About half the people living in the UAE are optimistic about the country's economy and their own financial futures, but a vast majority lament that their salaries are not keeping pace with the cost of living, according to a survey by Bayt.com and YouGov.
According to the quarterly Mena Consumer Confidence Index released yesterday, 49 per cent of respondents said they expected their finances to improve in the next year. And 51 per cent said better times were in store for the UAE's economy.Those mixed feelings were coupled with negativity about jobs, however, with only about a third of people saying they thought the number of jobs available would increase in the next year.
Further, a vast majority of respondents said their incomes were not matching rising living costs after a year in which 68 per cent said their financial situations stayed the same or worsened.
Just 13 per cent said they were happy with their current jobs, with nearly all of the remainder either neutral or displeased about their careers.
"The overall feeling is that while the coming year will be favourable for business and corporations, this may not necessarily reflect on employees' benefits," said Amer Zureikat, the vice president of sales at Bayt.com.
Against that backdrop, just 17 per cent of UAE residents said this was a good time to make large outlays on items such as cars and property. Almost half were "neutral" about buying in the next year.
Bayt.com, a jobs website, conducted the online survey in partnership with the research company YouGov between June 1 and July 17.
The sample consisted of 7,245 respondents over 18 years old from across the Middle East and a multitude of nationalities.
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Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now
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Director: Jared Hess
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Rating: 3/5
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
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Engine: Duel electric motors
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Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
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AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
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Company profile
Name: Tratok Portal
Founded: 2017
Based: UAE
Sector: Travel & tourism
Size: 36 employees
Funding: Privately funded
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Producer: Maddock Films, Jio Movies
Director: Amar Kaushik
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi, Aparshakti Khurana, Abhishek Banerjee
Rating: 3.5
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- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
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The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
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Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)