JEDDAH – Data from the winter update of Aon Hewitt's annual Middle East Salary Increase Survey – based on participation from almost 120 companies across the GCC and Egypt – has confirmed the underlining stability in the market with relatively consistent rates of increase and overall growth in salaries year-on-year. The average salary increase across all sectors in Saudi Arabia was consistent with levels predicted by participating organizations during 2011. On average, the organizations surveyed had predicted a salary increase of 5.9 percent at the end of 2011, which has proved to be accurate with actual increases of 5.8 percent reported at the end of 2012. Aon Hewitt, the US-based provider of human capital and management consulting services, said the survey results give organizations an opportunity to reforecast their salary increases for 2013, having last made their estimates in the middle of 2012. Overall, the organizations surveyed in the Kingdom revised their forecast of average salary increase during 2013 from 5.8 percent down to 5.6 percent. Martin McGuigan, head of Reward Consulting at Aon Hewitt Middle East, said “the Aon Hewitt Middle East Salary Increase Survey provides a valuable snapshot of overall trends in salary increases in the Kingdom and wider region and enables organizations to benchmark their forecasts with the market in order to remain competitive. The winter update suggests there is increasing confidence and stability in the market.” “Across the GCC, we are seeing a growing trend toward performance-based pay, and this appears to be coming more prevalent in the Kingdom as the market continues to mature, giving organizations a means of capping their pay budget in accordance with business performance.” “Indeed, Aon Hewitt has seen an increase in demand for such information from a number of core industry verticals – including education, healthcare and media – and, as a result, we will soon be launching a series of new data surveys to give businesses better insight into salary levels within their specific sector,” he added. The report also revealed that no participating firms in the Kingdom – or indeed GCC – were planning a hiring freeze in 2013. In addition, none of the companies surveyed in the Kingdom are planning to make any redundancies this year while a large percentage – 50 percent – are actually looking to increase recruitment this year compared to 2012. In addition, only 9.5 percent are considering a pay freeze during 2013. Aon Hewitt has been conducting its annual landmark salary survey across the globe for 36 years; launching it in the Middle East for the first time in 2009. The survey was conducted during 2012 in seven regional countries: Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The survey is part of Aon Hewitt's suite of evidence-based, research-led studies including Qudurat, Best Employers Middle East (BEME), Total Compensation Measurement (TC) and People Risk Index (PRI). — SG
