For an average person, yes, it is a struggle in terms of work hours, salaries and time off. By average, Im referring to people who are not highly qualified. Average offices require you to work for upto 10-11 hours a day, even though the labor regulations call for no more than 8 hours a day, unless you are being paid overtime.
Racism does exist, but mainly with the younger generation. The older generation is more in touch with reality and religion, and are very nice. The ruling class, while fairly spoilt, has to be given credit for the fact that they do spend money on their people (citizens mainly).
There is a stark difference in the way ‘elites’ are treated, as compared to ‘non-elites’. Elites include anyone with an american or european passport. They get better pays for the same jobs, better benefits, etc. Rules and regulations are crafted to suit them more.
And finally, laws do change suddenly, and without warning. I never thought this could be true till I came across this myself. Laws will change overnight, without any prior notification. Anyone negatively affected by the change of law usually left to suffer.
Aisha, Im not sure this is about racism and hatred against arabs/emiratis. These are random facts of life that one has to face, when living in the UAE on an average job.