Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Human Resource Overview: Salaries, Cost of Living and Loyalty

Posted on March 2, 2007

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February 2007

Regional economies continue to enjoy an unprecedented boom with growth in 2006 and 2007 projected at an average of 6-7%, similar to the rate of the past 3 years, and exceeding the global growth rate which is projected at slightly over 5% for the period. It is against this backdrop that Bayt.com and YouGovSiraj conducted their first employee survey which essentially set out to measure the following:

  • The cost of living challenges that are perceived to be in place by employees, and what they plan to do about it
  • Job and career cycles
  • The composition of the talent pool at the disposal of employers (from a number of years perspective)
  • An indication of the average salaries across the region

As expected, results indicated that wages in the GCC registered a steep hike for the surveyed period with reported average salary raises in the past 12 months registering at 15% and in the past 24 months at 21%. However, the Cost Of Living was reported to have increased at an average of 24% over the past 12 months substantially eroding raises and biting into standards of living.

The result has been a large gap between the sense of deserved raises and realistic expectations of raises and an increase in general dissatisfaction with the current employment situation. Loyalty in the GCC work place is eroding quickly in consequence and though a substantial portion of expatriates see themselves firmly ensconced in their countries of work and would like to settle there for the indefinite future, many employees are looking for greener pastures in terms of other companies and industries that offer more attractive benefits packages and more lucrative career prospects.

Please click here to read the whole report (1.4 mb Acrobat file) from bayt.com now.

Posted in: Career Issues, Workforce Issues