Greener grass?
There isn't much grass in the desert, but where is the grass greener at the moment?
Pay awards of significance seem to be few and far between on a global basis.
The pay award at DXB may not be great, but there isn't that much money floating about for Dubai government organisations - there is still billions of dirhams in debt to pay off.
By the time you take into account basic pay & personal allowances, housing allowance, school allowance, family medical insurance, terminal gratuity & flights home is the average controller at DXB that badly paid? And of course it's all tax free.
Dubai is hardly a hardship posting, or perhaps to some it is?
If the grass is greener, people will undoubtedly move on. If sufficient numbers leave then the customer will react and there will be another large payrise (as per a few years ago). The customer takes a business view of life. Whilst the current package continues to attract sufficient numbers of suitably experienced controllers, the customer will struggle to understand why they should fork out for larger pay rises.
I don't think that this situation is typical of the DXB contract and applies across the board where you have an ANSP providing a service on a contract basis.
As the old story goes, there are 2 buckets.....