Cost of living explained.
everything is 15 - 30% more expensive than the uk including accommodation which begins at circa £655pcm for a 2 bed flat in the cheapest area to £1900pcm for a small 3 bed semi and £2350+pcm for a 4 bed. Single people can make a serious killing on the allowance if they take a cheap flat but families will be out of pocket.
Utilities cost circa £2200pa for a 3 bed with an irrigated garden and the a/c being used only in the room that you are currently in ie turning off a/c's as you move around the house.
Oh, and the school allowance will leave you with a short fall of a minimum of £500pa per child up to £4000pa depending on where you can actually get a school place.
Shipping to Dubai will cost £3800 for a 4 bed house and return shipping back to the uk is more expensive circa £4500 (for the same size load).
You will probably need a newish car which you might not have bought had you stayed in an establshed country because older cars are so badly maintained and treated.....everything will be broken. However, new vehicles are relatively cheap as there is no VAT but second hand vehicles are very expensive in comparison to the uk because they enter a second market when they reach a certain age i.e. there is a massive demand from a population that cant afford a new car which pushes up the price of used cars.
It will probably take 2 -3 years simply to break even
The company does the barest minimum in every single respect; rosters late, crap crew food, deliberate avoidance of gratuity by making pay increases only to the FDP which doesn't qualify for the end of term gratuity, leaving Housing and School allowances unchanged, absence of Pension etc.
And the ability to return to your homeland via staff travel will be virtually impossible for a wife with 2 children because you will have no access to seat availability, actual loads or predicted loads. And the booking process can take 2 weeks although it is supposed to take 3 working days (which is still way to long). They will literally have to turn up and hope they all get on which is so risky that you simply won't bother. I can hardly imagine the distress to my wife and kids if they couldnt get on the flight, yet alone the cost of hotels etc. It is hopless without access to seat availability, actual and predicted loads but OK if you are single.
And how do you get out at the end? How do you get home for an interview when you finally decide to leave? No doubt it will be via a summer contract which could leave you unemployed in the winter. Expensive!!
The only thing that is cheap is fuel.
Its great if you are single and dont have job but don't resign from your job to come here.
Last edited by asteroid01; 8th Jun 2013 at 06:44.