# Job offer in Abu Dhabi - Please help!



## Mike_1975

Hi all,

I've always found the prospect of working in UAE very attractive, in theory at least I first found and visited this excellent forum in January 2009 when the crisis kicked in here in the UK and I had to find a new job - there were then a couple of opportunities in Dubai, but nothing concrete.

1 and a bit year down the line and I have now received an offer, which I am struggling to gauge - despite the wealth of information found in this forum - and I was hoping for some good feedback:

Position - Senior Expert in Renewable Energy, specialised in Solar PV (Photo-Voltaic) installations - Abu Dhabi based. I have 6+ years of experience as a Solar PV Engineer and Project Manager.

Monthly Remuneration Details in AED

Basic Salary - 12,000
Housing Allowance - 17,500.00
Other Allowance - 4,500.00
Total Gross Monthly Remuneration	34,000

Annual Cash Benefit Details in AED

Furniture Allowance - 14,700 
Recreation Allowance - 6,000
Total Gross Annual Cash Benefits - 20,700

Plus: 

Education Allowance - Up to a limit of AED 10,000 per child per year for a maximum of 4 children aged between 3-18 years. Amounts exceeding the limit shall be reimbursed at X% per child (I am assuming this depends on child's age and, therefore, education needs/costs?) of the portion beyond the limit 
Medical Insurance - Self, spouse & up to 3 children up to the age of 18
Life Insurance - Self
Paid Annual Leave - 40 calendar days in a year 
Annual Ticket - Economy Class return ticket for self, spouse & up to 4 children up to the age of 18 
Bonus - At the sole discretion of the Company, based on individual performance and performance of the Company
Settling in Allowance - 50% of monthly basic salary

We are a young newly-wed couple and are both working at the time with a combined income of approximately £120k gross, but we are looking to have kids very soon, which means that this will drop to £70k if/when my wife needs to get off work. If we were to move to the UAE, we would certainly want to be able to rely on my income only, although my wife could get back on to work a bit later if she has to (or becomes bored:confused2. Ideally we would look to rent a 2-3 bed flat in a nice location in Abu Dhabi, but can be based in Dubai with me commuting to AD every day if that makes sense.

The questions of course are:

How far can this package take us based on the assumptions above?
What is reasonable to expect in terms of year-to-year salary increase?
Would that be on the basic element only, or would it normally apply to the allowances as well?
Is the accommodation allowance be sufficient to rent a 2-3 bed flat in a nice complex/location in AD/Dubai?
Any ideas on buying a property AD/Dubai? I have read that prices are dropping, so perhaps that would be a good idea in the next 6-12 months? We are ready to buy a property here in London, so have about £120k/AED690k for a deposit which we can spend on a property in the UAE instead. Would it make sense from a rent-vs-mortgage payments perspective?
Would you advise for/against any attempt to negotiate the offered figures?
What is the general feeling/worries over there about the prospect of falling into the second dip of a double-dip recession within 2010?

A bit lengthy, I know , but really, any help/ideas/feedback would be hugely appreciated.

Many thanks and best wishes to you all!


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## Mr Rossi

Bit rushed at the moment but 



Mike_1975 said:


> [*]What is reasonable to expect in terms of year-to-year salary increase?


Don't expect anything, and don't take word of mouth, verbal evalutations seriously either. If you are looking for x% year on year or a performance bonus, get it in your contract from the off.



Mike_1975 said:


> [*]Is the accommodation allowance be sufficient to rent a 2-3 bed flat in a nice complex/location in AD/Dubai?


210,000 AED a year will get you a lot in Dubai, less so in AD but not exactly sure. Housing allowance is only given seperately so that employers are not accountable for that amount in severence packages etc. They could be happy to just give you that amount and let you sort out your own housing, meaning you can take somewhere cheaper and pocket the difference.



Mike_1975 said:


> [*]Any ideas on buying a property AD/Dubai? I have read that prices are dropping, so perhaps that would be a good idea in the next 6-12 months?


Prices have dropped and there is a feeling they will drop further. Personally speaking though, I have no confidence in the UAE as a country to be buying here. Laws change frequently, mostly without logic. If you can buy to let in London, do so, it's much more stable and not going to send you to prison if it goes wrong.



Mike_1975 said:


> [*]Would you advise for/against any attempt to negotiate the offered figures?


The arab world was built on bartering, get in there without any fear of offending. Cowboy up as they say. Also, in general don't be afraid to go stupidly low/high as a first offer, that kind of thing would scupper a deal in UK but here it's part of life.



Mike_1975 said:


> [*]What is the general feeling/worries over there about the prospect of falling into the second dip of a double-dip recession within 2010?


Dubai hasn't really recovered from the initial one in a lot of sectors but nobody talks about that kind of thing


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## Mike_1975

Mr Rossi said:


> Bit rushed at the moment but
> 
> 
> 
> Don't expect anything, and don't take word of mouth, verbal evalutations seriously either. If you are looking for x% year on year or a performance bonus, get it in your contract from the off.
> 
> 
> 
> 210,000 AED a year will get you a lot in Dubai, less so in AD but not exactly sure. Housing allowance is only given seperately so that employers are not accountable for that amount in severence packages etc. They could be happy to just give you that amount and let you sort out your own housing, meaning you can take somewhere cheaper and pocket the difference.
> 
> 
> 
> Prices have dropped and there is a feeling they will drop further. Personally speaking though, I have no confidence in the UAE as a country to be buying here. Laws change frequently, mostly without logic. If you can buy to let in London, do so, it's much more stable and not going to send you to prison if it goes wrong.
> 
> 
> 
> The arab world was built on bartering, get in there without any fear of offending. Cowboy up as they say. Also, in general don't be afraid to go stupidly low/high as a first offer, that kind of thing would scupper a deal in UK but here it's part of life.
> 
> 
> 
> Dubai hasn't really recovered from the initial one in a lot of sectors but nobody talks about that kind of thing


Many thanks for the useful comments Mr Rossi. What about the actual basic salary? I know we can choose to live somewhere cheaper and pocket part of the accommodation allowance (which by the way is bigger than what I've seen in this forum by others - would obviously prefer the other way around), but looking at the basic salary isolated from anything else, what would your thoughts be? Once again your insight is very much appreciated. Cheers!


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## Jynxgirl

Has the company given you the option of living in Dubai? We have a number of people who have to live within xxx km of work (gosh how I only wish that was us  ) and so they are not able to 'pocket' the extra amount by living in Dubai. 

You will be fine on the total amount of 34,000 a month but the 12,000 salary is low. They may very well be dividing out your salary in that a severance/bonus year package is based upon the actual salary amount (bonus is for me).


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## Mike_1975

Thanks Jynxgirl - I thought as well that they might be offering a lower basic salary just to save on anything else that is dependent on it (yearly pay-rise, bonus etc) - a bit cheeky of them isn't it?

I am not aware of any restrictions as to where I will actually live - why would they impose any anyway? I can't imagine they would care about how much time I spend daily on commuting


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## Jynxgirl

Mike_1975 said:


> I am not aware of any restrictions as to where I will actually live - why would they impose any anyway? I can't imagine they would care about how much time I spend daily on commuting


No, they just care how quickly one can be made to come in when there is an emergency. 

I am not in that 'needed quickly' bracket and they stuck me in dubai!! The drive gets very very very old. It can add 2 1/2 hours or so onto your day depending where in abu dhabi or it can add 3 or 4 hours of driving/sitting time on really bad accidents. 

With a family, I would not want to do that drive. Just takes so much time away. 

See if you can get them to increase the pay. The housing is fine for abu dhabi housing, its the pay that is too low.


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