Dubai Forums Dubai Expat Forums Working in Dubai

I'm planning on moving from UK to Dubai. I've been given a job offer for 30k aed /month (all inclusive, but they pay for medical & insurance aswell).

I currently get £50,000/year in the UK. The 30k looks quite good as its tax free but I'd like to know if I can have a decent quality of life living near Silicon Oasis (where company is based).


Any opinions, is 30k aed a decent salary? or does everyone get 60k aed...I just want to make sure I'm paid a decent salary. £50k in UK is a good salary for my current job as a Business analyst.

Do you have Kids? If not then for a basic comparison work out:

UK pay - UK tax - UK rent = X
Dubai pay - Dubai rent = Y

And compare X and Y.

As a guide a 1 bed flat can be had for between 100-120k dhs. You can also spend a lot more, but that's up to you.

General living costs work out fairly similar to the UK, maybe very slightly cheaper if you don't drink a lot.

But be warned - the job market here is not so good with a lot of highly publicized redundancies. For example, some of the major developers have cut half their staff. If your job in the UK is safe and secure then you might want to factor that in. A lot of people I know who moved here very recently are sweating pretty bad right now.

If you do have kids then you're going to be spending MUCH more, school fees are extortionate and you'll want a bigger place. You'll be struggling to make it unless your wife also works.

30k is too much. people are surviving with under 5k income. And people like you are expecting the world with 30k, 60k. I think you should stay put where you are. we dont need any more of the bloated ego british!

Best of luck!

@michaeldubai pls request a change of your nick with the administration team .....
suggest michaelbullshit for the beginning

wtf are you bitchin around? you are talking abt a group of minors and he is talking abt the lower avrg (30K) and upper avrg (60K) for decent western expats

Mahbub79 get as much as possible +10
(you will need it, if not save it and once you are back in civilsation you can at least say "OK all that shit was worth it"
30K is just OK but does not compensate any of the pain dealing with idiots and trust me there are just too many here....sometimes it seems all of them are appointed here

@michaeltheclown
f you happy with 5-10K congratulations.... Numbnut, but what sense shall it make for anybody from the civilised part of the world to come into this shithouse for anything LOWER THAN double of what he had before...

your turn.... oh no better back off

Cheers
Martin

M!. Made your blood boil huh? Good that was the intention. Here's some more...

In my opinion there is no place for business analysts in the world anyhere. we had them before and now see the state of the world! they are being kicked out left, right and center. which explains why mahbub is trying to flee.

I stick to my stand. people survive here with salaries as low as 600 dhs. (now dont display your ignorance on this) So what you going to do with 30k/60k? Blow it on drinks, girls, cars and general waste. So have the ba**s to ask for a salary as low as 600dhs and live on that. And if this part of the world is too backward for you, what are you doing here? Or are some stray dogs looks for leftovers in the - as you say "shithouse"?

hard to stifle a looooooooooooooooooong yawn

You'll be ok with 30,000AED a month. That's around GBP65k pa tax-free.

Things in Dubai are generally cheaper than in London.

There are times when you want to pull your hair out, but for all those people that think they need to be compensated twice as much as in the UK think again. There are plane loads of British that want to leave England.

There are many bad things about Dubai, but it's not some disease ridden, poverty place, with lots of crime, and bad weather that requires financial compensation to utilise your skills.

I receive phone calls all the time from people in the UK, even recuritment consultants asking for jobs here, requesting a fraction of the money you are being offered.

If you're not interested in the 30,000AED pm job, then pm the details and I bet you I could probably get someone from the UK to fill it quite quick.

30k is more than enough especially if you are staying in International City. The partment rental is not that expensive compare to downtown Dubai and your travel expense will not be expensive. Give it a try for 1 year and if you are not happy then jes go back.

It's difficult to say whether the salary is good or not, because yu haven't told us what profession you're in!

I have to say though, I get sick and tired of people assuming that all western expats earn a fortune. I'd say the average monthly salary for most of my friends is between 10 - 20k a month.

"it make for anybody from the civilised part of the world to come into this shithouse"

Martin, your message tells me about what type of person you are – it’s a shame that you are living in a foreign country, but yet still have that intolerant attitude toward the country that feeds you.

Mate, am an Arabic descent, I’ve been living in a Western county for nearly 8 years now. I must say, my first impression was inferior, mainly because I didn’t know anything about the culture. Things were different from back home, for example, younger people have little respect if any toward older people. At night time people usually get drunk and then swear at each others, and some time beat or stab each others. To me these sort of behaviour were unacceptable and uncivilized, my parents taught to respect and help stranger, and of course elderly.

However, when I decided to leave the country that I was born in, I decided to leave some of my culture’s beliefs and customs behind, mainly because I belief that in order to live happily in a country, you first need to understand and get accustomed with its culture, or at least try to get your head around why they do things in the way they do them, so you could make sense of their way of life.

