Wealthy families from the Middle East love traveling to London, Paris, Monaco, Geneva, New York, Los Angeles etc… and they also like to have educated nannies from these locations to help them with their children.
There are many opportunities in the Middle East for nannies willing to work overseas, however nanny positions in the Middle East require long working hours and the salaries offered are far from exceptional…
Families in the Middle East (and agencies placing candidates in the Middle East) consider that 1000 per week is a very generous salary to work 6 days per week, 12 hours per day, it is not really the case…
Why do these positions pay 1000 per week anyway?
Because it’s the UK agencies that place candidates in these countries and it’s common for them to negotiate flat weekly rates for overseas positions. And because it used to be a decent amount and such a package used to attract candidates, but times have changed…
It doesn’t matter if it’s 1000 British pounds, 1000 euros, 1000 US dollars or 1000 whatever the strong currency.
1000 per week was the market rate over 10 years ago, now it is simply too low a salary for Western Nannies working a 6/12 schedule.
Even though salaries in the Middle East are not at all competitive, many candidates still apply for these positions because they allow them to put money aside quickly, but it is rare for them to stay for the long term.
1000 per week for minimum 72 hours per week, makes a maximum of 13.88 per hour.
In Paris, a decent salary for a nanny is around 15 euros net per hour. In London, around 15 GBP net per hour. In the United States, wages vary from $25 to $35 gross per hour.
The hourly wages offered in the Middle East are therefore equivalent to those in Europe, and even lower than those in the United States.
And in general, when you agree to work away from home, it is to earn 2 or 3 times more than what you would earn at home, not to earn the same or even less!
Okay, salaries are tax free in the Middle East, but in the UK, Europe or the US, contracts come with all the benefits that are supposed to come with a contract, which is not always the case with the contracts that families have nannies sign in the Middle East…
It’s true that 1000 per week net and tax free is not nothing either, but is it really worth not sleeping in your own bed every night?
Not necessarily. 1000 per week is a sobering salary for nannies based in countries where the cost of living is lower, such as Spain, Portugal, Greece etc… but for nannies based in Paris, London, Monaco, Switzerland, or the United States for example, 1000 per week to work 6/12 in the Middle East is a rubbish salary…
These Middle Eastern families can afford to pay much higher salaries, but they just don’t want to understand that prices have increased significantly in recent years.
One of the reasons they don’t want to pay more is that these families usually also employ staff from developing countries who they pay between $500 and $1,000 per month on average. It is sometimes difficult for them to manage their staff when there are such salary gaps. They don’t want the gap to be even bigger, simply to avoid creating even more jealousy among their staff… It’s understandable, but when they decide to hire a Western nanny, it’s not up to the nanny to lower their salary expectations to accommodate them…
There are a lot of families in the Middle East who want British, French or American nannies, but there aren’t many who actually hire them, because they don’t agree on prices…
The truth is that many families in the Middle East who originally want to bring nannies from London or Paris turn to bilingual nannies from other countries where life is cheaper (Czech Republic, Portugal, Morocco, etc.)
These nannies are underpaid, but since the cost of living is lower in their countries, they are more likely to accept since they still earn a little bit more than at home.
Middle Eastern families looking for educated, flexible nannies with an impeccable accent and a strong passport should keep this in mind before haggling :
- When nannies go to work in the Middle East, they make a lot of concessions and it’s just normal that they want to be compensated for that.
- 6/12 it’s an arrangement that is difficult to maintain in the long term, or even downright illegal sometimes. In Saudi Arabia for example, the law for Western nannies is not 6 days a week, 12 hours a day, but 6 days a week, 8 hours a day! Anyways, if nannies agree to work more, it’s to earn more!
- Nannies’ salaries are, among other things, based on the cost of living in their region. It’s normal that hiring a nanny from the Philippines, Jordan, Italy or the United States does not cost the same. It’s normal that candidates have different expectations in terms of salary and it’s normal that not everyone agrees on 1000 per week.
If you want to bring a nanny from France or the United Kingdom for example for your children, you should not be surprised if the best candidates are not interested for 1000 per week.
1000 per week to work 6/12 in the Middle East, it’s not really a dream… ok it still allows you to save money but it’s underpaid!
Nannies who take these positions and literally put their lives on hold for your children deserve a lot more than 1000 per week!
Rather these positions should pay at least 2000 per week to be truly competitive. Plus if families paid double, the candidates would surely stay longer…
