Envar, I don't want to blow sunshine up your arse, but since you say you are making $7500 with no benefits whatsover the package of an EK First Officer probably exceeds that.
As I have now opened myself up to lots of flack let me expalin my reasoning. You may have to do some personal computations to figure it out for your sitution, but if I were to be making $7500 per month in Taiwan ( for example ) I would have to pay 15 % tax, so now we are down to $6375. Then I would have to pay about $1500 per month for a pretty crappy three bedroom flat infested with mosquitoes. Now I'm down to $4875 per month and a lot of sleepless nights fighting off the mosquitoes. Oh, then there's the American School for my kids at $20,000 per year each. Since I don't have kids in school that is a moot point, but you get my drift.
The point here isn't how much the top line of your salary is, the point is how much the bottom line is. Do some careful research to figure that out. If you are supporting a home in your native country and have kids in school then it can be a strecth as an F.O.. If, on the other hand, you are unmarried and have no mortgage elsewhere almost your entire salary goes into your pocket.
I tend to agree with the general sentiment of not leaving a command to join the right seat of an airline. It was a very difficult choice for me when I did it and I would have to admit that I highly doubt I would have done so if Emirates had been hiring DECs at the time. The DEC problem is the single biggest barrier to entry for any new hire at Emirates. It makes the prospect of an upgrade uncertain and nobody likes to live with uncertainty.
Upgrades on the 777 fleet are ticking along right at 3 years, but we run out of F.O.s in April. The company policy is no transition upgrades so the guys on the A330 who are at or over 3 years are stuck in the right seat as DECs are hired. That is just plain wrong and it is what is making so many people angry. If the company could recognize that and change the policy it would improve morale considerably.
TP