Since 2001, Watson Wyatt Data Services has been surveying the Oil & Gas sector with success in markets such as Kazakhstan, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia and more recently Egypt, Russia, UAE and Libya.
Based on the feedback and interest collected from the sector, Watson Wyatt is aiming to publish dedicated O&G reports in the following countries:
| Middle-East | North-Africa | West Equatorial Africa |
| Bahrain Kuwait Oman Qatar Saudi Arabia UAE |
Algeria Egypt Libya |
Angola Cameroun Congo Gabon Ghana Nigeria |
Pay practices in the Oil and Gas sector are often more influenced by industry than geography therefore Watson Wyatt will publish a regional report. In Sub-Saharan Africa Watson Wyatt is going to provide information for every country where sufficient data will be available.
In order for you to get an inside view of Watson Wyatt’s current Oil & Gas sector capabilities as well as our survey intentions for 2009, please refer to the attached O&G EMEA presentation as well as the presentation on our offerings in the Sub-Saharan region:
2009 WWDS Oil & Gas EMEA (PDF)
SSA O&G 2009 Overview (PDF)
For further information please contact:
Robert Richter
Compensation Consultant
Watson Wyatt Middle East
Premises No.1, 8th Floor, Block 10
Dubai International Academic City
00971 44363513 (direct)
00971 43640096 (office)
00971 501895816 (mobile)
Robert.Richter@watsonwyatt.com
http://www.watsonwyatt.com/
http://www.watsonwyatt.com/uae
DUBAI – June 9, 2009 – Organisations in the Middle East are managing costs tightly in response to the economic climate, but cost cutting efforts are changing focus in the second quarter of 2009, according to consultants Watson Wyatt.
A survey of participants at a recent Watson Wyatt Middle East seminar found that most organisations have already implemented cost cutting ‘quick wins’, such as reduced international travel budgets (69 per cent), recruitment freezes (56 per cent) and reduced salary and bonus budgets (52 per cent). Other plans include altering overall HR strategy (69 per cent), improving HR focus on internal customers (56 per cent) and reducing the HR department budget (52 per cent).
The new focus is on differentiation in pay – with 44 per cent of organizations looking to introduce greater differentiation in pay schemes to retain and motivate key employees.
“At the end of 2008, organisations were reducing their costs by laying off staff and delaying the roll out of HR programs and initiatives,” said Billy Turriff, a senior consultant at Watson Wyatt Middle East. “However, now a key focus area for organisations is to maximize what small pay budgets or bonuses they have so that any increases or bonuses are directed towards top performers. While average bonus payouts will have decreased, higher performers may receive a proportionately higher award.
“Organisations are now also starting to plan what they will need their employees to do differently when the recovery starts and also what initiatives they need to put in place currently, to ensure that employees remain engaged and motivated in what are still difficult and uncertain times.”
All organisations surveyed had issued an immediate communication to their employees in response to the economic conditions and the potential impact on business. However, there was a split between those that had increased their level of internal communication (44 per cent) and those that had done nothing different (54 per cent).
The survey, which including 98 organisations from across the region, found less than 60 per cent of participants’ internal communication focus on tactical areas such as training and development or the non-tangible elements of total reward. According to Watson Wyatt, it is important in a downturn to take the emphasis away from compensation, and refocus on other elements of an employee’s reward package or experience at work. This is why the Employee Value Proposition (EVP) is a growing area of focus for a number of organisations. It helps take the pressure off monetary reward, and when communicated through a strong employer brand can facilitate engaging communication at the tactical level which subliminally reinforces EVP messages.
“Our survey shows that responses to the financial crisis by HR in the Middle East can be broadly split into two phases,” said Billy Turriff. “The quick wins implemented at the end of 2008 are now being complemented by a greater focus on rewarding key talent and developing new people initiatives in order to retain and motivate employees them in readiness for a recovery in the financial climate.’’
For more information please contact:
Asia Pacific, 4 June 2009 – Pay rises are down by half what they were nine months ago. Salary increase rates budgeted for 2009 across Asia Pacific have been cut by an average of 52 percent, according to a recent survey conducted by Watson Wyatt, a leading global consulting firm.
