Towers Watson Data Services - Middle East - Blog

GCC Allowances Survey 2009 | August 10, 2009

Watson Wyatt Data Services (WWDS) is still inviting companies to participate in this innovative new “Gulf Cooperation Council Allowances Survey” which has been designed to scrutinise industry compensation practices across the Gulf region with regards to the numerous cash allowances that are typically provided alongside base pay. This survey collects a broad range of detailed, city-specific data pertaining to the most common cash allowances across all countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council, namely: 

- Bahrain (Manama)
- Kuwait (Kuwait City)
- Oman (Muscat)
- Qatar (Doha)
- Saudi Arabia (Al Khobar, Jeddah & Riyadh)
- UAE (Abu Dhabi & Dubai)

 In 2008 we ran a very similar survey, and as such we are looking forward to analysing the data that comes out in 2009 in order to report on the effect that the global recession has been having on allowance levels such as housing assistance.

 This questionnaire will collect information on all of the allowances most commonly paid by multinational and local companies across the region, namely:

 - Housing allowance / assistance
- Children’s education allowance
- Utilities allowance
- Furniture allowance
- Representation allowance
- Vacation tickets
- Consolidated allowance (mainly local companies)

The 2009 GCC Allowances Survey represents a huge expansion on the housing data collected in our General Industry Surveys. The survey covers 9 cities across the GCC region In the UAE  separate ranges for Dubai and Abu Dhabi will be provided. This report deals with allowances in a much more granular way than the main GIS survey. The questions are more detailed and cover aspects of allowances that are simply not covered elsewhere. For example, the following questions are asked with regards to housing allowances:

Allowance amounts for single and married employees
Measures taken to decrease housing allowance amounts where declining rents
Housing allocation criterion and property selection criterion (where company provides housing)
Proportion of costs covered
Nationalities typically eligible
Amount paid per employee category/city/country
Increase provided per employee category/city/country

Additionally, children’s education allowance, vacation ticket, utilities allowance etc. policies and amounts are collected in far more depth here than elsewhere.

If you are interested to participate in this survey please contact: