To properly understand why there is a generally negative sentiment, you need to understand where we sit as employees in the big picture.
I think it is beyond argument that the general labourers here have been exploited to the extreme. If they were paid any less, you could probably call them slaves and no one would argue, except the government, because we have human rights here.
We then are just the upper echelon of the imported labour work force. It is endemic in every locally owned busines to increase prices but not salaries. We are no different. We are not isolated and being victimised by our management. What is happening to us is normal management of workers in the UAE, it is happening to everyone and t is not going to change anytime soon and certainly not in the time frame that i need.
That is why i have made my choice to leave. Sure market forces may dictate an increase in salary, but management will always be looking to claw that back through increased productivity or some other smoke screen that effectively reduces your hourly rate. I have seen it happen many times since i arrived, it will happen again becaus that is the mentallity of employers here. It is a cultural issue. The people here have been exploiting workers for hundreds of years. Their grandfathers did it, their fathers did and now they are doing it. It is not going to change. It is the culture.
Once I understood how deeply rooted this behaviour is in the local culture, I became comfortable with the situation and realised that it is their choice to be like that, they will reap the gains and/or pay the price when the time comes, who knows. But what also became crystal clear to me was that there is no point waiting for the management to become suddenly enlightened and start paying us more than they have to. It is never going to happen. There will never be basings or commuting rosters by choice. Again, maybe the market will dictate it, but as soon as conditions allow, those gains will be withdrawn. It is the way of the Middle East.
Your choice then is, do i stay and accept the limitations of being a salaried employee in the middle east, or do i take control of my own destiny and do what i have to to make sure my family lives the life that we choose to live. Not the one that you must live as an employee in the Middle East.
I have chosen the latter. For me it is big step to walk away from from arguably the best expat job going. But for me, the life here can only be temporary, i have run out of coins to put in the ride and now have to get off.
The consolation for me is that in my lifetime, there has never been a better time to take some risks with your career. Getting a job is not an issue. It is finding the one that will give you the best quality of life that is a bit harder. One thing i know for sure is, as far as i am concerned, that job is not in Dubai.
The Rev