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The rising cost of living and strong demand for specialist skills are forcing banking pay up by as much as 40% a year.
“Demand for investment bankers, structured finance professionals, and client relationship managers has driven the dramatic increase in compensation over the last three years,” says Alex Cormack, director and head of Middle East at headhunters Sheffield Haworth.
In exceptional cases, headhunters say senior management packages have increased from US$1.5m to around US$2m to US$2.5m in the past 12 months alone.
Inflation rates in excess of 10% in the UAE are stoking pay demands.
However, Barbara Ball, senior recruitment officer at the Arab Banking Corporation, says the emphasis is more on non-monetary benefits than salaries: “Salary expectations have gone up, but in reality it’s not the salaries, but the benefits – housing allowance, flight allowance, medical and dental cover, schooling for children – that have been the real selling points.”
Metin Mitchell, managing director Middle East at Korn/Ferry International, says housing allowances are insufficient to compensate for the sky-rocketing property market: “Real estate is going up dramatically, so they [banks] are having to pay staff more so that they can keep their head above water.”
As ever, however, the best way to pump up your salary is simply to switch jobs. Mitchell reckons that people look for a 20% increase when negotiating a new deal.
salaries and bonus expectations are at all-time high it seems and there’s shortage for corporate financiers and asset managers. Just don’t be fooled by those ads, the most important thing is having that pizza delivered to you even months after you have ordered your package.
Just to kindly make a remark on the 20% expected increase when chasing jobs. I just don’t think that is the case, I have not heard of anyone changing jobs for at least 50% increase in the general package, with a 100% increase being the most common case.
Why would I the confort of my current job, for only 20% in a market where I will probably get at least the same increase annual increase every year from my current employer.
I would expect that this clime of salaries are very normal. the new investment Companies opening in the Saudi Market are strugling to find talented canditates in the region.