Leading professionals from Bayt.com were given a chance to answer various salary queries as well as disclose helpful current insights on Egypt’s current earnings at the ‘Salary Trends2011’ roundtable discussion event held at the HR Summit Cairo2011. The Middle East Salary Survey, conducted annually by Bayt.com and YouGov, is designed to look at the current levels of wages and benefits in the region, and to gauge employee opinion and satisfaction levels vis-à-vis the salaries they receive, and how these have kept pace with the cost of living.
This eventjoins the series of roundtable sessions that Bayt.com has conducted across the Middle East region in the past quarter, in order to promote salary transparency and best practice sharing in HR sourcing and retention practices – specifically as it pertains to compensation, benefits measurement and measurement polices. Experts from Bayt.com, the Middle East number one job site, focused on an on-going debatable issue “Where do we stand today when it comes to salaries?” at the informative event held at the Conrad Hotel in Cairo, Egypt.
“As Egypt positions itself for even greater growth in2011 and2012, organisations are realising the critical role that the Human Resources department and their teams of professionals play in driving real, sustainable growth. HR Summit Cairo is a contemporary conference developed format and an even more engaging and practical programme to meet peoples’ needs by incorporating direct workplace practicality into each and every session. It’s a unique platform where speakers and delegates share their challenges and exchange ideas. Prepared to start afresh with new approaches, strategies and insights, the forum helps employers gain a better understanding from the reflection of the past and a clearer vision for the future,” said JamalSuboh, Regional Manager, Bayt.com.
Egypt shows biggest disparity between living costs and salary raises this year, the latest Bayt.com and YouGov study reveals. The data for the Salary Survey is collated in part by looking at whether average salary increases were in-line with the average rise in the cost of living. As found in previous Bayt.com research, professionals resoundingly felt that the average salary increase did not reflect the rise in the cost of living in any of the surveyed countries. Overall, professionals across the Middle East felt that the cost of living had increased by24.6%, yet the average salary increased by just7.6% - more than two thirds less. This year, the biggest disparity in the increase in living costs compared to salary raise was felt in Egypt - where respondents felt the cost of living had increased by30%, while salaries had increased by just9.4%.
Carried forth in three parts, the event first concentrated on the topic ‘Salaries: Are they the only retention factor?’ which was conducted by JamalSuboh. The topic on hand focused on whether salaries today were considered a key path to employee loyalty, in addition to other top employee reasons in the Middle East– including the importance of good working conditions. Following that, AmerZureikat, Sales VP, Bayt.com discussed the satisfaction of the MENA region’s professionals with their2011 salaries, competitive raises and lucrative packages as per most recent Bayt.com Middle East Salary Survey. Thereafter, to conclude the significant session, MuhammedYounas, Product Manager, Bayt.com, gave an informative talk on the best Middle Eastern salaries earned today and comparisons on the pay structure using Bayt.com’s online Salary Calculator tool, which is the latest innovative technical product offering from Bayt.com, and the first and only comprehensive pan-regional, pan-industrial online salary benchmarking and analysis tool in the Middle East.
This year’s salary survey looked at the respondents’ level of satisfaction with the pay rise they received. For the most part, the region’s respondents did not receive a pay rise, with a sizeable38% missing out on a pay rise. In Egypt just4% of professionals said they were very happy with their salary increase,10% were very unhappy,22% consider themselves as unhappy, and9% agreed that their pay rise was fair given the economic circumstances.
The survey also looked at what percentage of their salary people manage to save each month. The results showed that a high proportion,42%, do not manage to save any of their monthly salary at all. Jordan and Morocco were the countries where respondents were least likely to save, with60% and52%, respectively, stating that they save no money each month. The best savers were respondents in Qatar -36% of those surveyed managing to save between16% and75% of their salaries each month. In Egypt,15% save within that range.
Despite the widespread unhappiness with pay rises, the region’s respondents still believe they are better off than others in terms of their quality of life in their country of residence, when compared to their peers. In Egypt,33% of professionals said they are better off than others, while47% said they were about average. At the other end of the spectrum, just15% of respondents said they were worse off than others. Those feeling worse off were respondents in Jordan -27% said they were worse off than others of their generation.
“Employers and employees alike need to look at studies like this to help in gauging both what to pay and what to expect, respectively. However, considering the changes in governments taking place in the region, it is safe to presume that this report’s numbers are bound to change drastically. Indeed, we are living in very interesting times and it will be exciting to see how those times are reflected in terms of employment opportunities. Will people in the region see more satisfaction once the changes they fought for are implemented? We hope to get a better insight into the Egyptian market through our new office that has recently opened up, which was highly appreciated and welcome by HR professionals in the region, as part of our initiative and commitment to provide localised services across the region and to cater closely to the key market in Egypt,” said AmerZureikat.
When asked about their feelings toward the current economic climate; in terms of the labour market, almost a quarter of respondents,24%, said they feel optimistic that there will be robust economic growth in their country of residence and more jobs available in a year’s time, with just17% feeling pessimistic about the future. Tunisia and Qatar were the most optimistic about the future –38% and31%, respectively said they were feeling very optimistic, while Jordan and Lebanon were the least optimistic with just15% and18% of professionals- respectively- stating they are very optimistic. In Egypt,26% felt very optimistic.
“Being into skilled HR outsourcing demands minimum turn-around-time for our customers who have ever changing resource needs! Failure to meet anticipated response times of our customers can easily lead to lost business or unsatisfied customers. With Bayt’s recruitment solutions and premium job postings, we were able to find best candidates in the shortest possible time; thus projecting ourselves as the most suitable HR source for some of the leading market players in region. The team at Bayt had been in constant touch with us to ensure that our experience exceeds our expectations. We certainly look forward to availing Bayt services for future openings,” commented UsmanQureshi, Head of Business Development, NETS International.
“We are happy with all the services Bayt.com provides, inclusive of the notification email, the search facilities, very useful filtration tools and the quality of resumes. Moreover, Bayt’s customer care team is very helpful and responsiveness, and with their help we have already recruited for our vacancies,” stated Wafa I. Fallas, Executive Secretary, Edgo Management Group S.A.
“We’ve been using Bayt.com for a while now, and according to us, it’s definitely the best job site in the Middle East. The filtration tools make it very easy for us to find the perfect candidate, and service provided by the customer care at Bayt is also highly impressive,” mentioned YasmineTalaat, Senior Talent Management specialist, Andalusia Group for Medical Services.
The study additionally revealed that across the Middle East,75% of residents feel they have personally been affected by the global economic crisis. In Egypt, this figure was at84%, with just16% saying they have not been affected. Residents in Jordan -85% - were the hardest hit amongst the surveyed countries, while least affected were respondents in Oman and Morocco, where62% and63% respectively said they have been affected by the crisis.
“The salary survey serves to paint a clear picture of economic conditions inside a particular country and allows organisations, recruiters and stakeholders across all types of industry to see how salary levels are changing from year to year. By conducting such a survey, we can add value to organisations across the region by giving them an insight into current trends and feelings about the labour market, which can then be used as impetus for affecting change. These surveys are especially useful during these times of turmoil with highly changing circumstances. As such we recommend employers await our next survey that will surely track the region’s recent events,” concluded Muhammed Younas.
Bayt.com is the largest and most relevant community of professionals interested in the MENA region with over5,750,000 registered jobseekers and40,000 employers. Bayt.com has11 regional offices, over200 staff and a10 year track record of successfully matching the region’s top talent with top employment opportunities at every career level, in every industry.