What are jobs abroad? What do people mean when they talk about jobs abroad? Well, different people mean different things when they use this phrase. In its broadest meaning, jobs abroad means any job that is not on the continent where you are located. It could mean a job on an offshore oil rig or it could mean a job on an island belonging to another country. For someone residing in the US, a job in the Cayman Islands or Singapore would be offshore, just like a job on an oil rig off the coast of one of the Gulf states.
Why should it matter? For two reasons, actually. The first is taxation. There are certain laws in the US intended to encourage citizens to take on difficult or risky situations across the border. If your attorney and accountant agree that your work falls into this category, you may be able to get a pretty hefty tax deduction. At any given time, you could deduct up to $80,000 per year. If you were a laborer working on a deepwater oil rig and earning $80,000 per year, this meant you didn’t have to pay any income tax. Obviously, you will have to consult with your lawyer and accountant to do the proper paperwork.
The second important reason is that a job abroad usually pays better than its equivalent job on land. You will be paid more as a driller on a deepwater oil rig than as a driller on an onshore oil rig. Same with support jobs like electricians and mechanics. Offshore country is so much better, especially today when the entire oil industry is facing a dire shortage of hot bodies to man its new oil rigs.
So why do oil companies pay more for offshore work? From an economic point of view, it is a simple matter of supply and demand. Right now, oil prices are high and getting higher. Most of the oil is under the ocean, so oil companies are desperately building offshore oil rigs and deepwater oil rigs. While robots work well in the limited confines of a factory, oil rigs still can’t be automated. They still need human crew to operate them. Hence the great demand for workers. Unfortunately for oil companies, people who have the necessary qualifications to work on an offshore oil rig are in short supply. You need to have a combination of guts, brains and physical strength. Not many people have all three. So we have high demand and low supply, resulting in sky-high wages. Someone who is basically a laborer can earn more than the manager of a small business.
Other than that, an offshore oil rig is considered a difficult and potentially dangerous post. You need to keep this in mind as the dollar signs dance in front of your eyes. While modern rigs are certainly safer than the oil rigs of 50 years ago, you have to remember that working in the middle of the ocean can be very exciting when there’s a huge storm around you… Or an earthquake or tsunami (yes). you are right in front of the coast).
You should now have a better idea of what people mean when they talk about jobs abroad and why you should care.