Dubai Forums Dubai Expat Forums Dubai Expat Help Forum

Can anyone or everyone tell me what a good living wage is in Dubai expressed as a percent increase over time? I don't need dollar figures, as that is all relative to your lifestyle and financial commitments. It is no secret that people get paid by the colour of their passport (and their skin to many degrees). All that aside....I pose an example:

If you were earning (say) 5000AED per month on January 1, 2004 (random place to start), how much should you be earning now, provided the 5000 was enough to cover your commitments and you lived "satisfied" according to your needs. (maybe you shared a room with one other, now it is five others). These are the things I am looking for....how wages have flattened, but quality of life has gone down.

I was fortunate enough to negotiate rent increase cap plus 3%, as well as inflation plus 5% in my contract, renewable yearly. Others I work with did not do this and are being left in the dust!

I'm not a hero and want to pay the cleaner 20,000 per month, but I have only been here 4 months and would like to fix the crap wages. I am in a position to do so, but I find that so many people lie about their cost of living, it is crazy! I offered to pay for apartments for them in lieu of increments (some staff live with 6-8 in a room), but then they whine about it being too far from friends/family or whatever. (apts in Intl. city vs. a crappy bedspace in Karama.) I offered to put the drivers there as well, and increase their wages to cart them to the malls and to Karama on weekends to shop, etc. They still turn their noses up. Keep in mind, most moan about their living conditions rather than their salary and claim to want the money to improve these conditions.

Are they being ungrateful, or do they just want the cash and live in a dumpster. Some of my Sharjah staff spend 4 hours commuting. What is your time worth?

Anyway, anyone who has been here a few years, I would love to hear your input. Ballpark percentages are fine. Thanks for your help in this matter. Feel free to PM if you want discretion. Any pro corporate advisers out there?

I don't know figures but here is what I think.

People complaint no matte what.

Whether a person wants a higher salary or a better place to live is relative. If the people you are employing have their families back home then they are probably willing to "sacrifice" and live in a less desirable environment so that they can send money back home. On the other hand a peson with a familiy would prefer a better living space.

Needless to say, the best solution is more money and a decent place to live but you can't have both at the low range of pay scale.

If people are here to work as single individuals for a short term then getting more cash would be better (it would for me if I were in that situation which fortunately I am not).

Perhaps there is a happy medium where you can pay for the things that would make it a better place to live for them (cleaning services and drivers as you mentioned) which would allow you to pay a higher salary.

Another idea would be to give the workers a choice (more money or better living conditions) but while this sounds "fair" it is a nightmare because as soon as they chose one method they will be dissatisfied.

Good luck and it is nice to see you are trying to do the right by your employees. More employers should do the same, etc.

You also need to draw the distinction between living wage and decent salary.

Most people here seem to consider a decent salary one that allows them to save 50% of it and whinge about it if they don't.

On the other hand, I know some people on 7000 AED per month and survive.

In fact, I know one friend who went from 7500 AED per month to mid 20's in one jump who mentioned to me the other day that even though he is earning heaps more, he's still not saving!

Living = not dying

Thanks Concs and Ian for your input. I understand, Ian, about your friend who made that salary jump. If your friend kept the same lifestyle/budget as when they were on 7500, they would be saving 3/4 of their income now. But with more money comes a more extravagant lifestyle (at least amongst western expats) THAT is why you see them all driving flashy cars and eating at fancy restaurants...because they CAN.

When I moved here I CHOSE to ramp up the lifestyle. Be a 2 car family, eat out more, rent a nice villa. We could have driven one crappy car, rented a studio and eat noodles for dinner, but we made a decision not to. That is not my employer's problem, they are my choices. If I want more money to save, I would need to cut back my lifestyle, not ask for more money from my employer to support it.

As far as my staff goes, everyone has their story. Of course EVERYONE wants more money, even if you are on the high end of the scale. Maybe the sensible thing (and easiest) would be to give them better money and close the "complaint department", but would that really work? I doubt it, people are whiners no matter what.

Employee satisfaction is key to any business, and I would just like to make the right choices, but kinda hard if they don't know what they want in the first place, right? If they were honest and said "I want a 20% increase, but will still live in the crappy place I am in, and you can keep your apartment", that would be a dream!

Realistically, though I am looking at providing the place AND subsidizing the rent on a scale according to income. In effect, some people would get a better place to live AND an increase, as their rent would go down. Not to mention with drivers living there as well, it would reduce the time they all spend on the road (another complaint--obviously).

I guess I'll run the options up the flagpole and see who salutes! Thanks again guys for your input

Interesting thread .. there a few points to look into here. I understand your strive to keep your employees happy, but its also a questions of supply and demand. If you are giving them 5,000 dirhams a month and they want more, what are the chances you will be able to replace them for the same amount ? if its very low then they probably deserve a raise. If you can find 100 people lined up for that job at that wage, then they are probably just being whiners.

to be honest if you offer someone subsidized accommodation and they refuse that, its a sign that they are okay and just being greedy !

BTW, just wondering if any of you managers/business owners out there have considered buying apartments in projects similar to international city to house your employees ? .. I believe in the long term this will be a huge cost saving move.

MaaaD wrote:Interesting thread .. there a few points to look into here. I understand your strive to keep your employees happy, but its also a questions of supply and demand. If you are giving them 5,000 dirhams a month and they want more, what are the chances you will be able to replace them for the same amount ? if its very low then they probably deserve a raise. If you can find 100 people lined up for that job at that wage, then they are probably just being whiners.

to be honest if you offer someone subsidized accommodation and they refuse that, its a sign that they are okay and just being greedy !

BTW, just wondering if any of you managers/business owners out there have considered buying apartments in projects similar to international city to house your employees ? .. I believe in the long term this will be a huge cost saving move.

That is exactly the plan...10-15 apartments there in International City. Any subsidized rent would be realized by the company in long-term investment gains. Worst-case, we can break even, but keep the staff satisfied (so I thought)