Gender pay parity on track in the UAE
The UAE has a good record on gender pay parity, according to Mercer's Total Remuneration Study.
"In some of the lower levels of jobs women tend to be paid more than men, primarily because men are employed in blue collar jobs and women tend to be employed in white collar jobs which pay better," said Ted Raffoul, career products leader, Mena at Mercer. "I am yet to see a company in the UAE – particularly when you are looking at a blue chip multinationals or some of the bigger local companies – that actively discriminates when it comes to gender on pay."
Mr Raffoul said most gender issues are actually due to the cultural class, as the population is dominated by Asian and Arab cultures where men are generally expected to work and earn whereas women are meant to start a family.
"For that reason, we see a different gender gap. There are less women in senior roles because women tend to focus less on this but that’s not due to any companies having a policy penalising women for any reasons – it’s a cultural thing," he said.
As a result, Mr Raffoul said many companies in the UAE are coming up with benefit package programmes to help working mothers and the career development of women in general.
Salaries in the UAE are projected to increase by 4.8 per cent next year across all industries as the job market heats up amid the government’s diversification efforts, a new report has found.
Most industries in the Emirates will receive a pay rise in 2019 – the best outlook in the GCC - with the strongest push to come in the life sciences (pharmaceuticals and health care), consumer goods and high-tech industries, according to the Total Remuneration Study from the global consulting firm Mercer.
New hiring, talent and compensation trends are emerging as the UAE realises its vision of diversifying away from oil, said Ted Raffoul, career products leader for Mena at Mercer.
“The GCC and UAE economies tend to be very reliant on the price of oil and the performance of the energy industry because you have government spending in the market based on that,” he said. “We have had quite low oil prices over the last couple of years and that has picked up in 2018, which is why we are seeing higher projections for 2019.”
The UAE jobs market has received a boost in recent months due to a raft of reforms, such as more flexible visa options, economic stimulus measures and a new private sector insurance policy. All of these steps rolled out by the government are designed to accelerate economic growth, create jobs and diversify the economy.
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“Many of the government reforms we are seeing are actually coming from Abu Dhabi because its economy is much more reliant on oil so, yes, that is also helping – but that does not happen overnight and is something that is going to keep having an effect for some time,” said Mr Raffoul.
Diversification will bolster the economy against the effects of a future drop in oil prices, he added.
The reforms, along with a wider digital technology adoption, has left UAE business leaders feeling more confident about their companies' prospects for next year, as growth in the economy drives demand for high-skilled professionals, according to the Robert Half 2019 Salary Guide, released last week. The study found that 89 per cent of chief financial officers are optimistic about their company's outlook with the fresh momentum in the economy leading to a "war" for digitally savvy talent.
This is also reflected in Mercer’s survey, which found that overall salaries in the UAE increased by 4.5 per cent this year, with the biggest pay rise of 5 per cent awarded to those in the life sciences sector.
Looking to next year, real wage growth (salary increase minus inflation rate) is also expected to steadily rise in the region, with the life sciences, consumer goods and high-tech industries, in particular, generating more employment opportunities and salary increases.
David Mackenzie, the managing director of the GCC recruitment consultancy Mackenzie Jones, said salary rises of 4.9 per cent in 2019 are likely across certain industries like the tech and digital industries.
"The energy and other sectors have suffered recently but are now starting to do well due to the increase in the price of oil from $30 in mid-2015 to about $80 now, and these will get significant increases," he said. "Retail and education will be suffering next year and so they will have to pay more to keep the better people from leaving."
Mr Raffoul said the UAE had the best salary outlook in the GCC because it houses more multinational organisations outside the energy sector.
“If you look at other countries like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Oman, those markets are a lot more reliant on the oil and gas industry – so the UAE has reacted in a better manner to other economies just because they have other things to rely on,” he said.
However, Egypt has the best outlook in the wider region with an expected salary increase of 13 per cent for 2019. However that figure does not reflect the full story.
“Due to the Egyptian currency devaluation at the end of 2016, inflation has skyrocketed over the last couple of years. It is in fact the lowest it’s been since 2016, but still quite high relative to other countries in the region," said Mr Raffoul. "These high salary increases are meant to address this high inflation – however these increases are actually below the inflation figures, which means there’s a purchasing power decrease in Egypt despite the high salary increase numbers."
Another interesting figure applies to the energy industry, previously the highest paying sector in the UAE. It is expected to perform below the market in 2019 with an expected increase of 4 per cent next year. However, Mr Raffoul said the fact there are pay rises, even though they are lower than other industries, is still positive.
“The downward shift actually happened a couple of years ago at the end of 2015 when the price of oil went down and that caused a salary freeze for some time,” he said.
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When it comes to hiring, again the outlook is positive with close to half of the companies polled looking to increase their head count next year, and 45 per cent planning to maintain their staffing levels, according to Mercer.
On another positive note, only 3 per cent of the companies imposed salary freezes in 2018 compared to 10 per cent in 2016.
For those looking to boost employee numbers, the study found the competition for talent will be fierce in 2019.
While 78 per cent of organisations expecting an increase in competition for talent in the GCC, just under half noted there are not enough experts in niche fields, and that scarcity of required talent may pose a potential challenge.
