So what makes you leave Iceland and choose Dubai?
"It's sunny, with no taxes and high-quality lifestyle"
This was Shirley's response who is working as a horse therapist in Dubai. A typical response you hear from Europeans who moved recently to the United Arab Emirates.
Quoting from an article published on BBC.com by Louise Redvers late December 2018:
"The majority of foreigners live in the main business hubs of Abu Dhabi and Dubai, the latter a major tourist destination famous for luxury beach resorts, soaring buildings and glossy shopping malls...
...For years, the country was known as a place where professionals could earn high salaries and generous packages that included housing, education, healthcare, cars and travel. This allowed prudent expatriates to save, while others embraced a high-end lifestyle. But like many of its Gulf peers, the UAE’s economy has come under considerable pressure in recent years due to falling oil prices, which has led to a slump in the real estate sector and a squeeze on salaries."
I noticed the struggle of moving to a new job by the end of 2017. At that time I never thought of leaving the country believing it is still full of opportunities and since it meets my lifestyle standards.
I remembered my colleague from Finland. Complaining about how expensive Abu Dhabi is to raise two kids, his wife was hopeless in finding a well-paid job as a nurse. Since nursing is being occupied by low-paid professionals from South Asia, it was a huge challenge to compete with them in the job market.
Unfortunately, due to the plummeting market in the niche industry I was working in at that time, our department was jeopardized. Making some of my colleagues take preemptive moves and look for other opportunities.
I spent over five months with only 3 or 5 interviews I lost hope to find a market for me in this country specially that I came from a small niche industry experience.
At some point, I began thinking seriously about moving back to my home country. UAE is very small for the massive number of job seekers. And due to the economic ups and downs, companies were not willing to spend much on employees who don't fit their strict requirements with even lower budget.
Luckily, I documented my challenge of finding a job. I studied and researched different ways to find a job in this country, making this my kickstart to turn it into a real business. Until this moment I am working on my strategic career course to defy the faulty system of hiring in this country which I later discovered it's the same system that the majority of the world adapt. I applied my techniques to land a job in a reputable global firm and happy to extend my stay in Dubai.
At this point, I was able to identify a few reasons why some people struggle. I keep hearing about many people leaving the country, nevertheless more are still eager to come to Dubai. These are my findings on the reasons why people in the UAE are moving out of the country:
1. They have built wrong illusions about this country's fantasies. They thought of it as the country of dreams where they can build a fortune and be rich. This is highly common among westerners due to the "Rich Arab" stereotypes. Expats from poor countries manage to generate low salaries but high enough compared to their home countries. They might survive harsh living environments in the UAE until the point they realize they can't do any better and then leave.
2. Lured by almost no taxes, full paid salaries without deductions, sunny beaches and luxurious lifestyle to some point you cannot handle the high expenses of such a lifestyle. High paid professionals are not expecting to come to the UAE and live a lower standard life than theirs in their home country. Making it hard at some point to generate a long-lasting wealth.
3. The reputation about the first couple of years being the hardest and later you will grow fast. This might work for some and may not for many others.
4. The feel of non-belonging among some communities especially Asians and Africans; those from non-cosmopolitan cities and strongly-bond societies (Arabs, Indians and others) making them build their own closed community based on race, religion or nationality. These communities will apply such bias in business as well. This causes some companies or roles to be occupied by a specific ethnicity. Limiting others from getting their opportunities and staying in UAE.
5. Majority of UAE residents are expats from third world countries who ran from bad economies to a better one like UAE's, where their most concern is materialistic in a fast-growing country that appreciates high added-value minds. Unfortunately, since UAE is a small country located in the middle east. It gets affected easily with economic ups and downs causing business owners to focus on cheaper professionals limiting the chances of other highly skilled professionals.
6. Some professionals plan ahead to make UAE a checkpoint of 1-5 years to make some money or gain international experience then leave.
UAE is an amazing country. It's my birthplace and my second home. But most expats are almost clueless about the lifestyle of Dubai and sometimes incapable of adapting to it. I will leave the UAE someday, but I am sure I will return to it. I still know people who left the country but still would love to visit Dubai again. So, before Jumping to the first flight whenever you receive a job offer abroad to any country think twice and get your knowledge on how to build and robust your career there and what is it like to live in that country.
