eFinancialCareers

Expansion is the name of the game for regional banks in the GCC. They are increasing headcount and salaries so rapidly it’s even affecting their bottom line. The latest round of quarterly reporting makes for interesting reading, and not just because of the often double-digit increases in profits. In most cases, they are spending around twice as much on staff as they were this time last year. Shuaa Capital’s Q2... Read more

Pay in the Middle East is spiralling. It now makes up almost 60% of banks’ operating costs. A survey by consultancy Hewitt Associates suggests salaries in Oman and Qatar lead the way when it comes to eating into banks’ profits. But pay across the Middle East banking sector is becoming a problem – particularly when you consider that the average US bank aims to keep compensation costs below 50% of... Read more

Rules forbidding the issue of stock options to expats in the Middle East are a major deterrent to foreign talent, so are banks offering any alternatives? The concept of Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) is a standard part of compensation packages in developed financial markets like the UK and US, but laws in the Gulf mean that expat employees are forbidden from owning stock in local companies. Lynda O’Mahoney, senior... Read more

Banks are splashing the cash on locals as they struggle to meet nationalization targets within a limited talent pool. But what do they really think about this? The government in the UAE has decreed that in all firms 40% of employees should be locals, which is no mean feat when you consider that only 20% of the population are Emiratis. Add niche banking skills to the mix and it becomes... Read more

Will a tumbling dollar spur the GCC countries to come good on their promise of a single currency for 2010 and what will this mean for pay? The meeting of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) this month had traders speculating on a possible de-pegging from the weak dollar, which is spurring high inflation within the GCC region. However, no clear decision was reached and the GCC meeting’s conclusion was that 2010 was... Read more

Our survey suggests Gulf bankers are an optimistic bunch. Just when we accuse you of being a cynical bunch, financial services workers in the Gulf emerge as among the most optimistic in the world. The results of eFinancial Careers.com’s survey are in, and amid the global doom and gloom surrounding the credit markets an overwhelmingly positive sentiment has emerged from the Gulf region. The survey took in responses from 18,000 financial services workers... Read more

Which banks and bankers are suffering the most? No prizes for guessing… ACUTE PAIN 1. Merrill Lynch Share price: down 44% since January 2007. Bonus per head*: $181.3k, down 25% on 2006. Net profit for the first nine months of 2007: $1.9bn, down 61%. Redundancies: none announced so far, but exit of chief exec Stan O’Neal is imminent. 2. Bear Stearns Share price: down 38% since January 2007. Bonus per head*: $407.6k, down 20% on 2006. Net... Read more

The rising cost of living and strong demand for specialist skills are forcing banking pay up by as much as 40% a year. “Demand for investment bankers, structured finance professionals, and client relationship managers has driven the dramatic increase in compensation over the last three years,” says Alex Cormack, director and head of Middle East at headhunters Sheffield Haworth. In exceptional cases, headhunters say senior management packages have increased from US$1.5m to... Read more

Costs may be rising, but you can still make more money working and living in Dubai than in London. Life in Dubai is 40% cheaper than London and 12% cheaper than New York. But salaries for senior bankers are often on a par and bonuses are rising to match. Even in those sectors where pay is higher in London, it may only be just enough to offset the cost differential. For... Read more

A new salary survey suggests Gulf private equity funds' pay is comparable with, if not better than, their counterparts in the West. An associate working in the Middle East can expect to take home anywhere between US$80k and US$130k a year tax free, plus a 50% to 100% bonus, according to London-based recruitment firm EM Financial Services. This compares favourably to salaries of between €70k and €105k (US$94k and US$141k) and... Read more

Local GCC banks don't pay as well as international rivals, but that may be changing. Russell Adam, a consultant at London-based search firm Akamai Financial Markets, tells us, "If you're on an expat package, it can definitely be beneficial to work for an international bank. However, your career may progress more rapidly at a fast-growing local house." Gareth Clayton, a director at search firm Charterhouse Partnership in Dubai, says local banks are... Read more

Despite a candidate-driven market, it seems local banks in the Middle East have not been pushing the dhow out far enough to attract staff. A senior local recruiter in Dubai says that as a result they are losing staff to the international banks as compensation becomes more focused on bonuses. Some of the newer regional players are throwing big numbers to retain or attract talent, “but you have to if you... Read more

Wall Street bankers are now paid on a par with colleagues in Asia, Dubai bankers saw the biggest pay increases in the last bonus round, and London’s bankers clearly came out on top. Top bankers in the UK received compensation increases ranging from 17% to 22%, according to the latest survey from financial services search firm Napier Scott. In the US, the average figure was 10% to 15%. By comparison, bankers... Read more

The dollar might have hit new lows last month, but that’s not stopping Gulf employers hiring new staff from Europe. Companies need specific skills and if they have to pay more for them, that’s what they’ll do, recruiters say. The mighty dollar’s drop against the euro and sterling has left employers in the Gulf – where currencies are dollar-linked and pay agreed in dollar sums – forking out more to offer... Read more