Do you deserve salary hike? Two steps to bigger paycheque in UAE

You might think you deserve a raise. After all, you’ve worked hard throughout the year and have exceeded all your key performance indicators.

But that doesn't always translate into your company budgeting more money for your increment.

Repeated surveys from various consultancies and recruitment companies have underlined the fact that firms across the region may not be generous in giving fatter paycheques to their employees this year.

Professional services recruiter Morgan McKinley indicates a scenario where UAE salaries are expected to remain broadly flat this year.

It is predicted that for 2016, salary increments would well be below the 5-per cent mark, which may not be good news for employees and candidates.

If you’re not happy with such increments, here are two simple ways you can get a bigger salary without having to prove yourself over and over again to your boss.

#1 Get a part-time work licence

Amendments made to the Federal Immigration and Labour Laws in 2010 permit UAE expatriates to hold a second job.

If you can convince your employer, landing a part-time job along with your current full-time job should do the trick.

In such cases, you must remain employed and sponsored by the first (full-time) employer who must consent in writing to you taking on a part-time job.

And, if your employer gives a go-ahead, all you need to do is to get the required approvals.

An application for a part-time work permit should be submitted to the Ministry of Labour by the second (part-time) employer together with supporting documents (including the first employer’s letter of consent) and payment of a fee, which varies according to the part-time employer’s status.

In many cases, the employers may allow employees to take on a second job where the employee can show that the part-time work will not interfere with or adversely affect the employee’s performance in the full time role.

But this will solely depend on your employer and how good is your work equation with her/him.

This may, in any case, be a quick-fix to add to your bank balance, but it can be exhausting as it will likely skew your work-life balance. Nevertheless, it could be a short-term solution until we start getting (deserved) double-digit pay hikes again.

#2 Change of job means a hike in salary

This one comes with the necessary dose of disclaimers. We aren’t suggesting for one moment that you should hop-skip jobs for the sake of it, or that you’ll find a new job in the blink of an eye.  

Nevertheless, if you’ve been in a job for several years and feel that you deserve to move on, remember that you’re never married to a job.

A better paying job with a better role should logically be on your radar. Research shows that chances of a substantial hike in a professional’s salary are higher when s/he switches jobs than when one sticks to their current role and firm.

According to a previous LinkedIn survey of more than 10,500 job-seekers, 74 per cent of people said they received a higher salary when they switched jobs.

So, it does make sense to adopt this way to earn a higher salary. And while jobs are not dime-a-dozen anymore, certain industries continue to hire in the UAE, with a number of roles in high demand.

The key is to be aware of where the jobs are and tune your job-hunt accordingly.

The latest Monster Employment Index lists the sectors that are hiring the most in the country and should be on your job hunt list.

Today, you are more likely to land a job in healthcare, retail/trade and logistics, consumer goods/FMCG, food & packaged food, home appliance, garments/textiles/leather, gems & jewellery than the low performing sectors like oil & gas.

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