Workers in the UAE are dissatisfied with their salaries

Abdel-Khaleq Tharwat
For Al-Shorfa.com
2009-03-04

Truck drivers have an afternoon coffee as they complain about low wages. (AFP/Getty Images)

DUBAI—Satisfaction with salaries in the UAE and the other Gulf Cooperation Council states has declined, with the majority of employees stating they are dissatisfied with their pay packets even though they are the highest in the region.

A new study conducted by the Bayt.com recruitment website in cooperation with the market research company YouGov found that less than seven percent of UAE residents feel fully satisfied with their salaries despite the fact that salaries in the UAE are the highest among all countries in the region with 20 percent of persons employed in the UAE earning between US$5,000 and $10,000 per month.

The study shows that North Africa countries have the lowest salaries, with 54 percent of employees in Algeria and 47 percent in Egypt and Morocco earning less than $500 per month.

According to YouGov CEO Nassim Ghrayeb, "The lifestyle in the UAE and the levels of personal consumption is very different from the lifestyles of the rest of the countries in the region." The majority of high-income earners prefer a lifestyle commensurate with their high salaries, he explained, and this significantly contributes to the imbalance between salaries and rates of satisfaction.

The study surveyed 13,881 men and women over the age of 20 from the Gulf countries, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Algeria, and Tunisia.

Study participants from the UAE emphasised the disparity between rising living costs and the increase in their salaries. That gap has reached 22 percent as salaries increased only 15 percent in the UAE, failing to keep pace with a 37 percent increase in the cost of living in the country.

The study also found that only 22 percent of Emiratis are able to save between one to five percent of their salaries each month, compared with 33 percent of Omanis and 30 percent of Qataris, who are able to save more than 21 percent of their salaries each month.

Participants from Egypt and the UAE were the most pessimistic about the future, according to the study, with 30 percent of Egyptians and 29 percent of Emirates expressing pessimism about the future of their careers.

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