Dubai Forums Dubai Expat Forums Working in Dubai

Hi everybody,
This is the first time I post, and I know there is a lot of posts of people talking about costs of living and salaries. I have read them and have spent 2 months reading on as much I can. So anyway I finally have a Offer for a really good job and would like to get as many opinions as possible.

Ok I´ll start by info on me (as people seem to need this as a indicator)

Male, Married, European, 8 Years industry experience, Event Management Industry.

Post: Senior Management
TOTAL offer per month: 21,000 Dirham
Roughly 42,000 Thousand Pounds a Year

Extras:

Relocation: 10,000 Dirham relocation Package
Flights: Return flights once a year (economy class) for my wife and I
Medical: Full coverage/worldwide (I travel a lot for work)

Thats about it, and this is after a aqueezed them and asked more from the original offer. The recruiters and the company say its a good offer... And sure its nice but knowing housing costs in dubai and the rest... I would like to know peoples opnion on if first this sounds like a good offer and if its something I could live on out there? Not living the Luxury life but you know, a 2/3 bed Villa and normal life with dinners out, some shopping and some saving...?

I would appreciate any comments and thank you in advance.

is the 21K with housing included or will they cover that? otherwise you'll need at least 300K for a 2/3 bedroom villa, paid up front in advance.

so 21K is a decent salary, if the company pays for your housing, otherwise a 2 bedroom flat goes for 100-250K in diff parts of dubai.

I dont know about how much your industry should pay but if you do the conversion and you can survive in any European country comfortably...then you should be ok.

BUT!! Due to the cost of living in Dubai rising....21,000 a month may leave you a little shocked when it comes to finding a place. If they do not provide a separate living bonus....you may end up in a 1 BDRM in proper Dubai rather than a 2/3 BDRM villa, which are hard to find. Our 1BDRM rent now is 10,000/month and we live in Bur Dubai.

If you can make it work then great...but do remember that Dubai is not a cheap place to live and it is only getting more expensive. If your wife works it would be a benefit to achieve the lifestyle you would like.

Thanks, Nuzbim and Cheeralal,

Yes the salary is all inclusive of the allowences so 21K is the total with car and house allowence. Is that ok?

if it's 21K all in, then you won't be living in a villa, most likely you'll find a 1 bedroom in the marina/new dubai area for 100K so take out 9K from your salary. a car will run around 1.7-whatever you wish per month.

you've also got to figure 600-1600 per month for water/gas/internet/tv/phone, so subtract all those and that'll leave you the balance for living/traveling/etc.

Nuzbim that has been very helpfull, thanks.
Now is this a normal salary level for senior management level? I can see this being great if I was singles and with no cares.... Then It would be awesome... Being married, well if we have to live in a 1 bed flat not that great, I think we are past that stage... You know what I mean. So thats why I wonder if this offer is like withing the norm. Cause the employer says yes and what I´m reading is that no...

last year that offer would have been good, you could havve found a 2 bedroom flat in the marina for 110-130K. but now days, the 2 bedrooms start at 160K-250K depending on location.

as far as cars the 1.7 is for a lancer, otherwise known as a deathmobile.

it really all boils down to if your wife will work and whether or not you'll be saving money from where you're currently living. as far as sr management how many years exp do you have? cause sr management usually makes more than that, i've got nearly 10 yrs and make quite a bit more than you with all my allowances, and i'm not sr management, just a manager for a MNC.

i know it shouldnt make a diff but i'm white, which makes a huge diff here

Well I am white/European and I have 8 years industry experience, but in my industry thats senior level... as its a "young mans" industry, after 10 years you are a director.... or very senior... So basicly from what your telling I´m being short changed? hehe What industry do you work in?
And thanks agian for the replies.

To be honest, you will struggle to live a good lifestyle with this salary..
1BHK apt in Greens / Marina / JBR wth todays market rate will cost you no less than 130K. You might have to settle for places like International city which is a bit crap area.. And believe me, you would be expected to pay this amount in one (or max 2) cheques..
Apart from that , there will be other expenses such as entertainment, utilities, phone etc.. none of which is cheap here..

So unless your wife has a job with similar salary, you should try to renegotiate your contract for atleast 70% hike.. (which i know would be difficult)..

best luck...

CharlyPen wrote:Well I am white/European and I have 8 years industry experience, but in my industry thats senior level... as its a "young mans" industry, after 10 years you are a director.... or very senior... So basicly from what your telling I´m being short changed? hehe What industry do you work in?
And thanks agian for the replies.

i understand your exp level but you got to understand here in dubai they can get asians or arabs for 10-15K dhs a month. there's a ton of event management companies here and they have ppl lined up to apply so that's why they might be low balling you. can i ask what range your salary is in the UK, cause like i said that salary is way low if you want to live good here. housing is NYC prices and higher, for crappier places to live. if i could get my rent paid in the states i'd go back even with me having to pay taxes

i'm in the oil & gas industry, but i transferred from the states which had a lot to do with it. and honestly even my company is goin thru a freeze these days, it's gettin too expensive to transfer UK/US/Aus here these days.

In the UK I was on 40k and I could probably get 45-50K on my next job, though its getting hard in europe in general because of the crisis. That is why I thought lets go to Dubai, because even if its the same salary it would be Tax free.

But honestly I thought it would be 40-45K salary + the allowences... But when I got the offer it was all inclusive, thats when I started talking to the recruiters and they said this was a good salary and with normal conditions. Then I looked in the forums and it all seemed to going down hill.

In the worst case I thought of giving it a go for the probation period... research localy and get more feedback. I´m not doing anything right now anyways... and if I have to come back and get job hunting again... Any thoughts on this plan?

that might not be a bad idea, but you'd be bled dry in short term rentals here. plus there's no month to month apt rentals, in Dubai you've got to pay the entire amount in either 1 or 2 checks. so while there are monthly rental places, the rates are very high, like 15-30K a month for a flat near the marina. i'm sure you can find cheaper places outside of this area, but since i live here i only know the rates down here.

the salary is tax free but the housing wipes out the benefits of tax free salary. ppl don't understand it's not the paradise ppl think it is, not anymore with these housing costs. but if you're not in a free zone and leave before 1 year, you'll be banned from working and if your current company doesn't release you, you wouldn't be able to go to another company, that's another thing to keep in mind. make sure you know if it's a free zone or not.

As for accomodation I thought flatshare for the probation period... seen a few between 3000-6000 Month for a room basicly.

With these do I also need to pay a whole year?

And as for the freezone/ban situation. I´m not sure, but would I get the ban if it was probation period as well? I mean probation periods are for both parties... If I´m not happy working with does conditions/company why would I continue therfore why would I get a ban? Or those this happen regardless?

CharlyPen wrote:As for accomodation I thought flatshare for the probation period... seen a few between 3000-6000 Month for a room basicly.

With these do I also need to pay a whole year?

And as for the freezone/ban situation. I´m not sure, but would I get the ban if it was probation period as well? I mean probation periods are for both parties... If I´m not happy working with does conditions/company why would I continue therfore why would I get a ban? Or those this happen regardless?

the room shares work either monthly or bi-annually, depends on the room share. as far as the probation period, i couldn't tell you because i'm in a free zone. but it probably means you can terminate within that time period, but if you cut lose, they wouldn't pay for your airfare back home. you should ask specifics bout your period and also where they are located, there's only certain free zones so it's easy to figure out if you're in one or not.