Offer evaluation

expat11 wrote:

Hello everyone , need help in evaluating offer. I am a IT professional with 10 years of experience. got offer around 26000 SAR per month all inclusive this salary includes housing,transportation etc

i need help in answering below questions

1 is this salary in normal range for a IT professional in niche skills
2 do companies keeps passport with them ? is this a common practice? i was told by employer that i can get my passport on 1 days notice, ideally i want to keep my passport with me all the time so that i can travel anytime as i wish.


i am considering my expenses as under please let me know if they seems realistic

1. housing 4000 SAR per month (no western compound but still some secure place)
2. food 2000 SAR per month (i will always eat out)
3. 2000 SAR per month (taxi commute from house to office and back home + commute to restaurants )



thanks
expat11

1 is this salary in normal range for a IT professional in niche skills

You will have to specify niche skills, but in general the package is not bad for an IT professional with 4-5 yrs specific technical experience.

2 do companies keeps passport with them ?

Yes.

is this a common practice?
Yes, due to the sponsorship system

i was told by employer that i can get my passport on 1 days notice, ideally i want to keep my passport with me all the time so that i can travel anytime as i wish.

Yes, most companies now are automated in processing requests so , yes in one day you can have your passport back. traveling "anytime" you wish I am sure is not possible even where you are now- you need to request for leave, approval , payment etc etc. Same process here as well.


i am considering my expenses as under please let me know if they seems realistic

1. housing 4000 SAR per month (no western compound but still some secure place)

You will find good 2 - 3 bedroom appartments in decent areas in KSA for this monthly amount.

2. food 2000 SAR per month (i will always eat out)

May not be enough if you are always eating out in good restaurants, if normal, small mess type set ups , yes it would be enough.

3. 2000 SAR per month (taxi commute from house to office and back home + commute to restaurants )

Depends on distance btw home - office - rest. May not be enough. Better to own a car or rent one.

Thanks HRGuru for such a quick and detailed reply .

i think i still have reservations about the passport stuff, Also could you please throw some light on contract termination what if company does not like my performance of if do not like the company work? how does this works out ? any penalties from either side and at what magnitude ? also what is the range of bonus etc at the end of contract.

Thanks
Expat11

expat11 wrote:

Thanks HRGuru for such a quick and detailed reply .

i think i still have reservations about the passport stuff, Also could you please throw some light on contract termination what if company does not like my performance of if do not like the company work? how does this works out ? any penalties from either side and at what magnitude ? also what is the range of bonus etc at the end of contract.

Thanks
Expat11

There are discussions on keeping the passport with employee itself but as far as I know they are still in "discussion".

As for contract termination, both employer and employee has the right to terminate the contract during the probation period (first 3 months). After this period, one month notice will apply on both parties - resignation or termination. Penalties may happen during the probation, they will calculate all charges they have spend on bringing you here and will deduct that. After 3 months the same will be deducted from your final settlement if resignation happens before the contract end period.

Bonus depends on company to company - not linked with pay / contract, rather a management decision.

Even if you have your passport, youmwouldn't be able to travel out of this country unless the company give you exist-entry visa paper. The immigration ppl will check this paper and then will allow you out of this country. Only employer can issue this exist-entry visa paper to his employee.

thanks Siraj002 and Hrguru , do you have any inputs about work culture in KSA . some of the blogs i read says indians in particular are no treated well. have you guys observed such thing?is this visible in IT Jobs also?. so far all of my employers are global organizations where one can say no to boss if there is something wrong or something which does not make sense. all blogs says typically western country people are treated with more respect and also get much more salary that asian people.

please comment

expat11 wrote:

thanks Siraj002 and Hrguru , do you have any inputs about work culture in KSA . some of the blogs i read says indians in particular are no treated well. have you guys observed such thing?is this visible in IT Jobs also?. so far all of my employers are global organizations where one can say no to boss if there is something wrong or something which does not make sense. all blogs says typically western country people are treated with more respect and also get much more salary that asian people.

please comment

Work Culture in KSA in non-existent and what you have heard is true, but then again according to my experience in all countries you face this discrimination if not direct but indirect and some time behind your backs as comments. You have the right to say no to your employer with specific reason - this reason should be made clear to your boss and if your boss is smart he will understand it. My experience was always good since I learned to manage the expectations of my boss. If you are happy with what you are being paid and your boss & colleagues treat you well, then for me that's a good working environment and I don't ask for more. But hey, that's me.

A word of caution : if you are coming to KSA looking for better work culture, career progression, development etc etc ....then forget about the job. You should be coming here to make money.

i have my passport in my hand at all times. and my iqama.

some places are different

Thanks again to HrGuru ,freshlikeshushi in view of above discussion i am going back to my employers  with a new salary package and see how it goes.

thanks
expat11

expat11 wrote:

Thanks again to HrGuru ,freshlikeshushi in view of above discussion i am going back to my employers  with a new salary package and see how it goes.

thanks
expat11

Good Luck.