The company overall seems somewhat disorganized and minimally staffed from Headquarters management all the way down to the work site employees. During the application process I was asked multiple times to turn in paperwork or documents that I had previously given to them. One worker applied for health insurance. Months later when they went home on R&R/Leave they found out they were never covered.
Getting into country (Iraq) and to the work site takes over a month on average. They used to house us in villas off base at their expense (which didn't cost much), but the cost was considered too much for the company. So now you'll wait in Kuwait on base in the transient tents (Arifjan or Ali) and then at Baghdad in the transient tents- getting VERY minimal pay. This also means that the sum of money you singed for on your contract will drastically DECREASE because of the extreme delays to get to the work site.
There has been a high turnover rate of people that quit. The main reason I saw was because when you go on R&R/Leave (which is 2 weeks twice a year) and then return; you are once again waiting in Kuwait and then Baghdad for a long time making hardly any money. This issue has been going on for a long time and the delay still hasn't been fixed. In the end, the company is paying out less money to their employees because of their extended waits in Kuwait and Baghdad.
This brings me to why people stay. The number one reason I have found is debt. They stay because they want to pay off their house debt or another large debt. So in turn they'll just take the loss of money promised on the contract and any other setbacks or issues because they're stuck in debt.
To sum everything up: If you stay for a year and don't take any R&R/Leave you will lose approximately 10% of your promised annual sum with your delays in Kuwait and Baghdad on your initial trip to the work site.
If you stay for a year and take R&R/Leave once you will lose approximately 20% of your promised annual sum.
If you stay for a year and take R&R/Leave twice you will lose approximately 30% of your promised annual sum.
In my opinion I believe I have given an honest and fair review. As contractors or those that work for contract companies, we all share the responsibility to pass along our findings to the rest of the contractors so that we can all stay informed as to which companies are best to work for.
