Dubai, UAE, March 26, 2018 — Informa’s sixth annual GCC Compensation and Benefits Trends Report points towards another year of conservative and cautious C&B strategies. Predicted lower level salary increases are significantly down, with 20.96% of companies expecting to give only a 3.5% increase or less. 10.51% of companies expect to implement pay freezes and 3.36% believe that they will have to reduce salaries. Similarly, fewer companies are willing to experiment with adjusting their healthcare provision package (a vital C&B consideration from last year) or offering wellness programmes.
The spectre of VAT implementation is also adding to the caution permeating 2018’s C&B landscape. The majority (58.58%) of companies will not consider VAT when deciding whether to increasing salaries in 2018/2019, while only 14.48% said that VAT would be an influencing factor. The remainder (26.96%) are still undecided about the impact of VAT on salaries.
Additionally, instances of larger pay increases are on the rise, as 17.23% expect to increase salaries by between 5% – 6.5% this year.
Access the full report for more information here.
