According to the latest survey, up to 50% of employees are dissatisfied with their salaries, compared to the mere 4% who are very happy with their earnings. Websites, like YouGov and Bayt.com, reported that 66% of the respondents of the survey felt that their salary is lower than what other companies in their industry had to offer. Moreover, over half of UAE workers are demanding an income increase in 2015, and 40% admitted that they didn’t receive one in 2014. Out of those who did receive an increase, 52% are quite unhappy, while 25% are either very or modestly content. So, some employees in the UAE are happy with what they have, but the majority are unhappy. There has been an increase in costs of living, according to 87% of the respondents, with some saying that it increased more than 20% in 2014.

This has contributed to the increase in different types of costs, such as rent, food, beverages, and utilities by sizeable percentages, and following this further, up to 79% of the respondents expect the living costs to continue rising through the year. These increases in living costs, provide more fuel to the demands of the employees for higher salaries. On the other hand, 52% of the people living in UAE, responded by saying that they live a better life, when it comes to lifestyle, in comparison to people of similar generations in their native country, despite the high cost of living. The increasing gap between the amount earned by employees and the living costs in UAE is evident, according to Suhail Al-Masri, who is the VP of Sales at Bayt.com. Employees have conflicts with their bosses, and according to Elissavet Vraka from YouGov, a salary boost is very necessary if employers wish to keep their employees loyal and halt them from switching to other companies.