Your best option is to stick to bigger companies that work for abroad. Those typically are the ones that are able to pay decent amounts in fresh USD.
Examples: Murex, Sword, CME, etc.
Examples: Murex, Sword, CME, etc.
The companies specility mentioned are probably the best you'd be able to get in lebanon. Foo is also an option. I can give you feedback for CME and Foo as i've worked for both. CME likes to be elitist, their tech interviews are heavy and the guy will ask you things completely unrelated to what you'll be working on. The annoying things I found with them is all meetups and writing you have to do on how you spent your working hours (detailed timesheet specifics). The positive is that they are mostly remote (work from home). Their salaries are competitive for Lebanon, but nothing special otherwise.specility wroteYour best option is to stick to bigger companies that work for abroad. Those typically are the ones that are able to pay decent amounts in fresh USD.
Examples: Murex, Sword, CME, etc.
Damn that's brutal! I work for one of these companies (not CME and not FOO, not going to say which to avoid doxxing myself). Salary is pretty good (think around 750-1000$ fresh for fresh grads). Almost 0 overtime (unless there is a prod issue or something equally important). Healthy and supportive work environment, no BS meetings, no timesheet shenanigans, no corporate sucking up.GeorgeN wrote
The companies specility mentioned are probably the best you'd be able to get in lebanon. Foo is also an option. I can give you feedback for CME and Foo as i've worked for both. CME likes to be elitist, their tech interviews are heavy and the guy will ask you things completely unrelated to what you'll be working on. The annoying things I found with them is all meetups and writing you have to do on how you spent your working hours (detailed timesheet specifics). The positive is that they are mostly remote (work from home). Their salaries are competitive for Lebanon, but nothing special otherwise.
Foo likes to overwork their employees, in a lot of cases you'll find yourself working till 8-10 pm. Salary is competitive for Lebanon if you have a lot of working experience. If you are someone who values your personal time / life on a day to day basis, I wouldn't work for them.
I would say try anyways but keep eyes open for red flags. Mine doesn't really have wasta mentality as far as I have noticed, but some companies definitely do.GeorgeN wrote My advice is not to bother with any Lebanese companies at all, they are overapplied to, like to be elitist, and some of them still have that "wasta" mentality in their ranks.
True. If you're able to get direct hire from abroad, you can easily make 4x what you make through a Lebanese company working for abroad. However, do keep in mind that rules may be different depending on the company in question (as in client outreach if freelance, meetings, getting called at ungodly times to fix issues, etc).GeorgeN wrote If you are good, just directly apply to a company hiring remote outside of Lebanon. No need to go through the third party that is the Lebanese company.
GeorgeN wroteThe companies specility mentioned are probably the best you'd be able to get in lebanon. Foo is also an option. I can give you feedback for CME and Foo as i've worked for both. CME likes to be elitist, their tech interviews are heavy and the guy will ask you things completely unrelated to what you'll be working on. The annoying things I found with them is all meetups and writing you have to do on how you spent your working hours (detailed timesheet specifics). The positive is that they are mostly remote (work from home). Their salaries are competitive for Lebanon, but nothing special otherwise.specility wroteYour best option is to stick to bigger companies that work for abroad. Those typically are the ones that are able to pay decent amounts in fresh USD.
Examples: Murex, Sword, CME, etc.
Foo likes to overwork their employees, in a lot of cases you'll find yourself working till 8-10 pm. Salary is competitive for Lebanon if you have a lot of working experience. If you are someone who values your personal time / life on a day to day basis, I wouldn't work for them.
My advice is not to bother with any Lebanese companies at all, they are overapplied to, like to be elitist, and some of them still have that "wasta" mentality in their ranks. If you are good, just directly apply to a company hiring remote outside of Lebanon. No need to go through the third party that is the Lebanese company.
I am very interested in hearing your reasons behind coming back to Lebanon, I left as well and to tell you the truth, grass do look greener on the other side, and sometimes I have second thoughts about coming back home.tricky wrote Hello, am looking to settle back in Lebanon and looking for a good/stable company that are hiring software developers / Technical Manager /Lead Developer with around 11 years of experience as a software developer.
What a valuable thorough feedback you made, thank you for sharing.GeorgeN wroteThe companies specility mentioned are probably the best you'd be able to get in lebanon. Foo is also an option. I can give you feedback for CME and Foo as i've worked for both. CME likes to be elitist, their tech interviews are heavy and the guy will ask you things completely unrelated to what you'll be working on. The annoying things I found with them is all meetups and writing you have to do on how you spent your working hours (detailed timesheet specifics). The positive is that they are mostly remote (work from home). Their salaries are competitive for Lebanon, but nothing special otherwise.specility wroteYour best option is to stick to bigger companies that work for abroad. Those typically are the ones that are able to pay decent amounts in fresh USD.
Examples: Murex, Sword, CME, etc.
Foo likes to overwork their employees, in a lot of cases you'll find yourself working till 8-10 pm. Salary is competitive for Lebanon if you have a lot of working experience. If you are someone who values your personal time / life on a day to day basis, I wouldn't work for them.
My advice is not to bother with any Lebanese companies at all, they are overapplied to, like to be elitist, and some of them still have that "wasta" mentality in their ranks. If you are good, just directly apply to a company hiring remote outside of Lebanon. No need to go through the third party that is the Lebanese company.
