Salary Survey Guide UAE 2025
Get the industry insider’s insight: Your 2025 salary guide for hiring and jobs across the UAE
The Middle East's jobs market is constantly moving, and we have the inside knowledge. We don’t just help you keep up – we make sure you stay one step ahead with the Middle East's most comprehensive, data-led salary benchmarking tool.
Our Salary guide is your definitive guide to what’s happening in your industry, and where it’s heading next. We arm you with the facts and analysis to take bold decisions, fine tune the next steps in your career search and outsmart your competition when it comes to talent attraction and retention.
We offer salary and market insights for a wide variety of positions within the UAE, across a variety of disciplines, see our expertise section below.
Salary insights, the power of knowledge
Informed by real-world market data, analysis and insights, our Salary Survey leaves no stone unturned to reveal your industry’s:
- Trends to watch
- In-demand skillsets
- Salary expectations
- Compensation and benefits information
We put the power in your hands with tools to drill down on the sectors, roles and stats that matter to you. So, whether you’re seeking global perspectives, national knowledge, or local intel – you’ll find it in our Salary Survey.
Download your copy today.
Key Salary & Compensation insights in the UAE
Enhance your compensation strategy with Market Intelligence services
Drive successful talent acquisition and retention with our data-driven insights. Achieve workforce diversity, team growth, and strategic relocations with confidence. Our expert team delivers precise salary and benefits benchmarking, talent and market mapping, and competitor analysis to elevate your hiring strategy.Hiring Manager? Benchmark your teams salaries
If you’re growing your team or simply need to retain the talent you have, the Salary Survey gives you the insights you need to have the right team in place to keep your business moving forward.
Candidate? Find out your salary with an individual salary guide
Whether you’re looking for a new role or preparing for your end-of-year appraisal, the Salary Survey will arm you with everything you need to know to get what you deserve.
Our outlook for 2025 in the UAE
The Middle East market throughout 2025 is set to be a transformative time as businesses adapt to the political and economic shifts of 2024. With regional geopolitical changes and economic diversification efforts, companies will reassess their operational strategies. Stabilising energy prices and increased foreign investments are expected to create a cautiously optimistic business environment. Evolving regulatory landscapes, especially in GCC countries, may introduce heightened compliance requirements, impacting hiring practices. To maintain flexibility and manage costs, companies might explore contract and temporary roles. Skills-based recruitment will remain crucial as organisations seek talent to drive growth in sectors like technology, renewable energy, and financial services.
The influence of Gen Z in the workforce will underscore the importance of purpose-driven cultures and employee wellbeing. Balancing flexible working arrangements between remote and in-office settings will be vital to meet employee preferences. Innovation will be prioritized, with investments in AI and digital transformation to enhance competitiveness. Amid tighter budgets, refining Employee Value Propositions (EVPs) will be key for attracting and retaining top talent. In a year of change, successful Middle Eastern businesses will embrace adaptability, diversity, and forward-thinking strategies to navigate the evolving landscape.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Why should I use the Robert Walters Middle East salary guide?
To find out what a reasonable salary is for the job and industry you are in or are thinking of moving into, use our guide to discover the average pay for someone with a similar level of experience as you and view your earning potential. -
What are the benefits of using our salary benchmarking guide?
Whether you're due a pay rise, promotion, or bonus, our guide allows you to review accurate market salary and pay averages to see how you can compare to others in your sector across the Middle East. Having accurate data-led information will help identify exactly how much you should be earning so you can prepare to negotiate your pay in your next performance review. -
When is the best time to negotiate my pay?
Pay reviews often take place during the annual and half-year employee performance review periods. Make sure you take this into consideration and time your negotiation right. If the annual pay review is in January, and you call the meeting for February, you're likely to have missed the boat. In such a case, November would be the most suitable time here. -
What is the salary benchmarking process and why is it important?
Salary benchmarking is the process of comparing salaries across the market for a particular job and providing a range and average for a particular role which can help guide an employer's decision-making on pay or bonuses during appraisal period or when making a new hire. The benchmarking process is essential for assessing and comparing pay and compensation packages in relation to the market and of those provided by competitors. Pay and compensation benchmarking can also provide significant competitor advantage, through the retention and attraction of top talent and enhancing an organisations reputation. -
How do I benchmark my salary?
In partnership with a data collection specialist, a benchmarking tool offers a fully comprehensive list of salary ranges and averages based on location, experience level and more. You can view the latest salary range and averages in our 2025 guide. -
How should employers evaluate employee pay & compensation during performance reviews?
Salary and compensation reviews often take place during the annual and half-year employee performance reviews. In tangent with the employee performance scoring, you can use a salary benchmarking tool to inform the pay and compensation review process. The tool also gives good insight into market trends in-demand skill sets. So, use performance reviews to see where the employee fits relative to the external jobs market and avoid losing in-demand talent through effective pay and compensation strategies.
Bespoke salary benchmarking
Using a combination of our own data, publicly available insights and our recruitment experts, we build bespoke overviews of the salaries and benefits required to attract talent.