New recruits hold up victory signs as they gather at the Saudi Arabian National Guard training center in Dhahran. The Persian Gulf War has necessitated many new personnel in the Saudi Arabian armed forces.

Salaries across the Kingdom have increased by an average of 4.5 percent in 2015, marginally below the rate of 5 percent, which had been forecast last year.

This is based on the research drawn from Hay Group’s annual Compensation and Benefits Report for Saudi Arabia, which measures salary payments made by 482 companies, representing 430,000 employees in the Kingdom.

“With inflation at 2.6 percent, these increases represent a growth of 1.9 percent in employees’ real spending power,” Hay Group’s Regional Manager for Services Wendell D’Cunha said.

The highest increases have been seen by lower level employees with an average of 5.7 percent, D’Cunha added. Despite the economic uncertainty caused by falling oil prices and the poor performance of global markets, businesses are forecasting that salaries will increase by approximately 5 percent again in 2016.

Women comprise 5 percent of the research and are paid an average of 10 percent more than the general industry average.

“When looking at the data, it appears that women are paid a higher than average wage. This is because there are no women represented within the large, low-paid labor force and instead they fill mainly support positions in industries that tend to pay more. In the banking sector, which does not have a low-skilled labor force, women are paid an average of 10 per cent less than their male counterparts,” D’Cunha explained.

On average senior management employees were the only ones who received bonuses that were above target.

Over 50 percent of employees surveyed have stayed with their current company for more than five years.

“Falling oil prices and global markets are causing some uncertainty in the market. However, a business is nothing without its people and, during periods of low growth, organizations must think creatively about how they motivate and reward their best employees,” D’Cunha added.