thoughts about work in Middle east Gulf countries

[Yahya Elyasse]

Hello,

I don't know much about the job market in Gulf countries like UAE ,Qatar etc..
My remarks -which could be not accurate- is that the gulf employment market is very selective. they require very high profiles and prefer highly skilled professionals from developed countries like US , UK ,Canada etc..and yes these kind of workers they pay them very generously!
However the Gulf countries treat other workers from developing countries in a way -i can say- slightly inferior to those from developed countries which are treated and regarded with high respect. i never heard someone from developing countries including arabic countries saying good things about life in Gulf. all they say is those people are rich b/c of their petrol and gaz resources but they don't give their money easily to anyone. I've never heard an Indian or Egyptian or Indonesian -to mention some examples- saying the gulf countries are a paradise for workers and career seekers.
I might be wrong though. I'm curious to know what is going on exactly in these countries and if stories about their foreign workers mistreatment is true or not.
Does anyone here has working experience in Gulf countries and could explain to us the situation in these countries?

Thanks.

[Maneesh Godbole]

Note: I do not have any experience on working in Gulf countries.

Discrimination is human nature. Everybody wants to feel superior. One man's mistreatment is another's way of life, or even natural justice.
At the end of the day, it boils down to if one is willing to sacrifice self respect and accept second class treatment in exchange of money.

I personally am not willing. I chose to create opportunities for myself and exploit them to my advantage...staying in my country.

[Yahya Elyasse]

Maneesh Godbole wrote:
I personally am not willing. I chose to create opportunities for myself and exploit them to my advantage...staying in my country.

Me too. i exactly think this same way. I'm not willing to sacrifice my human dignity in exchange of money.
i'm very happy of your reply. this is the kind of reply i was whishing to see when i posted this subject. and it is good thing there still exist people in this world who value human dignity and respect higher than the worldly materialistic needs .
it told me once that Not by bread alone, man lives. It's true he can't live without bread ; but it's also true that a peace of bread dunked in indignity is not worth the trouble.

Thanks for your contribution.

[Arvind Mahendra]

I have not worked in the middle east either but I think your fears are probably largely unfounded. Ofcourse they are going to be certain bad elements who will discriminate and be hateful no mater what. But when we talk about societies as whole I find them to be far more tolerant. Very few countries in the middle east have populations where the native population still outnumbers the amount of guest workers. Can you ever imagine a situation like this in the US or Europe? As far as feeling welcome, let me just put it this way: In the middle east you are a guest worker. In the US you are an alien worker.


As far as discrimination- Look at what happens at airports in the west and how you will be singled out just because you made eye contact with the wrong person. I don't have any stories coming from people in the middle east.
The quality of life is in my opinion also better in the middle east than US or Europe. Drugs, Gangs, rampant crime and a general moral decline is unfortunately what also defined the west now along with being a land of opportunity. Liberal middle eastern countries like UAE are very tolerant(many times more than US/West) and peaceful societies who afford people the same rights that you have come to expect from the West.

[Yahya Elyasse]

Arvind Mahendra wrote:I have not worked in the middle east either but I think your fears are probably largely unfounded. Ofcourse they are going to be certain bad elements who will discriminate and be hateful no mater what. But when we talk about societies as whole I find them to be far more tolerant. Very few countries in the middle east have populations where the native population still outnumbers the amount of guest workers. Can you ever imagine a situation like this in the US or Europe? As far as feeling welcome, let me just put it this way: In the middle east you are a guest worker. In the US you are an alien worker.


As far as discrimination- Look at what happens at airports in the west and how you will be singled out just because you made eye contact with the wrong person. I don't have any stories coming from people in the middle east.
The quality of life is in my opinion also better in the middle east than US or Europe. Drugs, Gangs, rampant crime and a general moral decline is unfortunately what also defined the west now along with being a land of opportunity. Liberal middle eastern countries like UAE are very tolerant(many times more than US/West) and peaceful societies who afford people the same rights that you have come to expect from the West.

You probably made me say what i didn't said. I did not made a comparison between western societies and middle east ones. I'm myself an arabic and muslim person and i believe the western culture does't suit me and is not consistent with my way of thinking and feeling. that's why I'm searching for alternatives and the societies that much attracted my attention are the gulf countries where it was said one can still find moral values surviving despite the fast modernization these societies went through in past half century.
I'm just fearing if one of the last attractive model of societies is gradually vanishing..as i start to see and hear inconvenient things happening in gulf countries. this makes me feel bad as i expect those societies to remain virgin morally and don't get corrupted by ravaging modernity.
It's my respect for my arabic and muslim identity that push me to reflect on what is going on in the gulf countries. as i feel those are may be the last places in the world where the aggressive modernity and materialism didn't fully establish themselves..but sadly i see this changing as those countries are also starting to converge to the same globalization values spread now all over the world.

I didn't said the west is better than gulf societies. i'm just wondering if these societies are still sticking to their high moral values like it was 3 or 4 decades ago. my remarks say it's no more the case; but as i said i'm not sure of this view point as i didn't visited or lived in these countries. i'm only trying to gather information and conclude whether these societies are a good and healthy place to live in today or did things changed recently.

[Jeanne Boyarsky]

Reminder: This thread is asking specifically if anyone has worked in a Middle East/Gulf country and has any advice - a valid question. We will not be discussing discrimination. We are also not comparing the West and Middle East. This thread is not about politics which is not a Job Discussion topic. If it becomes so, the entire thread is subject to deletion.