The cultural differences of living and working in the gulf
Foreign workers are
flooding into the Gulf. The lifestyle is great, but cultural change is
not happening as fast as some Westerners expect
The thought of sun-drenched beaches, sparkling sea and a tax-free
working environment has lured Western Europeans to the Gulf since the
oil boom of the early 1970s. In those days - and for decades afterwards - even the oil companies
considered the Gulf a hardship posting. Infrastructure was poor,
bureaucracy was more complex than under the British "protectionist"
system, and cultural differences were extensive. But then came the Dubai phenomenon. Rather than just being a transit
and refuelling facility for flights between Asia and Europe, Dubai
suddenly became a destination. Following the first Gulf War, the city-state hit the radar screen of
the American tourism industry, with veterans happy to return to a
welcoming country with lifestyle less tough than its former reputation.
And where people take vacations, they aspire to live and work. The more liberal countries have always been the most attractive to
those who seek their fortune in overseas postings. The destination of
choice was Bahrain in the 1970s, Sharjah in the 1980s and Dubai in the
1990s. Today, countries throughout the Gulf are reviewing their approach
to labour laws and to the creation of a welcoming environment for
workers - particularly those in the executive or professional category.
Higher salaries can be found in some of the tougher places such as Saudi
Arabia, Africa or the central Asian countries such as Afghanistan and
Kurdistan. The biggest demand is for jobs in the UAE, and in particular Dubai.
The aviation industry offers great opportunity. Dubai's ruler, Sheikh
Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, outlined his plan some years ago for a
series of specialist industry clusters with incentives for allied
businesses. It has worked for information technology (Internet City),
communications (Media City) and education (Knowledge City) now aviation
is in the spotlight as part of Logistics City, next to the largest
airport in the world, under construction at Jebel Ali, between Dubai and
the capital, Abu Dhabi. "It is the ambition like this that makes the region so exciting,"
says Fiona Betts, managing director of Betts Recruitment, which
specialises in executive search and recruitment for the aerospace
industry. "In recent years we have seen a great expansion in demand for
the business aviation sector both for flight crew and for support staff.
But now we can see great requirements for the airport and other parts
of the aviation market as more companies see opportunities in the Gulf." Betts says that most of the people placed by her company stay with
the jobs in the Gulf for more than the average two years expected in
most contracts. "A lot of that is to do with the screening beforehand
and making sure the candidate wants the job for the right reasons. "Part of the challenge is getting the client company to be clear
about what they want the candidate to do and what the job involves.
Because of the rapid growth in the market, there are a lot of people who
have no background in aviation. We spend time getting to understand
what they need and helping them recognise the requirements for this
industry," she says. According to one recruitment consultant, a key concern can be
boredom. Having filled the posts for flight attendants for the personal
airliner of one of the Saudi royal family, he says that the expectation
was that the crew would work around 120 hours a year - so they would be
on standby for most of the time. "There is also a huge cultural
difference," he says. "Life in Saudi Arabia - particularly for women -
is very different to Dubai." Even in Dubai, the sand is not always more golden. Recruits attracted
to the glitz and the glamour they see on a short stopover will find
life different once reality sets in. The city's mindset will take some
years to catch up with its infrastructure. New arrivals, dazzled by the
city's building boom, may expect too much from a city where attitudes
have a long way to go to match their own. Now required reading in all secondary schools, Sheikh Mohammed's
vision is for Dubai to outdo the world's most powerful cities and lead
the world in the race towards globalisation. He plans to empower UAE
nationals to take over certain roles currently undertaken by
non-nationals, so expatriates might be wise to consider Dubai a
short-term taste of a different culture and mindset. To reinforce this attitude, officials at the Ministry of Labour told
the United Nations in mid-2006 that expatriates in the UAE should not be
regarded as immigrants, but as temporary workers who return home after
their contracts expire. Each of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)
states is increasing demands on companies to employ nationals. There are marked differences in the terms of employment. Engineer Ron
Baker from the UK has worked in the Gulf for more than 10 years. "When
you are with a firm like Emirates, you get all of the perks like free
housing, medical insurance and the like. If you are employed locally
that is very different," he says. "The cost of living in Dubai has
rocketed in recent years and the cost of an apartment has probably
trebled in the past four years." But there are upsides. Salary levels are similar to those in Western
Europe, but with no income tax the net income is much greater. "In the past, remuneration packages were split into various elements:
basic salary, car provision or allowance, housing provision or
allowance, medical cover, education for children and air tickets for
home visits. Today employers tend just to pay a salary, which covers all
these expenses," says Baker. The cost of a typical apartment is around 100,000 dirhams (around
$27,000/£13,000 a year) and a typical European elementary school costs
$12,000 a year, doubling at secondary school level. The working week
usually averages 48h, with Friday the holy day. Many Western companies
take Saturdays as part of the weekend. In more traditional states,
Thursday afternoon and Friday form the weekend. Once settled, Western
workers find the lifestyle is good, with plenty of social activities. Recruits should check their contracts of employment carefully and see
that all promises made in any interview are included. The contracts are
in Arabic. It is essential to have an independent English translation. If you successfully complete the period of your contract you will be
awarded an "indemnity", usually based on basic salary excluding bonuses.
It is required by law to be paid to expatriate workers for being of
service to the state (it is also known as "end of service benefits").
Indemnity usually amounts to 15 (in some cases 20) days' basic pay for
each of the first three years and thereafter a month's salary per year
of employment. Source : http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2008/04/07/222793/the-cultural-differences-of-living-and-working-in-the-gulf.html
