Mrs_Twanky

Hi British Expats.

Please forgive my posting what must be a regular question, but you all seem so nice that I hope you will let me get away with it...

My employer is opening up in Dubai. I am thinking of coming back. I lived in the UAE for 5 years in the early 90's. I have been back a lot as I have clients in Dubai, but not sure about current salaries and such. Back in 1994 I was single and on 18,000 a month and 90,000 a year for housing and it felt like I was a living pretty well. Now I am married, have 2 kids school age (7 and 9) and feel like as soon as I get hold of a few quid the inland revenue turns up at my door. Sick of eeking-by in the UK.

But... I have no real idea how much the expat landscape has changed. I remember that the most fun we could have in 1991 was to head over to Pancho Villa's and get shots of Tequillia from the midgit dressed like a Mexican revolutionary with shotglases in his gunbelt (once I walked through a plate glass window... oh happy days...)

I have recently attended the Wild Wadi and had dinner at the Buddah Bar drinks at the Royal Mirage etc... and I wonder if the employment landscape has changed as much as the physical?

Would anyone let me know what is a good salary in Dubai today in your opinion? I am punting for 50,000 a month and 160 housing. Should I be happy with less? Should I push for more?

Thanks,

Widow Twanky

IndieG

Hi Twanky,

Welcome to the forum! It would help if you tell us which industry you are in and at what managment level you expect to join.

No idea what kind of lifestyle you plan to have in Dubai - so cannot say whether above salary is good for you or not.

I would personally consider the above salary very good indeed.

Cheers
Anya

Mrs_Twanky

Thanks,

This seems the general concensus. Not expecting any glitz, just the ability to go out for dinner on a whim and not have to mentally calculate how much I have in my account. That sort of thing...

I presenly live in a nice village in South Cambs and just want to make sure I am not reducing my situation by coming back to Dubai. I don't trust my own judgment, only other people's.

T

IndieG

OK, with that kind of salary you can go out for brekkie, lunch and dinner!

seh2000

Hi!
I am new to this forum!

Now, I am offered a job, within telecom as a senior project manager, but the company ask me to put a "price" on my self and basically nowhere on the net I seen people mention salaries! Guess its a big no-no...but here I saw the post from Twanky...!!!

Allow me to ask to Twanky and others at this forum.
The mentioned 50.000 I assume this is 50.000 AED/M and the 160 is 160.000 AED/y?
Now is this a realistic amount with in the telecom sector in Dubai?

We are wife and one son and one son living abroad, we been living many places before, right now we live in Lagos, Nigeria. What package should we ask for?

Appreciate your honest responses...

Warm Regards - Steen

Mrs_Twanky

Hard to say - how much do you make now?

I am not being offered a job in Dubai but am planning to move with my present employer. The salary is just a simple conversion of my UK salary using 6.9 AED : 1 GBP. I am still negotiating housing etc...

Dubai generally offers salaries based upon the culture you originate from. Go figure...

T

seh2000

Hello T.!

Understand culture issue as I worked many years ago in Kuwait. By birthplace is Denmark and I am a Danish citizen.

Currently I make some 18000Euros, plus full expat package (housing (all paid), staff, car (all paid), international medical insurance for who family, vacation and tickets, etc.)

Understand if salary and package will not be the same, I am trying to find a number to give to the company in question...

S

Mrs_Twanky

I don't see any reason why you would ask for anything less than you are making now. Use your current package as a guide and negotiate from there. Start by asking for 86,000AED a month and get them to match uyour existing benefits package.

Employers in the UAE will try and get you to lower your salary due to Dubai being tax-free, but I don't buy this argument and neither should you. It would not take much to nutralise this by convincing them that you are running your earning through a tax-optimal account in Luxembourg anyway, (and if you are not then you are crazy).

If you are being paid 85k a month then you are worth 85k a month. End of story. The fact you are not taxed is a benefit for you, not your employer. Remember that your employer pays no tax on you either. No social security, capital gains etc... So you should not allow them to have it both ways.

Twank.

Eeyore

Go for more if they'll give it to you, but 50k per month would be a very good salary for Dubai... just 4.6% of the population here earns more than 20k per month. If you get school fees paid on top of that, you'd be laughing.

If you want to have your pick of places to live, though, you want to be looking at 250k for housing. 160k will cover a reasonable villa, but you'd be in the price range in which a lot of people are fighting for the same thing... if you can go to the more rareified heights of 200K-plus, you'll have much more choice.

seh2000

The salary I got today is based on a job as consultant that tend to be higher then fixed employment which the job in Dubai is. So maybe its not right to comapare appels and pears? Salary here is tax free too...and I do use an offshore bank
S

Mrs_Twanky

Seh - It is usually true that fixed employment pays less than a contract because fixed employment offers you:

1) a more stable work environment protected by employment law
2) Regular company benefits

Neither of which apply when moving to Dubai. So think carefully.

Also - I am sorry if I misunderstood you - you are on 18000€ a month?

Twank

Jammy_Dodgers

Coming here on a contract is a nightmare.

Firstly, your contract will be between your umbrella company/agency and your new employer.

For you to get residency you will need a direct contract between YOU and the local company.
(as a contractor this is never the case..there will always be a company in-between)

Im here as a consultant on UK contractor rates , but because my contract is between my agency and the company here, i dont have a direct employment contract (only a contract between me and the agency).


Beleive me, life is a fair bit harder out here without residency/local bank account etc..

(I have been told they will resolve this for me.. i'll let you know the work around)