“There is a war on talent for different reasons. A lot of companies, even in industries that are doing well, are undergoing some sort of transformation now,” said Mr Raffoul. “There is a lot of talk about the future of work, how jobs are evolving and how different industries are evolving and going digital – making a significant difference to businesses and economies. That skill set for digital thinking is quite rare so as a result when you have this demand it also drives up the prices/salaries of people and we are definitely seeing that in the region here.”
Mr Raffoul said homegrown tech businesses such as Careem and dubizzle have shown traditional brick-and-mortar concepts how their business can be enabled through technology, with these companies also looking to enhance their digital offering to reach new customers.
When it comes to employing Emiratis, the Mercer study found in 2018 there was a 71 per cent increase in companies offering the national allowance - an additional allowance to beef up salary packages and motivate local talent to accept and hold positions in the private sector – compared to 2017.
Maxime Jallageas, as associate at Mercer, said 53 per cent of respondents placed labour nationalisation requirements as a top GCC economic and social issue that is likely to have an impact on organisations over the next two years.
“This will have a clear and direct impact on the hiring trends firms will adopt, particularly on the reward mechanisms that are put in place to attract local talent,” said Mr Jallageas.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What is graphene?
Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb.
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were "playing about" with sticky tape and graphite - the material used as "lead" in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But as they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment had led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
At the time, many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable. But examined under a microscope, the material remained stable, and when tested was found to have incredible properties.
It is many times times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent. The world's first 2D material, it is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.
But the 'sticky tape' method would not work on an industrial scale. Since then, scientists have been working on manufacturing graphene, to make use of its incredible properties.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their discovery meant physicists could study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties.
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Zakat definitions
Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.
Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.
Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.
Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.
FIGHT INFO
Men’s 60kg Round 1:
Ahmad Shuja Jamal (AFG) beat Krisada Takhiankliang (THA) - points
Hyan Aljmyah (SYR) beat Akram Alyminee (YEM) - retired Round 1
Ibrahim Bilal (UAE) beat Bhanu Pratap Pandit (IND) - TKO Round 1
Men’s 71kg Round 1:
Seyed Kaveh Soleyman (IRI) beat Abedel Rahman (JOR) - RSC round 3.
Amine Al Moatassime (UAE) walk over Ritiz Puri (NEP)
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
Francesco Totti's bio
Born September 27, 1976
Position Attacking midifelder
Clubs played for (1) - Roma
Total seasons 24
First season 1992/93
Last season 2016/17
Appearances 786
Goals 307
Titles (5) - Serie A 1; Italian Cup 2; Italian Supercup 2
Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
How to report a beggar
Abu Dhabi – Call 999 or 8002626 (Aman Service)
Dubai – Call 800243
Sharjah – Call 065632222
Ras Al Khaimah - Call 072053372
Ajman – Call 067401616
Umm Al Quwain – Call 999
Fujairah - Call 092051100 or 092224411
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Revibe%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202022%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Hamza%20Iraqui%20and%20Abdessamad%20Ben%20Zakour%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20UAE%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Refurbished%20electronics%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunds%20raised%20so%20far%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%2410m%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFlat6Labs%2C%20Resonance%20and%20various%20others%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
SPECS
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2.4-litre%204-cylinder%20turbo%20hybrid%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20366hp%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E550Nm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESix-speed%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20From%20Dh360%2C000%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EAvailable%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENow%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
INVESTMENT PLEDGES
Cartlow: $13.4m
Rabbitmart: $14m
Smileneo: $5.8m
Soum: $4m
imVentures: $100m
Plug and Play: $25m
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What is Genes in Space?
Genes in Space is an annual competition first launched by the UAE Space Agency, The National and Boeing in 2015.
It challenges school pupils to design experiments to be conducted in space and it aims to encourage future talent for the UAE’s fledgling space industry. It is the first of its kind in the UAE and, as well as encouraging talent, it also aims to raise interest and awareness among the general population about space exploration.
Major matches on Manic Monday
Andy Murray (GBR) v Benoit Paire (FRA)
Grigor Dimitrov (BGR) v Roger Federer (SUI)
Rafael Nadal (ESP) v Gilles Muller (LUX)
Adrian Mannarino (FRA) Novak Djokovic (SRB)
Gender pay parity on track in the UAE
The UAE has a good record on gender pay parity, according to Mercer's Total Remuneration Study.
"In some of the lower levels of jobs women tend to be paid more than men, primarily because men are employed in blue collar jobs and women tend to be employed in white collar jobs which pay better," said Ted Raffoul, career products leader, Mena at Mercer. "I am yet to see a company in the UAE – particularly when you are looking at a blue chip multinationals or some of the bigger local companies – that actively discriminates when it comes to gender on pay."
Mr Raffoul said most gender issues are actually due to the cultural class, as the population is dominated by Asian and Arab cultures where men are generally expected to work and earn whereas women are meant to start a family.
"For that reason, we see a different gender gap. There are less women in senior roles because women tend to focus less on this but that’s not due to any companies having a policy penalising women for any reasons – it’s a cultural thing," he said.
As a result, Mr Raffoul said many companies in the UAE are coming up with benefit package programmes to help working mothers and the career development of women in general.