Hire and hire again

How long are you planning to stay in your job? Dubai recruiters say staff with itchy feet are a real and growing problem.

"A few professionals are now investing in short term staff due to the high turnover," says one local mortgage broker. "In the last year alone, at least five of my colleagues have left."

Investment banks appear to be suffering a similar problem. Lehman Brothers chief Richard Fuld says 20% to 30% of the bank's emerging markets staff quit each year - and in Dubai, where staff shortages are particularly acute - the problem may be worse still.

Employees to fill the gap sometimes have to come from other firms, say recruiters at Mackenzie Executive Search. "The shortage of experienced staff leads to hiring people from other firms, of course, but the gap is also filled by bringing in staff from overseas," managing director James Mackenzie tells us.

As many as 85% of the 3.1m people in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are foreigners. Bangladeshis, Filipinos, Indians, Iranians and Europeans account for the bulk of foreign workers.

There's a clear understanding, however, that high staff turnover is bad for business. Employment loyalty is measured by the 'switching premium' - ie, the minimum percentage salary increase expected by employees before they would consider switching to another employer.

The average switching premium in the UAE was less than 10% last year, according to recruitment sources, a telltale sign of employees' openness to offers. In an effort to reduce this a little, recruiters say Dubai's financial services firms are seeking to tie employees in by issuing them with additional equity.