(MENAFN - Khaleej Times) Hope spring eternal as they say and expectation, like the Scarlet Pimpernel, is elusive. When it comes to a hike in salaries we seek it here, we seek it there, but it stays outside our grasp. Not surprising is that 44 per cent of people polled were unhappy with their salaries.
That sort of sentiment goes with the territory. More surprising is that 56 per cent are by process of elimination, happy with their salaries, a vast sea of folks who feel they are getting what they deserve. It is possible in one scenario following the findings of the MENA salary survey that the happy group is in a state of suspension, maintaining a high morale because they are hoping for a better year and a lucrative and tangible return at the end of it. Whether that bottom-line advantage will go to them or be used to patch the losses of the past is still to be seen. But what is salutary in this survey is the stark of optimism that seems to establish itself. Here are thousands of hardworking people who, even when prices are rising and making two ends meet is not exactly an endearing exercise, believe their lifestyles in status quo are tolerable and can be appreciated when measured against a global index.
It just goes to show that in the region, probably buoyed by the improved levels of living standards of 132 odd nationalities in the GCC that even in the fiscally frozen scenario they are much better off than they would be if they were employed in their own countries. It strikes one quite forcefully that this patience and what has to be seen as an appreciation of how they live, feed, furnish and educate their families within the current means, makes for a very positive pattern.
The rider to all this would probably be singular in that if there is a fear it is a fear of losing what they have. Job loss in a situation where the economic battle has not yet been fully won is the one spectre where it has to be muted by acknowledging one's blessings and being grateful there is a salary coming in.
Paradoxically, if this was 2008, probably 99 per cent of people in a survey of this sort would have responded by saying they were unhappy with their salaries. In adversity, even as it ebbs, you find solace in the fact that the money is still coming in on a regular basis. And for, perhaps even the 44 per cent should be truly thankful.
