Why the Dubai dream is dead for ‘arrogant' British workers

Telegraph

5 hours ago

When Sam Rhydderch visited Dubai in 2018, he returned to the UK determined to go back. His aim was to find a job and benefit from the city's high salaries and growing economy. The 25-degree days in January and glamorous lifestyle would be the icing on the cake.
Friends who had already made the move told Rhydderch, now 26, that he would have no trouble commanding a salary of at least £60,000 as a communications executive – a significant jump from the £39,000 he was earning in Amsterdam. Yet when he spoke to local recruiters, the reality was vastly different.
His best offer so far came in 2023 for a mid-level communications role with a salary of £37,000, including relocation fees. In the absence of anything more lucrative coming his way, Rhydderch has abandoned his Dubai dream.
After returning to the UK briefly, he moved to Berlin this summer having secured a job transfer from the communications agency he was working for in London.
Rhydderch declined to share his Berlin salary details, only saying it was 'competitive' and made more sense than a move to Dubai – even with the incentive of not paying income tax, and benefiting from employer-provided health insurance, which is mandatory in the Emirati city.
'The recruiter told me that the region is cooling, and salaries have become less competitive because of the influx of overseas people, as well as the focus from UAE-based companies to now hire locally,' Rhydderch said.
'Ten years ago, there was an imbalance in supply and demand. That has flipped pretty aggressively, as more Britons and expats in general have come into the UAE and as the country has developed.
'Even though I would have had more earning power there with the zero tax system, I realised that by going to Dubai, I wouldn't be able to say, 'I made a lot of money. I've come back with a deposit for a house and a lot of savings, I ate out in all the nice restaurants, I went to all the pool parties and drove all the nice cars'. That would not have been the reality. So it became a career decision rather than a financial decision.'
Stagnating salaries and rising costs
Rhydderch's reality check is confirmed by figures from recruiter Cooper Fitch's 2025 salary guide to the United Arab Emirates. Based on a survey of 1,000 companies in the region, 29pc of respondents reduced salaries offered to new recruits in 2024. Across the board, no salary increases are expected at all.
Of course, pay does vary widely – but someone on the £37,000 salary Rhydderch was offered may find they have little left over at the end of the month when you factor in the cost of living.
Dubai climbed three places to become the world's 15th most expensive city to live in, according to Mercer's 2024 ranking, with the highest cost of living in the Middle East after housing prices jumped by 21pc. It was eclipsed by London, which rose nine places to 8th position, but is more expensive than Tel Aviv, Miami, Chicago, Paris and Berlin.
Average monthly expenses in Dubai come to around £2,400, while renting a two-bedroom apartment can cost an average of 145,000 AED (£29,000) a year. While the city's public transport system is well established, many expats find it more convenient to rent a car on a long-term basis, which can be done for around £250 a month.
All employers provide medical insurance, and if you have children, you must pay to educate them in Dubai – whether it's at a state school that charges fees to expats (you can expect to pay around £1,200 in tuition fees a year, according to the UAE government website), or one of the many private international schools, whose fees are on par with UK private schools.
As for everyday expenses, many food items are imported, so these can be more expensive than in the UK and Europe. Electricity can also be pricey, especially during the long, hot summer when air conditioning use is high.
One family of four who moved from Aberdeen to Dubai told The Telegraph they spend roughly £13,000 a month.
Moving to Dubai, then, is hardly the money-spinner it once was.
'Employers are more focused on local talent'
Alex Koumi, a Dubai-based recruiter who moved from London in 2006, confirms that not only are salaries now less generous, employers are also more conservative when it comes to the number and type of hires they are making.
'It's very difficult now to secure a job here if you're based overseas. You're competing with people that are here on the ground – maybe unemployed, and can start next week,' he said. 'And they know the region, so it's very tough, as employers are now more focused on local talent, rather than five or 10 years ago, when they were all a lot more open to people coming over.'
He set up his firm, Kingston Stanley, in Dubai in 2011, which now recruits across a range of fields including sales and marketing, tech, HR, finance and others.
'People are still coming over from the UK at a tremendous rate, and they are finding it difficult to get jobs. Historically, companies in Dubai would hire people if they thought they would need someone in a few months. Now, they'll hire only if they're growing, or replacing someone. They're not speculatively hiring any more. There's a lot more trimming of the fat.'
Increased business expenses and admin are also now a factor, adds Koumi.
'You've now got corporation tax at 9pc. Visas are now two years rather than three. Pensions are higher. There are now more candidates than there are jobs, so employers have more say over what they can pay, because if you don't want it, there are another five people in line that will bite their hand off.
'Dubai is very much on the map now, and a lot of people want to come in. It's a good quality of life, in a safe, stable environment.'
British expats have given themselves a bad reputation
That appeal has drawn in more talent from India, South Africa and Asia, whose high level of education and skills – and lower salary expectations – makes them more attractive than British workers. That's what Louay Al-Samarrai, who left the UK for Dubai 35 years ago, has observed.
'Britons tend to oversell themselves with a kind of arrogance, but they aren't that valued any more, as candidates from other countries are now equally qualified.
'If you're looking at a senior role, and you have somebody from India, they can get into the culture here more easily, so your preference might be for that person,' says Al-Samarrai, who set up PR agency, Active Digital Marketing Communications, in Dubai 22 years ago.
'People from the UK tend to come here for two years so they can earn enough money to pay off their mortgage, whereas people from countries like India tend to want to stay longer. That's an issue [with Britons] because they build client relationships then are gone because they've done what they need to do. That's made companies more wary.'
British expats in Dubai have also given themselves a bad reputation, Al-Samarrai believes, for being lifestyle rather than career driven.
'Because they come out for the lifestyle, the job is a secondary issue. They'll go for their bottomless brunch, and you find their attendance at work in the morning might be a bit lax. If they're working remotely, they might come online at 10.30am and say they weren't feeling well, when they actually had a hangover,' he says.
'Or it might be a lovely day outside, and they fancy going to the beach (rather than work). You have that issue where Dubai is like Ibiza for them, when actually, we're all trying to get serious work done.'
'You can make a fantastic life here'
Yet as Koumi has stated, there are still plenty of British workers in Dubai – some 240,000, with UK online searches for 'jobs in Dubai' growing by 50pc year on year.
Among the draws, there's the weather – around 300 sunny days per year – and Koumi's review of the health system in the UAE is that it is 'outstanding'. Crime is low and employment opportunities still abound for the right people.
The UAE economy is predicted to grow by 6pc this year, and the creation of new jobs increased by 8pc in the latter half of last year. This is in stark contrast to the predicted 1pc of economic growth in the UK, and job numbers in free-fall.
If that makes you want to pack your bags, Koumi recommends thoroughly doing your homework, as Dubai employers aren't looking kindly on time wasters who think they can wing it.
'I would say, be flexible on salary expectations, and job titles, and be organised – be more prepared for the interview than anyone else. Have a plan to come here and focus on work. Because it is hard work and very fast paced. It's not a case of just coming out to Dubai and getting a massive salary by working a 9-to-5 from home. It's busy. There are high expectations,' says Koumi.
'It is demanding, but you can make a fantastic life here. I'd like to think I'm a good story of someone that moved out here with a suitcase, and now I've got a family and a business, and I'm really happy.'