UAE jobs: Students' salary expectations increase to Dh20,000 per month

The UAE students' salary expectations have increased in the past year amidst more job opportunities during the post-Covid-19 recovery period.

According to a survey by employer branding firm Universum for 2022, a university student in the UAE expects nearly a Dh19,726 salary per month compared to around Dh18,000 salary in the previous year.

Male students expect around Dh18,914 monthly this year as against Dh17,976 in the previous year. Similarly, female university students' monthly salary expectations have also increased to Dh20,036 against Dh18,537.

The survey was carried out between October 2021 to July 2022, covering 30 universities and 128 areas of study.

It covered 8,543 students, including 1,686 students from business/commerce, 3,759 of engineer/IT, 370 from natural sciences, 1,553 from humanities/art/education/law and 1,175 from health/medicine.

In the past year, the UAE economy bounced back strongly after the coronavirus, with key sectors such as travel and tourism, real estate, healthcare and others making a good comeback, creating many job opportunities. In addition, the introduction of the Golden Visa for students by the UAE has made the country more attractive for students to stay and seek higher education in the country rather than migrate to other Western countries.

Most attractive employers

University students in UAE prefer to join those entities which offer high future earnings, professional training and development, respect for its people, ethical standards, secure employment, a friendly work environment, flexible working conditions, inspiring leaders, innovation, and encourage work-life balance.

The study by Universum found local brands remain the most attractive employers for UAE university students for 2022.

Emaar remains the top employer choice for business/commerce students for 2022, followed by Emirates airline, Apple, Google, Adnoc Group, Dubai Airports, Microsoft, Etihad Airways, Amazon and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank. Other major entities include Majid Al Futtaim Group, Etisalat, Dubai Police, Al Futtaim Group, Emirates NBD, Dewa, Enoc, and Dubai Islamic Bank, among others.

For students who are in the health/medicine field, Dubai Health Authority, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, Seha, Pfizer, Dubai Police, Emirates airline, Masdar, Dubai Airports, L'Oreal Group and Google are the most attractive employers.