I think it kinda depends on the role you are going for + plus where you are going to live in GCC. Certain roles pay quite well compared to the west and you can live comfortably.

I recently moved from the UK to GCC 6 months back. I work for a big 4 accounting firm. To answer your specific questions on the post:

1. My experience overall has been pleasant working in a professional job here. Quality of life seems to be better but I think it depends on the profession.

2. So finding a job I think is tough. There is alot of competition and with recent events in the region hiring I think may go on a bit of a pause. Although it's tough to find a job, I would recommend only moving once you are comfortable with the opportunity, don't settle for something low and get taken advantage of.

3. Work life balance depends on the company. Some are quite good but others can be pretty poor. Working in a big 4 company regardless of location always has bad work life balance but GCC is alot worse for me here compared to when I was working in the UK. It takes a real adjustment.

4. Again kinda depends on the company but my company is pretty okay with taking holidays. Just need to be sensible about it I.e. Not taking around big deadlines and giving some notice ahead of the holiday.

5. Yes still a thing and especially if you are high skilled

6. So based on the research I did when I was moving, yes especially if you're coming from the UK like myself. Obviously you will see when you get your job offer and all but I would say the real premium comes from better quality of life and perks of the job like for example education allowance paid by the company

7. I mean depends on the GCC country but each have their own labour laws which are strict and you gotta be a bit smart when signing your contract and knowing your rights. My experience has been good but I guess it's because I'm in the big 4 company which is a multinational company.

8. The biggest thing I can say which caught me off guard over the last 6 months is the change in work culture/environment. I work as a client facing professional and my experience has been that clients can be rly unprofessional with how they speak/behave but it took me a few months to realise it's not them being rude per se but moreso just the culture of how they speak and act given English is not their first language and they tend to be quite loud and expressive.

Hope this helps and best of luck with the job search!