With Gulf economies experiencing dramatic changes in recent months, including the introduction of VAT and fee increases, we felt the time was right to refresh our annual salary survey.
While this format has been useful for many years and provided unique insight into the compensation expatriates can expect for some key positions, as we approach the end of the decade it has become increasingly clear that the job types included do not fully reflect the job market.
Additionally, it was primarily focused on management, providing less insight to the majority of employees lower down the hierarchy.
The new Streamlined Salary Survey for 2018 aims to address these issues in a simplified format that will prove relevant in the coming years as the Asian, Arab and Western wage gap narrows.
The most notable change is the addition of new lower-level roles such as HR director, logistics director, sales director and receptionist.
This means that the overall average monthly salary this year of $8,083 is 26.3 percent lower than last year, with some countries seeing much larger differences.
For example, Bahrain’s average was 25.18 percent lower than the previous year.
This year, Bahrain was found to be the third highest paying country among the five Gulf Cooperation Council countries surveyed, with an average monthly salary of $7,867.
This is 8.4 percent lower than top-paying Saudi Arabia, but only slightly higher than Kuwait’s average of $7,826 and Oman’s average of $7,846.
Read: Top 20 Salaries in Oman 2018
Read: Top 20 salaries in Kuwait 2018
The country with the highest salary for a principal position was Bahrain at $11,130.
This was 2.7 percent higher than the average salary in Oman, 32.2 percent higher than the UAE, 42.6 percent higher than Saudi Arabia, and 51.7 percent higher than Kuwait, although this may reflect differences in benefits paid outside of salary in each country.
The island nation also has the second-highest salary for hotel general managers, at $14,240, behind Kuwait’s $15,290 but 31 percent higher than Saudi Arabia’s $10,404.
But more broadly, Bahrain appears to be experiencing something of a recession, with labour ministry figures showing the country’s workforce contracted for the first time in five years in 2017.
This reflects the downturn linked to falling oil prices in recent years, and the country is considered one of the most vulnerable in the Middle East to oil market movements due to the size of its budget deficit.
Read: Bahrain’s workforce shrinks in 2017
Highest salary in Bahrain
(All amounts are monthly averages calculated from data compiled by three recruitment agencies)
CEO/MD – Multinational: $33,040
CEO/MD – Local Business: $23,625
Hotel General Manager: $14,240
Principal: $11,130
Property management company: $8,250
Lawyer: $8,133
Construction Project Manager: $7,809
Human Resources Manager: $7,438
Hiring Manager: $7,099
IT Manager: $6,520
PR Account Manager: $6,094
Sales/Marketing Manager: $5,216
Facilities Manager: $5,206
Healthcare General Practitioner: $4,790
Editor: $4,589
Office Manager: $4,491
Digital Marketing Specialist: $4,175
Bank manager: $3,963
Sales Executive: $3,774
Logistics Executive: $3,450
Senior Accountant: $3,282
Human Resources Executive: $2,933
Receptionist: $1,699
Overall average: $7,867
Recruiters who participated in our survey continue to see the Gulf region as an attractive place to work, predicting average wage growth across the region of 2-3% to 5% this year.