I must admit, at first it wasn’t easy at all, but because of my curious nature I eventually accustomed myself to the culture, and I have to say I love it. However, if I visit the UAE I’d try to adjust to its culture, so I could be happy and have peace in mind.

UAE and its people are very gracious toward others cultures. Let me give you a simple example, alcohol is frown upon in the Gulf countries by tradition. You have to understand that UAE citizens original were Bedouin, and because one of the Bedouin’s virtues is to respect other cultures’ customs, thus, they don’t like to control how others should live their life. That’s why they are flexible about drinking and other things which otherwise are alien to their culture.

So, Martin or whatever your name is, be respectful and try to understand that others are different, they are neither superior nor inferior to you, they are only see and interpret things differently from the way you do – that’s all mate. Please have a human heart.

Peace/love

30,000 aed is a very good salary for here. despite all the bullshit you hear from people, the average wage for expats is around 20,000 (there are some high paying jobs in recruitment & finance though paying up to 50,000 plus). you could rent a 1 bed flat for around 110,000/year, buy a car and live fairly comportably.

Martin, if you not happy and you sounds like an angry man, simple leave the UAE and go back we certainly don't need peoples like you. You probably sitting on a big salary and I bet you haven't a clou on what's your doing.

mahbub79 wrote:I'm planning on moving from UK to Dubai. I've been given a job offer for 30k aed /month (all inclusive, but they pay for medical & insurance aswell).

I currently get £50,000/year in the UK. The 30k looks quite good as its tax free but I'd like to know if I can have a decent quality of life living near Silicon Oasis (where company is based).


Any opinions, is 30k aed a decent salary? or does everyone get 60k aed...I just want to make sure I'm paid a decent salary. £50k in UK is a good salary for my current job as a Business analyst.

30k is more than enough to live well by most western middle class standards. Allow 10k per month for good 1 bdrm apartment.

If you have a choice, look at Dubai Marina for better quality of life. Silicon Oasis fine but long way out and quiet. Have a look when you arrive, you'll see what I mean. Don't book an apartment before you get here.

60k per month is not a representative salary.

I'd be amazed if you paid anywhere near 100k per year to rent a one bedroom apartment in International City. You can buy them outright for around 500k.

You'll have a fairly good life living on that salary. International City is a bit of a dump. Plenty of wildlife though. Well, rats.

gavtek wrote:I'd be amazed if you paid anywhere near 100k per year to rent a one bedroom apartment in International City. You can buy them outright for around 500k.

You'll have a fairly good life living on that salary. International City is a bit of a dump. Plenty of wildlife though. Well, rats.

Yes, IC one bedroom 40k-60k per year should be enough.

The 10k per month figure I suggested was intended as a generous amount to cover anwhere from Silicon Oasis to Old Town. DSO is I guess about 50k-70k per year.

Why don't you consider JLT (Jumeirah Lake Towers). It is relatively cheap and in a much better area than IC. You would be paying a little bit more but the standard of accommodation and of your neighbors will be much higher.

Humbleman wrote:"it make for anybody from the civilised part of the world to come into this shithouse"

Martin, your message tells me about what type of person you are – it’s a shame that you are living in a foreign country, but yet still have that intolerant attitude toward the country that feeds you.

Mate, am an Arabic descent, I’ve been living in a Western county for nearly 8 years now. I must say, my first impression was inferior, mainly because I didn’t know anything about the culture. Things were different from back home, for example, younger people have little respect if any toward older people. At night time people usually get drunk and then swear at each others, and some time beat or stab each others. To me these sort of behaviour were unacceptable and uncivilized, my parents taught to respect and help stranger, and of course elderly.

However, when I decided to leave the country that I was born in, I decided to leave some of my culture’s beliefs and customs behind, mainly because I belief that in order to live happily in a country, you first need to understand and get accustomed with its culture, or at least try to get your head around why they do things in the way they do them, so you could make sense of their way of life.

I must admit, at first it wasn’t easy at all, but because of my curious nature I eventually accustomed myself to the culture, and I have to say I love it. However, if I visit the UAE I’d try to adjust to its culture, so I could be happy and have peace in mind.

UAE and its people are very gracious toward others cultures. Let me give you a simple example, alcohol is frown upon in the Gulf countries by tradition. You have to understand that UAE citizens original were Bedouin, and because one of the Bedouin’s virtues is to respect other cultures’ customs, thus, they don’t like to control how others should live their life. That’s why they are flexible about drinking and other things which otherwise are alien to their culture.

So, Martin or whatever your name is, be respectful and try to understand that others are different, they are neither superior nor inferior to you, they are only see and interpret things differently from the way you do – that’s all mate. Please have a human heart.

Peace/love

masha allah i like this answer

stay away from the international city, and 30k is cool without any kids!! or wife( even better )

Thank you for answering a two year old question. Someone please put a sticky up asking newbies not to disturb the poor dead and buried threads.

30k a month, why would you live in International City? Thats a pretty good salary...