Negotiating salary and benefits in Saudi Arabia

Yes ofcourse it is good to negotiate and most of the time negotiation offer you better salary. if someone hired on company/hiring body instead of consultant he/she get benifits like, medical insurance, end of service rewards etc.

first , Its difficult to negotiate  when your Iqama ( Residency Permit) is near expiry and you don't have any other opportunity  you must have to grab the same in order to be legal in status.
secondly, the time your Iqama is valid and you find a good opportunity with strong chance to negotiate your salary package this time you are not allowed to transfer you sponsorship by your current sponsor as they ask to complete the contract otherwise go to final exit.

Finally you require skills , Luck and prayers to get what you want.   

Good luck for all !

Salam,
In Saudi Arabia its a different ball game altogether its been more than 9 years I am in here and I can put light on the work culture. There is no specific recruitment in place most of the vacancies are filled up with strong reference either through its higher management's relatives friends or a person from their country of origin. I have seen many companies where in the person does not know the basics of his work but drawing a handsome salary and other perks where as the the deserving the candidate is left in lurk.  Leave aside  Negotiation the applicants does not go through formal interview where Salary is discussed and the highlight is your profession on Iqama is different and your work profile will be opposite.
The sponsors will be taking undue advantage of their employees by threatening the employee with terminations.

Otherwise its economical easy to live in and a person can easily survive with less money as well..

Hello Everybody

In my opinion, most of the companies here have a pre-defined wage for each position however still negotiation can help you to secure the higher end of that wage and in some cases you may secure even higher than this wage (talking about Basic Salary here).

Benefits varies from company to another but in common what i would look for beside the basic salary is:
1- Housing (allowance or company to secure it).
2- Transportation (allowance or company car).
3- Medical Insurance (Self and family as well).
4- Annual Air Ticketing (Self and family as well).
5- Schooling allowance.
Some companies offering additional benefits but i have mentioned the most common.

Taxes story depends on the country of origin but as Egyptian we only pay in our country nothing here.

Exchange rate will be considered for sure during negotiation but recently the expenses has gone high dramatically here in Saudi Arabia so regardless the exchange rate still you need to measure the package offered versus the current living expenses.

Hope my reply helps !

Have a nice day all.

As per my understanding KSA, if you are going for a reputed firm it is not advised to negotiate salary.
If you want to bring family to KSA better to get family status.
As of now Tax is not applicable in KSA.
For sure Exchange rate impact salary but Exchange rate fluctuations will cost slight difference.

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completely agree with you the system of sponsorship is always in sponsor side and give him all rights like end contract , make escape report and give a final exit , and if you make a complain you should wait for many months to have result during all this period you still stop working and you pay too much money in this period.

Better look for another country like European where after certain perioid of time you can apply for you can apply for Citizenship.

It is from my perspective.

Rgds

Well i. Know about MOH so here am going to be specifically pointing out the negotiation between a doctor and ministry of health

What is offered
Basic
Speciality allowance
Years of experience
Housing allowance or housing
Travell allowance of no housing given

Basic
Varies if u r from developed or developing country
Varies from resident to  specialist to consultant

Speciality specific allowance can be from 25 % to 45 % of basic

These are fixed and can't be negotiated with

Next
Years of experience each ear 505 to 600 sar

Housing 99% they will provide a house and cancel out your housing allowance
If u r lucky and get allowance it will be 25 percent of basick plus speciality allowance plus exp..

Hence they will also cancel your travel allowance ..

Free tickets once a year for you and your family  2+2

Since you r govt they will not ask for any job tax and family dependent tax . Plus free treatment for all your family any wher in ksa.


So MOH jobs  means least amount of negotiation.

I think there are some heavy generalizations in this thread.   I have worked in pretty much most of the GCC countries and also in other parts of the world at senior management levels so I will try to give an overall perspective here.

What's different in KSA (And other GCC countries) vs. the rest of the world:

1) The number of expats - most of the GCC countries do NOT have a skilled labor force to cover all the jobs that are available. This means that they bring in a LOT of expats vs. say other countries e.g. in Europe.  Over time, this has led to a big shift in population demographics e.g. in UAE, 80% are expats; in Bahrain, 50% etc etc.  This is quite unique to this part of the world
2) With the shift in the population demographics, there is a BIG fear of losing cultural identity as expats out number locals in some countries.  So what happens?  the kafala system to maintain control, no naturalization or citizenship etc
3) The economies here are heavily dependent on oil.  When the oil price was high, the local population got a lot of subsidies and support from the government.  With oil prices at a low level for many years; the subsidies are being cut, non oil revenue is being explored and the push is to move locals into employment

The above are the facts as at today.

So what does this mean as far as this thread goes:

1) Based on your skill set and level (seniority), you CAN negotiate.  Again note that this depends on your transferable SKILLS e.g. if you are a showroom sales person or entry level accountant or a data operator, you won't have any room to negotiate as they can easily find people at your level and with your skills, much cheaper.  If you are an avionics engineer specialized in specific technology or a CFO for an investment bank or a scientist working on pharma developmental products; of course you will have a stronger case to negotiate.  Simple market supply and demand people!
2) Recruitment in such an economic situation, is ALWAYS preferred through networking and references.  Why would a company pay extra to an agency to find candidates (Especially junior ones) when they have dozens of CVs being handed to them everyday?   and at senior levels, they may get an agency as candidates with specific skill sets are difficult to find - again supply and demand choices.  And there is nothing wrong in this; I have experienced recruitment through references (qualified candidates of course) in UAE, Singapore, Hong Kong, UK, Malaysia, Germany etc etc.  This is NOT just a Saudi phenomenon
3) Your rights and work experience WILL vary depending on the type of company you join.  Big reputable companies and multinationals generally treat their employees better and don't abuse the kafala system.  Smaller companies do.  Again, you cannot generalize here but instead be careful in your choices.  In my 10 years in the GCC, I have been offered jobs many times by companies who offered to double my salary but I refused after assessing the company reputation and image.  Money is not everything