KUWAIT — Average salaries in Kuwait are set to rise 4.4 percent this year but employee attrition is still a challenge for employers, Hay Group said Sunday. The HR giant said in its annual compensation and benefits report that Kuwaiti workers are seeing “generous bonuses” especially from the prime sectors of oil and gas. It added that while bonuses were up to 53 percent of salary in some cases, employee attrition is still a challenge for employers. The 2012 Kuwait report, which was compiled from data from 34,000 employees in 128 Kuwaiti and multi-national companies, also forecast a five percent average pay rise in 2013. It concluded that Kuwait has the highest attrition rate of GCC countries at eight percent. Attrition is the percentage of employees that leave their employer voluntarily on an annual basis. It compared to four percent in the UAE, five percent in Saudi Arabia and seven percent in Qatar. Hay Group's Wendell D'Cunha, author of the report, said: “The combination of a shortage of national talent and a focus from employers on pay as the main driver of employee retention is contributing to a high attrition rate.” — Agencies