I am happy to know people are reversing the immigration wave going on, I have heard other people did that as well but never got to talk to them to understand their version of the truth. I do confirm many of the stuff you said are also my sentiment in Europe. High taxes, high cost of living, and rent is 40% of your net income and this is just for a small place (smaller than my salon in Lebanon ). Friendly but very cold western Europeans indeed, it will take you at least 10 years to befriend a non-expat here. All that sacrifice is for the promise of a safe future. Sometimes I don't think it is worth it, but I guess you have a second nationality right? You could always leave or escape when things go really bad in Lebanon. So I guess you have an option that many Lebanese don't.tricky wrote
@Guitaret, i left for many reasons, corruption etc... bas realized there is corruption everywhere, even tho here its worst... weather and terrain in Toronto is horrible so those are 2 big ones for me. Away from family and friends, people in Toronto are a little on the distant colder side and its too much business... high taxes, even if u own property you pay a lot of taxes, people/kids are a little too entitled, i didnt want that for my future kids, if any... I feel like if your making good money in Lebanon, its better than outside, you just have to save for your own health, school etc.... in the west you probably will be paying mortgage/rent and taxes, in Lebanon you have to pay school/healthcare them directly....
1) for me OEA (nekabet l mohandeseen) + savings handles my retirement. Though I'm 99.9% leaving to another country (thinking mainly Japan or Germany, but not yet sure) in 2-3 years regardless for multiple other reasons that I won't get into here (you can probably guess a few).Guitaret wrote
I do wonder what are your thoughts on the below (this is addressed to all people here):
- Do you think there is a good private insurance company operating in Lebanon that can provide services in the long term? Not just when you are young, but a company worth investing in for the next 20-30 years (Sickness, disability, retirement). If so, I think this can replace the "safety" promises of the west.
- Aren't you worried the chaos in the Lebanese people's lifestyle and ethics will get on your nerves and take away your peace of mind?
Ex: I heard yesterday that a stray puppy that we take care of in my house in Lebanon was poisoned by the neighbors. People in Lebanon are shitty no matter how much you sugarcoat it (I mean the 95% ). They need at least 2-3 generations to have civil citizens. This act will never happen in the west.
- Aren't you worried the misery in your entourage will affect your chance to be happy in Lebanon? I mean how can you enjoy life if you have an unemployed sibling or a relative sick but cannot afford to get treatment? If you are staying in Lebanon, you will be too close to be able not to get directly affected.
- Aren't you worried they will start soon taking high-income tax in Lebanon without providing any service? Are you OK with that?
- How will you deal with the very greedy/evil Lebanese banks?
Thank you
They do this usually for tax purposes, time zone purposes, and trust purposes (if a US person leaks data, they can sue. If you leak data, they usually can't do anything).tricky wrotethank you all for your inputs!
concerning the remote job, i have been having hard time finding remote jobs. Most of them are remote but local to their countries, from what i have been reading its mostly for Tax purposes etc... Anybody can share their experience with remote work, links for job etc.. I found some World Wide remote jobs but looks like they are few and thousands of people apply to those positions...
what about the non existent retirement in Lebanon? Even with financial planning, a lot of people who assumed they had a retirement plan or wage, are now broke and dependent on their children.tricky wroteI recently accepted an offer from one of the companies stated here, thank you all.
@Guitaret, i left for many reasons, corruption etc... bas realized there is corruption everywhere, even tho here its worst... weather and terrain in Toronto is horrible so those are 2 big ones for me. Away from family and friends, people in Toronto are a little on the distant colder side and its too much business... high taxes, even if u own property you pay a lot of taxes, people/kids are a little too entitled, i didnt want that for my future kids, if any... I feel like if your making good money in Lebanon, its better than outside, you just have to save for your own health, school etc.... in the west you probably will be paying mortgage/rent and taxes, in Lebanon you have to pay school/healthcare them directly....
As stated earlier, you just have to assume you are on your own and have to plan your own retirement. What happened in the banking sector is not everyday thing nor unique to Lebanon, by not looking far Cyprus might have had a similar situation (i think). Nobody is saying Lebanon is perfect, its pros and cons just like everything else. My general advise is to get a good passport and come back to Lebanon or if you are happy with your new place, stay :)jsaade wrotewhat about the non existent retirement in Lebanon? Even with financial planning, a lot of people who assumed they had a retirement plan or wage, are now broke and dependent on their children.tricky wroteI recently accepted an offer from one of the companies stated here, thank you all.
@Guitaret, i left for many reasons, corruption etc... bas realized there is corruption everywhere, even tho here its worst... weather and terrain in Toronto is horrible so those are 2 big ones for me. Away from family and friends, people in Toronto are a little on the distant colder side and its too much business... high taxes, even if u own property you pay a lot of taxes, people/kids are a little too entitled, i didnt want that for my future kids, if any... I feel like if your making good money in Lebanon, its better than outside, you just have to save for your own health, school etc.... in the west you probably will be paying mortgage/rent and taxes, in Lebanon you have to pay school/healthcare them directly....
So in addition to saving for health, etc, you need to save a lot for your retirement. And as for health/school, this is assuming the quality in Lebanon is not compromised.