Senior document controller Mahmoud Omar moved to Abu Dhabi two years ago. He has an important role in our local Boskalis office, where 320 colleagues offer remote support to our worldwide projects. “It’s been great so far, being part of a new department and a new life in this impressive city.”
Mahmoud – Turkish, with Egyptian roots – started his career in ‘ordinary civil work’ and gold mining. He then joined Boskalis in 2015 to explore the world of dredging as an HSE officer on the Suez Canal Expansion project, followed by some other projects in the Middle East. After moving back to Turkey in 2020 to focus on his own real estate business, a Boskalis colleague persuaded him to come back and work on a sizable dredging project in the Philippines. “That’s when I started working in document control again. Not much later I was asked to move to Abu Dhabi to be part of the new document control department in ‘Building 7’. Our department has a very important role of supporting worldwide projects, collecting, managing and archiving essential global project data and making sure that contracts stay up-to-date and complete.”
The big advantage of having an own department is that document controllers like Mahmoud don’t have to hop from project to project anymore to spend short amounts of time in different countries. They now have a solid base to work from in Abu Dhabi, with the added benefit of being able to bring their families over and start a life here.
Of course, it can be challenging to start up a whole new life abroad, especially now Mahmoud is still waiting for his wife – currently living in Qatar – to join him. “But Boskalis makes an effort to help you find your way here. For example, they arrange temporary housing for new employees. Depending on your contract, you can either choose to stay there or use a living allowance to find your own place somewhere else.”
According to Mahmoud, some areas in Abu Dhabi are especially popular among Boskalis employees, so you’ll find plenty of like-minded people. “It’s a really interesting place to work and live. As an Arab, I appreciate the traditional culture of Abu Dhabi. But at the same time, I enjoy the perks of it being such a modern place, focused on international workers. The main language is Arabic, but English is also widely used, so it’s easy to communicate here. Besides, the city is very family orientated, not too crowded and there are many schools to choose from.”
Like many others, Mahmoud enjoys spending time with Boskalis colleagues after work. “Of course, we attend organized teambuilding events, but we also meet up on our own account, for lunch, dinner or to celebrate birthdays and national holidays. One of my favorite things to do together is our weekly sports session. We play volleyball and football every other week and are now also starting up with basketball. Our efforts paid off and we actually won the football division of the Boskalis Vitality Challenge this year.”
It's Mahmouds ambition to buy a house in Abu Dhabi and keep working at Boskalis’ office in Abu Dhabi. Would he recommend others to move to Abu Dhabi? “If you’re up for a challenge and are not afraid to speak up, you’ll definitely fit in. The Dutch open and direct way of working can be new to some, but once you’re used to how things go here, you’ll quickly realize it can open a lot of professional doors for you. I was warmly welcomed and will now do my very best to make new colleagues feel just as at home as I do.”
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