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An average 9% hike in salaries across the GCC has failed to hit the healthcare sector, which reported an average industry pay rise of 6% last year, a regional survey has revealed.
The healthcare and education industries jointly registered the lowest increase in wages for the third year running, despite accelerated demand for staff, noted figures released by recruitment firm GulfTalent.com. The climb is, however, substantially higher than in previous years, due to Gulf-wide pay rises for public sector employees.
The report cited India's rising salaries as a driving factor behind the general climb in wages, as the GCC scrambles to retain its main supply of expatriates workers. The healthcare sector has resisted a similar move, said Umair Shoaib, Middle East consultant at Tuscan Health Medical Recruitment, adding that Asian employees, who dominate the industry, are still pulling in poor salaries, keeping pay increases to a minimum.
"Staff coming from India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka take lower salaries than people from the west, and that has an impact on wage increases," he said.
Commenting on the findings, Ryan Lay, Middle East consultant for recruitment firm Geneva Health, said low pay rates had left the company struggling to fill vacancies. The region is still attractive to clinical staff at the start of their career, he noted, but experienced doctors are less inclined to take up roles. "If the salary is less than their home country, it is not financially profitable for them to work here," he said.
Shoaib said local hospitals are evading the problem by setting aside high salaries to attract top ranking doctors, and making up the budget shortfall in low wage packets for more junior staff.
"I have hospitals offering money that a western-trained doctor wouldn't have touched five or six years ago as a junior - as low as ₤30,000 a year," he said. "But at the other end of the spectrum, top quality staff are still being offered good salaries."
