Salaries in the Middle East
Are salaries in the Middle East keeping up with inflation? According to the January 2008 release of the quarterly Consumer Confidence Index Study conducted by the Middle East’s #1 job site Bayt.com and market research specialists YouGovSiraj, they have emphatically not. 61% of respondents to the extensive survey which spanned both employers and jobseekers in the GCC, North Africa and the Levant indicated that salaries did not keep pace with the cost of living compared to their situation last year. These countries were led by Jordan and Syria where 79% and 70% of respondents indicated that salaries had not kept pace with the cost of living and only 2% and 3% indicated it had. In the GCC, Kuwait led the countries suffering from perceived erosion of real income with 67% of respondents indicating salaries had not kept up with inflation followed by KSA at 65% and Qatar at 56%. The UAE registered the most upside with 11% of UAE residents indicating that their salaries have increased more than the cost of living, 27% indicating salaries have increased commensurate with the cost of living and 51% indicating salaries have not kept pace with increases in the cost of living.
Employee Engagement in the Middle East
What color is my parachute is a question many a talented jobseeker in the booming GCC market is asking him/herself as the regional job market continues to boom, employment opportunities abound and key employers continue to vie for top talent across industry and geographic lines. In this era of high opportunity and flux, regional employers are largely aligned on the need to actively and creatively engage their talent to maximize retention and dampen volatility and attrition rates. To what extent have regional employers been successful in raising engagement levels amongst their employees? A recent poll on Bayt.com, the Middle Easts #1 job site indicated that a surprising 63% of respondents considered them fully engaged in their jobs and another 17% considered they moderately engaged. Only 20% considered they not at all engaged or actually hated their job. Interestingly when we asked employers what percentage of their staff they considered to be fully engaged in their jobs over 27% responded that over 61% were; 24% responded 41-60%; 21% responded 21-40% and 27% responded 1-20%.
