The much anticipated annual Bayt.com Middle East Salary Survey is now out and professionals across the MENA can now get a valuable snapshot of salary trends for the year and compare their salary levels, raises, incentives and the composition of their current compensation packages with peers in their country and industry. They can also see how they fare with their savings and cost of living changes vis-a-vis other professionals working locally and across the region.
What some key insights and findings that can be gleaned from the Bayt.com 2012 MENA Salary Survey?
- Over the past 5 years the average number of jobs held is 2.3 with the largest group of respondents 37% having held 2 jobs in that period, followed by 27% who held only 1 job followed by 22% who held 3 jobs.
- The average number of years on a job in the region as per the survey is 5.37 years and this is highest in the Levant followed by North Africa at and then the GCC. In terms of nationality groups, GCC nationals were found to hold the highest number of years in a job, followed by Levant nationals followed by North Africans.
- Across the region 4% of respondents are highly satisfied with the salary they received followed by 58% who are moderately satisfied and 38% who have low levels of satisfaction. The highest level of dissatisfaction with salaries was in the Levant at 44% followed by North Africa at 38% of respondents.
- The average raise received in 2011 across the region was 7.89%. Interestingly male professionals indicated they received a 8.15% raise while the female professionals indicated they received on average a 6.26% raise.
- 46% of professionals in the region are wither unhappy or very unhappy with their raise. 26% of professionals surveyed indicated they are very happy or moderately happy with their 2011 raise and a further 27% indicated they believed their raise was ‘’fair’’ in light of their contributions to the company and/or the company’s financial situation.
- The average raise expected across the region in the next 12 months is 12.54% and this is highest in the GCC followed by North Africa followed by the Levant.
- Cost of living is perceived to have gone up by 22.2% across the region in calendar year 2011 and this was felt most in the Levant followed by North Africa followed by the GCC.
- In terms of components of cost of living increases 51% of the region’s respondents have seen food and beverage prices rise, 26% have seen rents rise and 10% have seen the cost of education rise, with another 5% indicating cost of entertainment has risen.
- On average the region’s respondents save 14% of their income but a full 33% of professionals surveyed save nothing at all from their monthly personal income.
- 37% of professionals in the region believe salaries in their country of residence are increasing ‘’marginally’’ followed by 21% who indicated they are increasing ‘’moderately’’ and 6% who indicate they are increasing ‘’sharply’’. 14% of professionals surveyed think salaries in their country are decreasing and 16% think salaries are staying the same.
For more salary and income data and trends and insights the full 2012 Middle East Salary Survey report is available online on Bayt.com and can be downloaded for free along with other recent relevant HR surveys and studies and literature. More detailed salary information by job role and industry and company and country can also be determined using the region’s first full-fledged online salary calculator community platform Bayt.com Salaries.
