It seems the years of expats getting lucrative salaries and benefit packages may be slowly coming to an end, at least in the UAE. In a recent survey conducted by Middle Eastern job site Bayt.com, most workers indicated that they think perk-filled contracts for expat workers are over. Of the workers surveyed, 45 percent said that they believe the days of favorable contracts for expats are no longer, while 29 percent thought they were still common and 25 percent who weren’t quite sure.
There are two factors that could be behind the recent decline in lucrative packages for expats. The most obvious, of course, is the fact that just about the entire world (except Brazil) is in economic turmoil, and businesses simply do not have the funds to pay for things like education for children of expat workers, or annual flights to expat’s home countries like they used to. The second factor is, in places that have drastically improved in economic standing in recent years, companies are finding it easier to hire skilled local workers, and do not feel the need to lure foreigners with huge salaries and bonuses.
Going along with the second factor, the survey also asked workers if they felt the expat packages were unfair to local workers. This one was more split, as there were 39 percent who did, 39 percent who didn’t, and 22 percent who weren’t sure what they thought about it. When they were asked to tell which benefits most commonly made up the expats superior packages, 22 percent said higher salary, while the rest were fairly evenly split between a bigger housing allowances, help with education, and plane tickets home.
Do you see this as a worldwide trend? Do you think you’d be as likely to decide to work in a different country if there were no economic benefits to doing so? In this survey, 41 percent said that the biggest motivation to become an expat is making more money, while 31 percent said a positive lifestyle change and 18 percent said a career opportunity. Feel free to discuss in our comments section below, and remember that with Stanacard’s international forwarding, at least one part of your relocation expenses will always be low.
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