Rob the poor to pay the rich
Capt Leaz
If I may add my tuppence worth:
Don’t give much credibility to those who enter into slanging matches with the other posters and divert the discussion at hand. Either they are too immature to have a sensible discussion without lowering the tone and resorting to cheap jibes or they are company trolls deliberately sowing discord to derail the discussion. Whatever the case, I think it’s reasonable to assume there is no value in their opinion. I ignore posts by these individuals.
On the issue itself:
I have been here over 20 years and watched many deliberate whether to come, or to stay or to leave. Many base the decision on well researched facts which are current at the time. However I note that often very little consideration is given to the trend or direction of this data, which might be reasonably extrapolated to see how happy they would be a few years down the line.
Fact: For 20 years, any increase in salary has always been below the UAE government stipulated inflation statistics. Ergo the salary has declined in real terms.
Fact: Conversely the hour expectation for the salary has increased over the 20 years. Without complex specifics this has happened in a number of creative, but very real adjustments.
Fact: Despite an empathetic history, the company handling of a multitude individual issues has become far more cavalier and brutal. So much so that a recent online survey asked employees what they felt about the job as rumblings were being felt. The yet to be published outcome cannot have been pretty. This issue of employee treatment in various departments has led to the emergence of websites from some who feel they have been aggrieved. There are in fact many more shocking stories of individual treatment. To be fair, there are some stories of well handled issues but they are certainly more the exception now. I think the variability itself is unsettling for many. The Sword of Damocles hangs over us all.
Fact: There are moves afoot to corral all pilots into a few large complexes to ultimately remove the pilot transport burden and eventually accommodation allowances. Look ahead to regular busses to work and no choice of accommodation unless you foot the majority or all of the cost yourself. Visualise council estate living and surveillance.
Currently there is reliable information coming out that there will shortly be another adjustment to ensure we work more hours and have less days off in the near future. This increase will come through a mixture of regulatory change and company policy adjustment through creative interpretation of the regulations. No one is likely to successfully challenge this, least of all the regulator. It may go hand in hand with a marginal salary increase to soften the blow but be assured this will be eroded quickly by cost of living as the company plays a careful long game of seemingly innocuous continual adjustment that you will simply not have the time to keep in focus. They are certainly not fools. The consequences however are sorely felt over time. It’s the frog in the boiling pot story. It will not that easy to decide when to leap out. Like the frog many simply stay but are very uncomfortable. Ask yourself if you want to live knowing that things will get worse.
My advice: At the very least wait for the May salary review, bearing in mind that this may be inexplicably delayed and then backdated in part. There will be a sting in the tail if it does not come before. Do your deliberations and assessment but ensure you discount some of your assumptions because there is a simple mandate here: “Each year costs must be cut – profits must rise or managers get replaced”.
You will bear the impact. Much of the profits are paid by the employees.