Recession In The Middle East Hurts

bydonjun

69 followers

8 years ago

It has been three years since I became an expatriate in the middle east. For that span of time I have seen a lot of things. Like seeing a real life camel, the barrenness of a real desert, the extremes of weather in this part of the world.

When I first came in the middle east, I was with high hopes. A Filipino trying it out in a land far from his country. A Filipino with all the courage packed with him hoping to alleviate his status when he left the Philippines.

Back at home (in the Philippines), I get to have a monthly wage roughly at about 255USD before taxes. How could a family of four get to live in a city with that scarce income? you might ask. I do not know really, we just live within our means. It's a third world country, what do expect. The rich there get a lot richer, the poor and middle class get poorer everyday.

With an offer of 1200USD, will I skip the opportunity? I did not! Yes, I was offered that wage. Together with it are a lot more things. I get to be separated from my family; I have to live with people I do not know; I have to work with people that are unexpectedly rude to the minorities like me. Well, those are the price of the opportunity that I decided to walk into.

So this is a rant. For some, they may not understand the feeling of being far away from those who we hold dear, but for those who have same experiences, a little sympathy may do.

And then came January of 2016; We all know that the oil prices tanked down trimming its price more than half. Because of the over production of oil here in the Kingdom, it has greatly affected the economy. What we hear from the news are all true. A lot of companies came crashing down; some of it became bankrupt and have to let go of there human resources, thus, creating a massive pool of unemployed, composed mostly of expatriates from the Philippines, India, Bangladesh, Nepal... on the list may be much more.

I have been worried.

This recession has just started and the effects are already affecting a lot of lives. I may be just a little lucky (as what my wife have said). Some of my fellow Filipinos now have returned to our homeland the Philippines with their hopes and dreams shattered by this wretched turn of events. Few days delay only for my monthly salary, for some, no salary at all for months.

However, despite of this still brewing global recession, I am still hoping. That I could start something that will give me additional income to cushion me when all things get rough and tough.