Offer for Riyadh

Hi Joe,

I would say easily not even to think and go for this offer IF ONLY the company would give you the housing and car allowances on top of your salary. You see, renting a two/three bedroom in a compound would cost you not less than 125-150K SAR=33-40K USD (if you are lucky). Cali and Arizona compounds are one of the expensive ones, as I know.
You would probably want to buy an SUV for driving safely here, that's another 30K USD (Ford Explorer).

So, as you see, you don't earn much in the first year, but second and following years might be beneficial for you.
My advice is to try to negotiate with your employer to add housing allowance into your contract.

Good luck!
Kamil

Thanks for your reply Kamil.

After one round of negotiation I know already that they won't give me a housing allowance on top (instead they raised the fixed income for about half of what I wanted for housing which was 150.000 SAR anually).

When it comes to cars: apart from buying a car - is there good options for leasing a car or buying used ones from other expats?

Which compound are you in? Could you suggest it?
Is there any chance to get housing within a few weeks without any additional help (just private search)

What do you think is the usual vacation time per year (days)?

Thanks for any feedback.

Best regards,
Joe

Or he can slash the rent in half by NOT living on a compound.

Hi Rareshine,

surely true but is that advisable with my wife an a new-born?

Best regards,
Joe

rareshine wrote:

Or he can slash the rent in half by NOT living on a compound.

you are right this is how I did

j.renner wrote:

Thanks for your reply Kamil.

After one round of negotiation I know already that they won't give me a housing allowance on top (instead they raised the fixed income for about half of what I wanted for housing which was 150.000 SAR anually).

When it comes to cars: apart from buying a car - is there good options for leasing a car or buying used ones from other expats?

Which compound are you in? Could you suggest it?
Is there any chance to get housing within a few weeks without any additional help (just private search)

What do you think is the usual vacation time per year (days)?

Thanks for any feedback.

Best regards,
Joe

You can find in a week, if you are not very picky. There are some agents who charges 1000-2000 SAR for their help.
Usually, there are 30 paid vacation days per year, there are also religious holidays Eid (about 14 days off).

Try for Kingdom Compound.. its as good as the rest of western compounds but
surprisingly cheaper than others. Its 140 K for a very nice 2BHK villa.

My advice for you as an expert of KSA and GCC forget it if you ll not get 230k+ per year it doesnt worth it ,to live in burning environment completely driving like in jungle ,your woman ll be a live target if she is out and nothing she can do alone unless u r with her so this is extra cost as well ,if you have child's its extra cost for very expensive schooling ,keeping in mind most ppl from Middleast whom from Lebanon Jordan,egypt ,,etc wont have choice like you to work in EU so friend think deeply specially the job security which might end after 3 months for instance while no social security system for u like EU ! so end of the day its not fun   ,aside of the salary is low ,the job in general in KSA not stable like EU ,no insurance at all ,so unless you are in a desperate situation in EU better for you to stay in your country ,best of luck

he wasn't inquiring about whether he should or shouldn't make the move to saudi, he wanted answers about compounds.

I think you should go for it, here is how your monthly expenses would look like:

accomodation in a decent compound: 10KSAR
SUV Car + Fuel: 3KSAR
Grocery + other living expenses - 7KSAR
Schooling (british school or equiv for 2 children) - 10KSAR
Others - 5KSAR

Total expenses: 35KSAR
Salary excl bonus: 47KSAR

so if you add the bonus, you could spend a few years here and save a good sum...
life in a compound is not that bad, and you make friends quickly

Still its not a matter of the salary only ,no employment insurance