Many companies have chosen to freeze pay in 2009, particularly in locations where businesses are much more exposed to the slowdown in global trade – Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan.
|
Locations
|
2009 Salary Increase Budget(%) |
GDP projections as of May 2009 Source: EIU |
||
|
July 2008 |
March 2009 (all employers) |
March 2009 (excluding employers with salary freeze) |
||
| China |
9.8 |
5.0 |
7.1 |
6.5% |
| Hong Kong |
5.0 |
1.9 |
2.8 |
-5.9% |
| India |
14.1 |
6.9 |
8.9 |
5.0% |
| Indonesia |
12.8 |
8.6 |
8.6 |
-1.4% |
| Japan |
3.9 |
1.0 |
1.9 |
-6.4% |
| Malaysia |
6.6 |
3.9 |
5.1 |
-3.0% |
| Philippines |
9.5 |
5.4 |
7.0 |
-1.9% |
| Singapore |
5.3 |
2.1 |
3.4 |
-8.8% |
| South Korea |
6.2 |
2.1 |
4.9 |
-10.1% |
| Taiwan |
4.2 |
1.6 |
3.0 |
-9.3% |
| Thailand |
7.0 |
5.2 |
5.4 |
-4.4% |
The budget for salary increases dropped sharply in India from 14.1 percent in July 2008 to 6.9 percent in March 2009. Similar significant reductions were seen in China, Indonesia and Philippines.
The decision to freeze salaries is most often made in global headquarters, as shown in the table below:
|
Decision to Freeze Salaries in 2009 |
|||||
|
Locations |
Number of Companies |
Number of Companies Freezing Salaries |
Global |
Regional |
Local |
| China |
240 |
47 |
17% |
6% |
77% |
| Hong Kong |
220 |
54 |
34% |
21% |
45% |
| India |
171 |
32 |
84% |
5% |
11% |
| Indonesia |
62 |
0 |
0% |
0% |
0% |
| Japan |
36 |
19 |
58% |
17% |
25% |
| Malaysia |
86 |
18 |
67% |
6% |
28% |
| Philippines |
178 |
39 |
100% |
|
|
| Singapore |
85 |
25 |
56% |
8% |
36% |
| South Korea |
50 |
23 |
91% |
9% |
|
| Taiwan |
389 |
173 |
49% |
8% |
43% |
| Thailand |
164 |
19 |
80% |
20% |
|
Russell Huntington, Asia Pacific Director of Watson Wyatt’s Human Capital Group, believes the sudden change in the salary scenario is not surprising. According to Russell, ”The labour market has changed considerably, reflecting the rapid deterioration of Asian economic growth. In this environment, the skill shortages which have plagued Asian employers over the past year have given way to an employers’ market. Companies now see no need to increase salaries aggressively. Indeed many take the opportunity to freeze salary costs. The drop in inflation rates has further eased pressures for salary increases.”
The Regional HR Pulse Survey was conducted from 1 February to 15 March 2009 in 11 Asia Pacific countries by Watson Wyatt Data Services. More than 1,600 organisations in various industries participated in the study.
The survey can be aquired at the cost of 800 USD, for more information please contact:
In response to demand from companies with operations in Middle East and Africa, Watson Wyatt Data Services conducted a flash salary increases survey in order to gauge the measures, if any, that companies are taking in response to the continuing fluctuations in inflation and global economic crisis. The survey was conducted in February 2009.
17 Middle East and Africa countries were surveyed and more than 250 companies participated in the survey, typically reporting data for a whole range of countries.
The countries covered are:
| Country | Sector | |||||
| General Industry | Hi-Tech | Pharmaceutical | FMCG | Financial | Oil & Gas | |
| Bahrain | √ | √ | √ | — | √ | — |
| Kuwait | √ | √ | √ | — | — | — |
| Oman | √ | √ | √ | — | — | — |
| Qatar | √ | √ | √ | — | — | √ |
| Saudi Arabia | √ | √ | √ | √ | — | √ |
| UAE | √ | √ | √ | √ | √ | √ |
| Algeria | √ | √ | — | — | — | — |
| Cyprus | √ | √ | — | — | — | — |
| Egypt | √ | √ | √ | √ | — | √ |
| Jordan | √ | √ | √ | √ | — | — |
| Lebanon | √ | √ | √ | √ | — | — |
| Libya | √ | — | — | — | — | √ |
| Morocco | √ | √ | √ | √ | — | — |
| Nigeria | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Pakistan | √ | √ | √ | √ | — | — |
| South Africa | √ | √ | √ | √ | √ | — |
| Tunisia | √ | √ | √ | — | — | — |
The report is free of charge for all participating organsiations and can be purchased at 500 EURO for all non-participating organisations.
If you would like to learn more about this study please contact:
