It’s not very surprising that only 3% of employees in the UAE are satisfied with their salaries. This doesn’t necessarily mean that companies in the UAE are being unfair to their employees, rather it highlights the findings of a recent Bayt study which shows that in general, employees want better salaries.

Bayt.com, in partnership with YouGov, recently released this report exploring salary satisfaction across the UAE. The study shows that 67% of those polled think their current salaries are lower than what competitors are offering; most are looking for a salary increase this year. 27% of employees in the UAE expect to receive up to a 15% salary increase, 21% expect more than 15% and 28% don’t expect any increase at all.

One of the main reasons they seek an increase seems to be the high living cost in the UAE; more than half of the participants (53%) believe that their living cost increased more than 15% over the past year. The UAE is generally considered one of the most expensive Arab countries to live in and those who participated in the study link the increase in living cost to increases in rental fees, food prices and education fees. The majority (78%) of those polled believe that the living cost will continue to rise over the next year.

But despite the general disappointment with living costs and inadequate salaries, 30% of participants in the UAE stay at their jobs for between 4 and 7 years; 25% for a period of 3 years or less.

Check out the full Arabic report in grey box to the right to learn more about what people think the best salary structure is, how they like to be rewarded, and which perks are more important to today’s employees.