58 / MARCH 2012

SALARY SURVEYto send their staff into Bahrain, so they have to pay ‘hardship allowances’,” said Zaid Kamhawi, the Middle East business leader for information product services at Mercer, a consultancy company.

Pay for an Arab general manager at a multi-national firm increased from $14,942 to $19,272 a month. Meanwhile, a Western CEO with sales of $50 million plus can now expect $27,498, up from $25,333 a year ago.

Jennifer Campori, managing director of recruitment firm Charterhouse, said: “The unrest in the country has certainly had an impact on the market across the board in Bahrain and we are seeing more and more candidates looking to leave Bahrain for Qatar, the UAE and Saudi.”

Other headhunters say they have received calls from people in Bahrain desperate to take salary drops if it means moving to more a more stable location like Dubai. One, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “We place people in hostile areas like Afghanistan and Iraq, but at least you know what you’re getting there. In Bahrain, people aren’t as sure what 2012 will bring.”

This year’s salary survey also revealed a firm bounce in pay for media, PR and publishing professionals in Bahrain. Westerners and Arabic language speakers faired particularly well. A public relations director gets paid 34 per cent more in 2012 than last year round, a rise from $7,800 a month to $10,460. Arab

publishing editors in Bahrain are now being offered a $7,688 monthly salary compared to $5,056 12 months ago, a remarkable 52 per cent jump.

Fundamentally, Bahrain’s media industry has always been smaller than the likes of Dubai, which means publishers, ad agencies and PR firms will naturally pay more for talent. But some observers Gulf Business contacted said there was something more sinister at play behind the numbers. “Certain companies in Bahrain are looking to pay people, especially with Arabic language, to put a positive spin on what’s happening on the streets,” one said.

HIDDEN CONCERNS IN THE UAE AND KUWAITThree years after they collapsed, UAE salaries have finally found their feet. In the lead up to 2009 expats felt confident to job hop between employers to dramatically boost their salaries. There was little employers could do about it.

Since the crash, companies have been struggling to calibrate their workforce to the new economic landscape, and remuneration has varied wildly. Today though, UAE pay is almost exactly the same as it was a year ago.

There was only a 1.27 per cent increase across all job types in the Emirates during the last 12 months. Apart from the big drop in HR management pay, covered

“In Saudi, employers more than ever are shelling out a ‘lifestyle premium’ for Western professionals. Recruitment experts say European and US candidates still find it tricky to make cultural adjustments in the Kingdom. This issue may have been aggravated by the UAE’s resurgence.”

Lama Ataya, chief marketing officer at Bayt.com

SALARY SURVEY CONTRIBUTORSn BAC MIDDLE EAST

The longest established recruitment consultancy in the UAE Office 120, Sultan Business Centre, P.O. Box 8743, Dubai, UAE. Tel: +971 4 3375747 Fax: +971 4 3376467 www.bacme.com

n BAYT.COM The largest MENA community of professionals with over 7,000,000 registered jobseekers and 40,000 employers Tel: +971 4 4493100 www.bayt.com

n CHARTERHOUSE PARTNERSHIP A boutique recruitment firm offering services across the Middle East, Asia and Australia Suite 502, Al Moosa Tower 1,

Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai, UAE. Tel: +971 4 372 3500 Fax: +971 4 332 8062 E-mail: info@charterhouse.ae www.charterhouseme.ae

n MORGAN MCKINLEY A management executive recruitment company 103/104 Oud Metha (Citibank) Building. P.O. Box 118468, Dubai, UAE. Tel: + 971 4 324 4094 Fax: +971 4 324 4095 E-mail: talktous@morganmckinley.ae www.morganmckinley.ae

n NADIA The Gulf’s leading recruitment and management consultants P.O. Box 9349, Dubai, UAE. UAE Hotline: 800-6236 Tel: +971 4 3313401 www.nadia-me.com

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SALARY SURVEY

SOURCE: THE BAYT.COM MIDDLE EAST SALARY SURVEY 2011.

n The average tenure of a job held across the region is 5.2 years, with Syria, Egypt and Kuwait exhibiting higher than average tenure.

n Only three per cent of KSA professionals are highly satisfied with their salary.

n 56 per cent of MENA professionals favour performance-based incentives.

n The highest dissatisfaction with current salary was reported among professionals in Algeria (56 per cent), Morocco (55 per cent) and Lebanon (52 per cent).

n One in four MENA professional agree that their current salary is the main driver of their loyalty towards their current employers.

n The biggest non-monetary driver for loyalty towards company according to 36 per cent MENA professionals is long-term career progression.

n Professionals who reported saving the most of their salary, between 21 per cent and 50 per cent, were primarily form Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain.

earlier, all other roles witnessed negligible changes to wages. In the case of Western hotel general managers, this year is nearly identical to last, coming in at $10,529 a month (2011) compared to $10,571 (2012).

Initially, this suggests stability. But closer inspection reveals that flat pay levels can indicate economic weakness. Hiring is often associated with what economists call ‘churn’ – or the job-to-job movement in the labour-force. Churn equates to productivity in an economy, in the sense that a typical job-to-job move comes with a pay rise. As workers obtain skills and find better job matches, their output and earnings rise.

Worryingly, this year’s salary survey suggests that churn in the UAE (and Kuwait) is falling. The Arab Spring and Eurozone crisis has left people more concerned about job security than salary increases. Rather than take a risk with a new employer, workers are staying put, said Lama Ataya, chief marketing officer at Bayt.com, a job search website.

“Relative to the high churn five or six years ago many regional professionals are still very cautious and will not take undue risks with their careers. They are looking long and hard at variables like company brand, performance, standing, reputation and chances of job security and career advancement.

“All this being is considered before moving away from corporate entities they know and are comfortable with,” said Ataya.

More broadly, recruiters say Dubai is exiting an 18-month corporate consolidation phrase, which has balanced supply and demand in the job market. Salaries, as a result, remain steady.

Ultimately, the Gulf Business Salary Survey 2012 highlights a job market more comfortable in its own skin. Findings suggest Saudi and Qatar will do well to control their planned growth over the next decade. This must happen if they are to avoid runaway salary levels. Compared to Bahrain, the UAE is stable but recruiters won’t welcome a stagnant labour market in 2012.

Still, the biggest worry is that when it comes to jobs in the Gulf, the unexpected can always happen.

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