Charterhouse UAE 2026 Salary Guide
Foreword, Moving in to 2026
We started our Foreword last year stating a ceasefire in Gaza and Trump’s election as the US President, so some of the headlines don’t change then! A Gaza ceasefire was finally reached in October, although it remains very fragile and continues to question the longer-term outlook in that region of the Middle East.
Trump’s presidency (#47) thus far, has created plenty of economic ripples, primarily based around tariffs and trade. The neutral rhetoric seemed to be “tariffs help nobody and nothing” however, here we are in a global trade war or trade-off. Unfortunately, the war in Ukraine has still not been resolved (it was meant to happen within 48 hours of #47) and it only appears to be an ever-deepening regional and international crisis.
Despite the historic resilient nature of the UAE, and yes it has continued during 2025, nowhere is immune to these factors across the world economy, politic systems and warring conflicts. The UAE, as a trading hub, is not necessarily directly impacted by Trump tariffs, the global system (with the UAE as a hub) will feel inevitably the pinch. However, as always, the UAE’s diversification continues at a pace and whilst oil & gas keep the “coffers” refreshed, the reliance is definitely less and less apparent.
Linking to the recruitment market; technology, AI and FinTech have seen very strong growth during 2025 and it appears that Data Centers, could be the hot topic during 2026. A lot of the activity and development within this industry space has been driven via government-link operators and Sovereign Wealth Funds out of Abu Dhabi. During late December, Elon Musk had an audience with the UAE President, confirming their ongoing commitment and innovation within these cutting edge and emerging industries.
2025 saw a continued influx of people and businesses in to the UAE and the Dubai population surpassed the four million-mark. The level of traffic on the roads has been a longstanding litmus test of market activity; this theory now has limitations, as the roads are always busy! The allure of Dubai for high-net-worth-individuals (and above) continues to be apparent and with other global markets in stagnation or taxation mode, this trend will continue. The Family Office sector has seen strong growth; as the UAE remains extremely competitive and geographically well-suited for those whom can afford to choose.
On the recruitment and salary-front, there is an apparent trend attached to the influx of people in to the UAE. Supply-wise, the market is increasingly competitive and employers know this. The company’s ability to ‘tap’ talent pools is ever-expanding and this creates both competition-for-places and a market where the employers, can and will, be more selective and cost-conscious. This trend is unlikely to remain unabated during 2026. In turn, our survey for next year is only showing very slight increase and, in many cases, a flatline of salary levels and packages on offer.
The value-add of an external Recruiter is still apparent however, the client will quite often look to us to find the candidate with ‘a lot of bang for the buck’. Increasingly, our mandates are more technical in nature, niche in their coverage and requiring candidates motivated for drivers away from purely financial offers.
Charterhouse will continue to serve the market with a candidate and client ‘eye for detail’ and increasingly (especially for new entrants), it’s our ability to offer an advisory piece and a partnership approach, that allows us ongoing recognition and opportunity.
Where Charterhouse Sits
At Charterhouse we recognise the need for agility and staying well-informed of the latest market trends in order to offer the best service levels to all of our clients and candidates who we represent. The longstanding reputation of the Charterhouse brand and our team of experts is what sets us apart in a heavily competitive market, which is leaning closer towards a dependence on automated technology and AI.
Charterhouse will continue to prioritise people whether it be our own team, driving a strong working culture which has seen us recognised consecutively as a Great Place to Work, or supporting our clients and candidates as a strategic business partner centred around trust, transparency and reliability.
Our expertise and coverage within this salary guide for 2026, focuses across the following core areas of market disciplines:
Salary Guide Notes
Our survey collates figures across a range of sources and brings together salary information from our candidate database, client input on budgets and grading systems and our market intelligence via research, benchmarking and information gathering. The survey, in turn, reports figures (Low & High) which is an accurate and impartial reflection of the market ranges within job offers.
The figure ranges cited include our categorisation of gross monthly fixed compensation and would exclude any monetary benefit or allowance linking to education, leave travel, insurances and any other perks (financial or non-financial). This standardisation is there to allow for any anomalies whilst also accommodating for the varied nature of package structures across the client/company base within the UAE market.
The Charterhouse Commitment
We commit to a high level of professional service and integrity with an approach of engagement across our candidate and client network. Our team consists of specialised consultants, whom within their sectors, are positioned to provide the strongest talent and recruitment solutions on the agenda of delivery to succeed. We ensure accuracy and integrity of any information and/or consultancy input and this holds true within the survey presented.
We hope this information provides a useful and informative summary across its area of attention.