Low salary jobs in UAE – Ignore or Grab

Due to recent worldwide recession companies are regularly replacing expensive workforce with the cheap one without compromising on quality. Especially in UAE companies even offered fresh contracts to old staff on reduced salaries which were accepted by some employees too. If you read newspaper, there are plenty of jobs but when you reach salary figure you will be disappointed.

Scenario

In this scenario, experienced workforce who is trapped in high living cost is simply packing up and leaving the country. Some preferred to stay alone and sending families back home to keep their ball rolling and are waiting for the right time.

Although the current scenario seems negative for experienced and highly educated lot, the same is ideal for new entrants. UAE is a country where standards are being followed with all procedures either automated or well documented; making it fairly easy to get going even if you are appointed for a new assignment. The salary scale is too low in some cases that only bachelor or individual can afford expensive living in UAE. This has eliminated chances of tough competition on certain job titles. During this phase companies are more interested in running current operations, instead of enhancing, planning or expanding their business.

Right Approach

Due to recent visa policy of UAE, the residence visa is for the period of two years with no NOC requirement to switch job after two years. This means that if someone joins today even on minimal salary he/she can pass this phase and wait for the completion of two years after which new and high salary job can be searched. The other reason for accepting such job is the prerequisites for high profile jobs like driving license and knowledge of places and areas with in cities. Two year is ample time to fill such gaps and understand market demands.

Hot jobs and their Pay scales

When you look at the classified ads or bigger job advertisements usually placed by hiring agents/headhunters, you will find following jobs in great numbers with fairly low salaries

1-      Accounts                             Salary Range      1500 – 8000 Dirhams per month

2-      Sales                                                                      1500 – 5000

3-      Administration                                                  2500 – 8000

4-      Driving                                                                  1500 – 4000

5-      Construction                                                      1500 – 5000

6-      Skilled/Unskilled Labor                                  1000 – 4000

7-      Management                                                    2500 – 8000

8-      Information Technology                                               1500 – 8000

9-      Teaching and Education                                                1000 – 3500

10-   Housemaids / Servants                                 1000 – 2000

11-   Miscellaneous                                                   1000 – 3000

Cost of Living

The above pay scale clearly indicate the current market condition where even bigger companies know that human resource is available even on these nominal salaries. Recently companies downsized their workforce and replaced old one with the new one on fairly low packages. The question arise that whether the above pay scale is feasible to work in UAE? The answer is yes but with certain conditions.

1-      If you are a bachelor or living alone in UAE – You will make it more feasible when you live in sharing accommodation readily available and advertised in all parts of UAE.

2-      If you are married and your wife is also a working lady – If your kids are not school going

3-      If you are living with your parents or close relatives

4-      If you are living in remote or suburb areas of cities

5-      If you travel on public transport only like Buses and Metro Trains

6-      If you are healthy and maintain your fitness without getting into wrong habits

7-      If you avoid lavish spending and strictly follow your budget

8-      If you save some amount regularly to avoid any mishap or unforeseen incident

9-      If you avoid using credit cards and limit your unnecessary buying and spending

10-   Limit your telephone expenses

11-   Last but not least, avoid penalties and fines. Even crossing road from highway/speedway can cost you 200 Dirhams fine. If you drive car then you will find radars and other speed monitoring devices that can fine you for over speeding up to 600 Dirhams in some cases means greater chunk of your salary.

Residence

There are multiple choices of residence

1-      Working and Living in Dubai – Dubai is a costly city where even one room apartment will be available for around 2500/5000 Dirhams per month. For bachelors, rooms of bed space sharing options are available in various areas of Dubai. Good room in neat and clean building is about 1500 Dirhams per month, while room sharing / bed space sharing can cost you from 250 to 1000 Dirhams per month depending upon locality, persons per room and building condition.

2-      The most preferred option of low income group is living in Sharjah, a city adjacent to Dubai. Sharjah has more choices of variety of real estate from luxurious to ordinary living places. The cost of living is 40% lower than Dubai in some areas. Even highly paid employees are living in Sharjah where they get double accommodation in the same price as compared to Dubai. The only problem is daily travelling between Sharjah and Dubai that becomes worse in peak hours.

3-      Northern Emirates – Ajman and other cities are good for cheaper options as people move towards these cities to arrange spacious apartments for their families. You will have to add one more hour to your daily travelling if you live in Northern Emirates.

