Here's why your UAE employer is likely to give you a 2014 bonus

Have you already been informed by your supervisor that you have a tidy bonus coming to you for all of your hard work in 2013? If you haven’t, there are chances that you may as 2013 was a good one for business in the country.

Recruitment experts in the country believe that many, if not all, sectors may be selectively giving out bonuses to keep employees happy and retain talent as 2014 is projected to be even better, and this may lead to more employees changing jobs as the market improves.

“Emphatically yes,” says Toby Simpson, Managing Director at The Gulf Recruitment Group. “In general we believe employers will be giving out bigger bonuses this year than perhaps they should,” he told Emirates 24|7.

Simpson believes that salaries haven’t kept pace with the improved confidence in the country and thus employers will be jittery as far as staff retention is concerned. This, he maintains, may prompt them to incentivise employees.

“Salaries haven’t risen as fast as they might have with resurgent business confidence so there is nervousness about staff retention due to increased demand for talent. Companies with profits to spend are likely to use bonuses as a means to bridge the salary satisfaction gap to aid staff retention,” he explains.

Even though many companies will be thinking about giving away year-end bonuses, not all sectors are likely to opt for them.

Simpson has his picks here. “Major winners are likely to be those in asset management and private equity world. They are likely to see a good level of bonus as funds are beginning to flow back, but this will still only translate to mid to low bonuses in the investment banking industry. Logistics, automotive and real estate sectors are likely to pay well, particularly for sales and revenue generating staff, but still the bonus mentality is not as prevalent as it could be in retail, leisure and manufacturing sectors,” he says.

James Wakefield, Regional Director at Cobalt Recruitment, believes financial services will be the sector where it is most likely that bonuses will be given.

“Financial services will, as always, be the sector in which bonuses are especially prevalent,” he says but other than that, “paying of bonuses very much depends on the company.”

Hasnain Qazi, Middle East Business Manager at Huxley Associates, too believes that bonuses are very much dependent on the company and the individual and cannot be limited to one particular sector.

“All sectors may give bonuses but ultimately it is based on the discretion and performance in addition to profitability of the company/department you work for locally and sometimes internationally as well,” he sums up.

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