There's one thing that I think we will all (99.9%) agree on.
Not a single one of us wants to stay in Dubai forever.
Then that leaves 2 reasons (in my opinion) to come here:
- A faster professional promotion (upgrade) //not anymore these days!
- Saving money to retire earlier and/or achieve financial goals //barely possible these days!
In the end you are going to go back (as an average, EK pilots last 6 to 8 years in the company). Before it made sense (cash+3yr upgrade then few years as skipper and back home). But now, why bother coming??