Dh70,000+ bonuses, still UAE bankers plan to switch

Bonuses have increased in the Middle East, but bankers are still an unhappy lot and are contemplating leaving their employer if better opportunities come their way.

According to a 2014 Middle East bonus survey conducted by eFinancialCareers, a financial services careers website, majority (nearly 60 per cent) of the participants, who took part in the survey, are unhappy with their bonuses and are looking to quit their current jobs.

The figures released show that average bonuses across the region were $22.7k (Dh83,377), with bankers in Saudi Arabia the best remunerated - $32.1k (Dh117,903), followed by Qatar - $21.9k (Dh80,438), United Arab Emirates - $20k (Dh73,460) and Kuwait with $11.3k (Dh41,505).

Interestingly, the plans to leave current employers are revealed when a good percentage of the bankers have actually received better bonuses than the year before but it still falls short of expectations.

The survey highlights that 46.3 per cent claimed to have received a bigger bonus than 2013, whereas 25 per cent of the respondents claim their bonuses remained the same. At the same time, 21.3 per cent said to have received less this year, perhaps making them the unhappiest lot.

And the payout has left the majority dissatisfied. eFinancialCareers statistics show that 48.7 per cent are disappointed with this year’s bonus and 34.7  per cent were a neutral lot, saying it was what they’d anticipating. It’s only the minority (mere 9.3 per cent) who seem to be happy as the bonus given exceeded their expectations.

Majority of the bankers also believe that whatever increase they got in their bonus pay out is because of their own performance rather than the company’s they work for. Around 47 per cent of respondents cited their own performance as the key reason for an increase whereas 28 per cent said this was due to an improvement in the company’s revenues.

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