GCC real estate companies tuning employee value proposition
A number of sweeping human capital trends are pushing real estate companies in the GCC to fine tune – and sometimes totally revamp – their employee value proposition. This is according to a study by Aon.
The real estate industry in the GCC region seems to be resilient in the face of stubborn inflation. Despite that, GCC companies have been facing wage inflation and high attrition rates among their talent pools, meaning they must take a hard look at their talent and reassess rewards strategies.
“In a dynamic and competitive environment, real estate companies across the region must respond rapidly to market changes. They must stay current with key human capital trends and be prepared to navigate them. Rethinking human capital strategy is the key to success,” said Vamsi Srinivas, partner at Aon.
Real estate companies need to adapt to a dynamic and competitive environment. That means rethinking compensation, positive work culture, and employee recognition programs, all of which can help them keep a competitive edge over competing employers.
Saudi Arabia, in particular, is expecting to see an intensification of competition for talent. That is because of the boom in real estate development that the Kingdom is currently seeing.
That is no simple feat: Saudi Arabia has been locked in tight competition with the UAE to attract new talent – especially foreign professionals. But the two sectors differ quite a bit. While UAE real estate companies are mostly focused on sales, KSA companies are more invested in infrastructure development and construction.
“Demand for niche technical skillsets often necessitates significant pay premia for professional qualifications and experience. A shortage of talent in niche skill sets means that demand outstrips supply,” said Srinivas.
“High salaries at the professional level are putting upward pressure on senior management/executive level salaries, resulting in a pay compression (a flatter pay line) as compared with other markets.”
The real estate market in the UAE is currently on fire, with a huge amount of demand and prices going rising. A previous report found that luxury home prices surged by 48% last year in Dubai. The market is also hot in Saudi Arabia, albeit not at the level of UAE, with home prices going up in the most attractive cities, like Riyadh and Jeddah.