Delighted to receive something but worried that it won't make any difference to our recruitment and potential retention problem.
Perspective...an interesting thing! When I made my decision to come to Dubai, I ran through all of the points (plus and minus) and then took the leap. This 'payrise' made me revisit my joining assumptions.
When I came here, the exchange rate was somewhat different but I made all my assumptions in GB Pounds. Then, the 16,000 AED on offer came to £2950. I was expecting a payrise on promotion to 23,500AED or £4270 and now I'd have been on about £4500 with
No change to the scale i.e. payrise. Now
with our newly announced 'payrise' I will be on £4120. So after over 5 years service and a command it adds up to £1120. Or put another way, £380
less than I expected when I was being pessimistic and assuming no payrise all those years ago.
I know that the exchange rate change isn't Emirates' fault but the UAE government have tied the Dirham to the Dollar and recognise the cost pressures that this have caused the local economy. Thats why they increased the pay of government employees. (15% for ex-pats, 25% for locals!)
So we get 8% or half of the government ex-pat worker's payrise even though we are owned by the government. It seems that EK have tossed out a bone to see who will bite and hope that it will stem the unrest and suddenly make them more attractive on the global stage. It can't hurt; but I would be surprised if it is seen as anything other than papering over the cracks. I hope I am wrong!
Cerberus
