Business News

Asian oil and gas sector losing talent to Middle East

Aug 12, 2008, 3:14 GMT

Singapore - The Asian oil-and-gas industry is facing a labour crunch crisis amid the lure of higher salaries in the Middle East, a management consultancy's report said on Tuesday. The Hay Group found workers in Asia are paid only a fraction of what a person in the same job would earn in the United Arab Emirates. For every dollar of guaranteed cash that a senior manager earns in the UAE, his counterparts in Singapore and Malaysia earn only 74 and 32 cents respectively, the report said. The manager in China earns 46 cents and only 17 cents in Indonesia, said the findings from the Hay Group's compensation and benefits database. Employees in Saudi Arabia and the UAE do not pay tax, leaving managers in these two markets enjoying the world's highest disposable income, the report said. Vijay Gandhi, general manager of Hay Group's Reward Information Services, added a note of caution. 'Although the pay differential is higher between the Gulf countries and Asia, the relative value change for a person to move from Asia to the Gulf is diminishing because of the high cost of living and inflation in the Gulf region,' The Business Times quoted Gandhi as saying. Home rents and expenses for children's education have doubled in the last two years, he noted.

Business News

Asian oil and gas sector losing talent to Middle East

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