There is a simple comparison chart below that can give you proper idea of accommodation available Per annum on rent
Accommodation                              Dubai                                    Sharjah                                 Ajman / North

Studio (1 Room Apartments)      25000-90000                       11000-25000                       9000-15000
1 Bedroom + Hall                              30000-150000                     14000-28000                       13000-22000
2 Bedroom + Hall                              40000-190000                     25000-50000                       20000-40000
3 Bedroom + Hall                              75000-250000                     45000-90000                       30000-50000

Note: Abu Dhabi has very limited residence options with cost of living 30% more than Dubai

Transportation

Although Dubai is an expensive city but has more transport options available as compared to other emirates. Dubai is known for organized bus routes, large pool of well-maintained and punctual busses, efficient metro train and highly maintained taxis including water taxis. If you don’t have your own transport, it is better you should spend more on accommodation and live in Dubai. If you prefer travelling through public transport, then you will have to purchase a plastic card known as NOL card to travel either by bus or metro train. You can purchase if from major bus stand, metro station and Spinneys supermarkets. The minimum cost is 20 dirhams with one way travelling from approx. 2 dirhams and above. You are warned not to travel without cards or with insufficient balance to avoid heavy penalties in case of random checking of officials. All cards can be topped up at machines installed on various bus stops.

If you are living in Sharjah and doing job in Dubai then you should consider places where you can easily commute between these cities. This is to be noted that using taxi to commute between Sharjah and Dubai is not feasible as there are additional 20 Dirhams charged on each trip, which can disturb your budget. If you wish to save money and live in Sharjah then following three options are suggested to minimize your suffering.

1-      Jubail Intercity Bus Station – Situated near fairly affordable community of Sharjah commonly known as Rolla.  You may look for cheaper but decent accommodation around Abu Shagara and Al Qasmiya areas for easy access to Jubail Station. Following are intercity bus schedule (courtesy http://www.dubaifaqs.com )

Route	From	To	Via	First	Last	Duration	Frequency
E301	Gold Souq	Al Jubail		0630	2300	40-60 mins	30 minutes
E301	Al Jubail	Gold Souk		0600	2230	50-70 mins	30 minutes
E302	Al Karama	Rolla Sq		0645	2245	35-70 mins	30 minutes
E302	Rolla Square	Al Karama		0615	2245	50-70 mins	30 minutes
E303	Baniyas Sq Deira	Al Jubail		0600	2350	35 minutes	10 minutes
E303	Al Jubail	Baniyas Sq Deira		0530	2350	45-50 mins	10 minutes
E304	Satwa	Rolla Square		0630	2230	50-80 mins	30 minutes
E304	Rolla Square	Satwa		0630	2230	60-90 mins	30 minutes
E305	Ittihad Square	Al Jubail		0600	2350	40-50 mins	10 minutes
E305	Al Jubail	Etihad Square		0545	2355	50-70 mins	10 minutes
E306	Al Ghubaiba	Al Jubail		0600	2330	40-50 mins	10 minutes
E306	Al Jubail	Al Ghubaibah		0600	2340	50-60 mins	10 minutes
E307³	Al Muraqqabat	Al Jubail		0630	2200	30-40 mins	12-15 mins
E307³	Al Jubail	Al Muraqabat		0715	2200	40-45 mins	12-15 mins
E308	Jebel Ali main gate	Al Jubail		0715	2115	55-90 mins	1 hour
E308	Al Jubail	Jebel Ali main gate		0545	2245	75-120 mins	1 hour
E309³	Al Ittihad Sq	Al Wasit Square		0630	2210	40-60 mins	20 minutes
E309³	Al Waset Square	Al Etihad Sq		0610	2210	70-75 mins	20 minutes
E311	Al Ghusais	Al Jubail
E311	Al Jubail	Al Ghusais
	Night Service
E306	Al Ghubaiba	Al Jubail		2300	2400	35 minutes	10 minutes
E306	Al Ghubaiba	Al Jubail		2400	0530	35 minutes	30 minutes
E306	Al Jubail	Al Ghubaibah		2300	2400	40 minutes	10 minutes
E306	Al Jubail	Al Ghubaibah		2400	0530	40 minutes	30 minutes

 

2-      Living in areas inside Sharjah which are adjacent to Dubai can also save you time and money. Areas like Nahda, Taawun and Sharjah Industrial Area (Close to city border with Dubai) are available on reasonable terms for both families and bachelors. People simply walk out of Sharjah and enter into Dubai to take benefit of efficient Dubai transport system. Buses reach stops fairly regularly and punctually, ensuring timely attendance at offices. For labor class and low income group, area around National Paint Factory is well known. You may find fairly cheap but spacious accommodation in this area.

3-      Third option is living on proper bus routes and near taxi stands. People often prefer parks and open spaces, but ensuring that you are near to Taxi stand and Bus stop will save you from lot of hassle. You need to ensure that your journey is limited to one or two bus change, otherwise it is better to go on taxi as there will be no difference.

Following websites will help you plan your journey

http://www.stc.gov.ae/

http://www.rta.ae

The above information compiled is for better understanding and making feasibility before deciding to work in UAE. The accuracy of information can be verified from relevant websites. I hope this will help in your future and will make you a more confident job seeker/ employee in UAE.