apparently a fixture for the next 5 years according to Saudi management.

Not an enticing prospect for anybody.

The unwillingness or inability of Kfupm management to recruit sufficient teachers to replace those who left over the summer, may or may not be a deliberate policy to cut the number of teachers employed. It could of course just be incompetence.

But a reduction of 7 teachers is a huge benefit for the management I would suggest as it represents a substantial cut in the wage bill, and by forcing people to do overtime they are effectively making those teachers there work harder for less.

Skeletorz · Joined: 03 Feb 2016 Posts: 2

Hash, it seems a little contradictory to suggest that the incentive for staying at kfupm is one of the poorest deals in Saudi, but at the same time being surprised by the fact that younger faculty don't stay longer than a few years. I would imagine that the two may well be related, and if we extend that logic, the 'older' faculty members must either be extremely dedicated and loyal professionals or just lacking in motivation or ability to find work anywhere else.

hash · Joined: 17 Dec 2014 Posts: 456 Location: Wadi Jinn

desertfox · Joined: 14 Jun 2015 Posts: 120

Hash - If one chooses to work overtime voluntarily then that is a matter for those individuals concerned.

My point was that people at Kfupm are being obliged to work overtime whether they wish to or not. Moreover, there appears to be a sizable minority who have excluded themselves from overtime on health grounds.

That re-doubles the pressure on those who do not wish to do it.

It is my understanding that overtime is not paid at the same rate as normal pay. Indeed, it is somewhat less. If one chooses to work all the hours god sends, then I repeat, it is a matter for those individuals. But a choice, should be a choice.

Kfupm is a dysfunction environment in many respects. That doesn't necessarily make it any different from other institutions in Saudi Arabia or the Middle East. But working in the public sector should at least have some benefits. But, at Kfupm they are increasingly difficult to see, as evidenced by your very informative earlier post.

dragonpiwo · Joined: 04 Mar 2013 Posts: 1650 Location: Berlin

The golden days are over in the Middle East. The choices are stark to make it financially worthwhile. Saudi Aramco as a contractor is as good as it gets there. BAe is just a pressure cooker because of the appalling trainees, massive loads and poor management. The salaries I see in the KSA these days are laughable. It's pretty much like that all over the Middle East with Kuwait being the biggest piss taker. In the UAE, the new trend is lower benefits and salaries and it's a super expensive place to live like Qatar, which is now under an embargo.

I'm under 50 and have a few more months till I retire from full-time teaching forever. The days when you could do that are over. KFUPM's basic salary is really poor. I'm on about 30,000 SAR a month not in Saudi and can live rent/food fee on a camp should I choose to do so. I do less than 18 contact hours a week. I'm the last native speaker in the company. It's over.

siologen · Joined: 25 Oct 2016 Posts: 336

desertfox · Joined: 14 Jun 2015 Posts: 120

dragonpiwo - excellent summary of the situation across the Middle East, if I may so so...

dragonpiwo · Joined: 04 Mar 2013 Posts: 1650 Location: Berlin

There is no next destination. It's over. Time to retrain/leave the industry. Quick example. In my job they are replacing people like me with people from places like Uzbekistan via 3rd parties and paying them less than half of what I make. I'm in oil and gas but the unis out here will be full of that lot in a year or 2.

That's the future.