Stay away if you want to remain mentally healthy - Specialist Saudi Aramco Employee Review

I will structure my response according to phases of my employment. Application and interview It took a long time from the moment I was contacted by their overseas department headhunter in Europe till I was sitting in their London office for an interview. The actual interview was disorganised. The interviewers came late, postponed the interview twice. However the job offer was extended very soon after the interview. Once negotiated (they are "smart" enough to upload recruitment documents from the interview phase with notes from the interview into "Your File". Once and if you start working, you can find them on the intranet under "My eFile" under recruitment documents. There you also read how much salary range you were at vs how much they can pay you at your grade level. In my case I was grade 15, but could have been a higher if I had negotiated harder, although it felt like in a Turkish bazar during recruitment. The relocation advisor you get allocated will tell you a lot of information. Most of it is good and relevant, some is however very wrong. This is because they actually dont know much about Aramco reality, they have never been to Saudi Arabia and the camp because the company HR department (it counts over 4000 HR people) dont send their staff to Saudi Arabia for any learning of the company they eventually represent. Arrival and initial impression Expect zero help from the company once you arrive. You get a buddy and keys to an old and outdated house or apartment dated 1950s. Not exactly the standard you would expect from the largest and richest oil and gas company in the world that has $332 million in profit a day, or more than $13 million an hour as last year, but thats the reality. Much help will come from your neighbours you will meet in the camp. In my case, I had really amazing neighbours that made all the difference. We still remain in touch and I dare to call them friends for life after the volume of help they have given me. One common domain among them - THEY WERE NOT SAUDIS. Expect very little empathy, help and understanding from Saudi employees at Aramco. They are so called as they call themselves Aramco brats - employed because their father or mother is either a Minister, Director, Ambassador, Royal family member or Mayor or another official or because their grandfather or grand grandfather was Director. What is your job as an expat ? To make Saudi employees looking good in front of their management. Your job will involve prepare presentations whereafter your name will be replaced with the name of Saudi Arabian employee. Career progress Expect none. All job advancement is reserved to Saudi nationals. Expats are expected to work for making Saudi nationals look good in front of the management. The company is run with implementing fear and anxiety through their entire workforce. I have had many expat colleagues who were denied their annual leave last minute for absurd reasons. The company has zero trust to its stuff. Your laptop is blocking 90 % of external websites. You need director and senior vice presidents permission to use your laptop to access news websites like CNN or BBC even. Using VPN outside company premises ? If you are lucky then maybe they grant it but its all depending on their mood. My position was quite high in the company's management hierarchy and I frequently met the Senior and Executive leadership, which had very remote reality understanding of where and how the company operates. I have also met one of the Saudi Ministers who I beleive genuinely want to change the company and implement changes to the company and make it fit for the 2030 vision and beyond. But why does Saudi Aramco remain its HQ in Dhahran in Eastern Province and not move its key functions to Riyadh ? Cause in Dhahran they can keep the status quo unchanged in their little Kingdom of Aramco beyond multiple gates that will remind you of entering a military compound due to crazy level of security. Employees dont need to wear visible IDs. Why ? Biometrics are in use everywhere. To enter work place they scan your eyes. For your car to enter or leave your home they scan the plates. They know each and everyones movement at all times. Even if you are away from your laptop to have a coffee with a colleague they will know it. The HR contact has a panel when they know the exact minute you entered the office gates and when you left if you scanned your card. Its pretty sick environment. Actual work Dont expect any challenging tasks. Its all coming to making Saudi leadership happy. How you are graded ? Your performance is graded according to the following grades: D - did not meet expectations (ala departable from Saudi) , M - meet the expectations (ala you are in the dangerous zone), E - exceeded the expectations (ala non white expat as I have been told - you are good), E+ - exceeded the expectations + (ala white expat as I have been told - you are safe), S - superbly exceeded the expectations (ala reserver for Saudis only). Holidays and free time On the Dhahran camp you can go the Lulu market for shopping, the international food selection is impressive, go to Dining Hall and have some decently not overpriced food, go to one of many cafeterias where you pay 6-7$ for a coffee, or go to 3rd street gym or Ladies Gym if you are a lady. Hills and Jebel Heights have their own gyms which are open 3 days for men and other days for women. Otherwise your mental rescue can be Bahrain, 45 min away by car to the border where you can have some sanity moments, but you also get tired of spending weekends there. Trips to Oman (the actual oldest proper monarchy in the region), Jordan (Hasemite Kingdom with rich history) and Egypt (ancient civilization) are highly recommended. Otherwise if you like the same vibe you can go to Qatar, Emirates, Kuwait or Iraq but it was not my thing. Overall DO NOT go to Saudi Arabia unless you are really ready to brace yourself and your family for heavy mental challenges. This is a company without any enforcement of their own values. What matters to them is the keeping of status quo of their positions inside company and internally.