Moving from Germany to Gulf / UAE

Hi All,

My wife and I live and work in Germany, and our combined pre-tax income is around €210k. We have two young children (both pre-school age). We’re considering a move to the Gulf, particularly the UAE, in the mid-term.

Our main motivation is the opportunity to live and work in a more international, English-speaking environment. We initially considered London, but from what we can see our quality of life would likely take a hit given the cost of living relative to salaries, along with some safety concerns.

My question is whether a move to the UAE/Gulf would actually make sense in our situation. Looking at LinkedIn, there seem to be many roles advertised, but I imagine it’s not actually that easy to secure a job given how many people apply. My assumption is that the best path would probably be an internal transfer (for context, I work in financial services).

My main concern is that we might end up with a lower quality of life after moving. I also frequently hear that the work environment can be quite toxic.

Would love to hear your thoughts or experiences.

P.S: This is of course considering that the current political events would cool down and not escalate