You will no longer become rich in Dubai
Investment bankers from the UK and US still appear keen to make the move to Dubai. However, they're now accepting salaries up to 30% lower.
Arqaam Capital, an investment bank in Dubai, says it's still seeing a flood of expat interest, mainly from London and New York.
"Candidates are more realistic now in terms of rationale for making a move and, of course, salary expectations," says Marc Hoodless, the bank's director of human resources.
He says it's becoming increasingly common for expats to accept a package worth an average of 30% less than they would have demanded six months ago.
Malcolm Wood, head of front office roles at search firm Hamilton Chase, says: "Candidates are much more flexible with compensation because they're no longer in such a strong bargaining position. However, it's not across the board. More senior roles and revenue generating positions such as sales are holding up, while trading and posts lower down the ranks are taking bigger concessions."
Jeremy Trevors, director of Middle East focused headhunters J.J. Associates, adds: "There's an element of banks trying to pick people up on the cheap."
The bursting of the Dubai bubble comes after various banks have made redundancies in the region. M&A activity, which slumped by 46% last from the peak of 2007 according to Dealogic, has continued to tank into 2009. So far this year, there's been just $2.6bn worth of M&A deals completed in the MENA region, says Dealogic.
Not long ago, Dubai was seen as relatively immune to the slump. A salary survey from Napier Scott said compensation dropped by an average of 10% last year, compared to 62% in London.
