What should the promotion pay?
The market prices the new level, not the increment. Enter the role, the level they are moving into, and today’s package, and see the uplift that lands them at the market median for the new level in UAE or Saudi. Free, no signup.
What you get
- The current package on the new level's bandWhere today's pay sits as a percentile of the verified band for the level they are moving into.
- The uplift to P40, P50, and P60The percentage increase that lands the package at each point of the new level's band, so the uplift is a market decision, not a round number.
- A plain-English verdictWhether the promotion needs a market catch-up or the package already holds its own at the new level.
Free, no signup. Built on verified primary sources, refreshed quarterly; no band publishes on fewer than three.
Price the level, not the increment
Most promotion raises are set as a percentage of the old salary, which quietly anchors the new package to the old level. The market does the opposite: it prices the seat. A senior manager band in Dubai or Riyadh does not care what the person earned as a manager; it pays what senior managers are paid. The right question at promotion time is where the current package lands on the new level’s band, and what uplift moves it to a defensible point on that band.
That framing catches the two failure modes of promotion pay. The first is the under-priced promotion: a strong performer, promoted on a standard increment, who starts the new level in its bottom quartile. The title announces their capability to the whole market while the package undercuts it, and the gap gets closed by someone else’s offer. The second is the over-anchored one: a package already at or above the new level’s median, where a large automatic uplift spends budget the market is not asking for and squeezes the band above them.
The calculator gives you three landing points rather than one number. The uplift to the 40th percentile prices an early promotion with room to grow, the median is the standard market-rate answer, and the 60th percentile recognises a promotion the market is likely to contest. All three come from the verified band for the target level in the market you pick, so the increase you approve is a market position, not a habit.
If the promotion conversation started with a resignation threat, price the counter first with the counter-offer calculator; a promotion offered under duress should still land inside the new level’s band. And at review time, the salary review calculator checks whether the annual increase is keeping every role at market between promotions.
The bands behind every landing point are published in full in the GCC Pay Report, one licensed document covering all 12 sectors in both markets. And when the target level is a role we do not publish yet, a Custom Band Request builds a verified band for it in 5 business days.
Common questions
Enough to land the package inside the new level's market band, which is a different question from a percentage of the old salary. The market prices the level, not the increment: a 10 percent uplift can leave a promoted employee below the bottom quartile of their new band if they were paid mid-band at the old level. The calculator positions the current package on the target level's verified band and returns the uplift that reaches the 40th, 50th, and 60th percentiles.
The title moves and the pay does not, which means the market re-prices the gap for you. A newly promoted employee below their level's median is the easiest approach for a competing employer: the title is proof of capability and the package is the discount. Promoting below the median converts a retention moment into a resignation risk.
Then the promotion is a recognition and internal-equity decision rather than a market catch-up, and the tool says so. Some uplift is still normal practice, both as a signal and to keep headroom above the level's median, but the market is not forcing a specific number.
The median is the defensible default: the new package matches what the market pays the new level. P40 is a reasonable landing point when the promotion is early or the scope is still growing into the title. P60 suits a promotion that recognises sustained above-level performance or a role you expect the market to contest.
The Tenure Pay Index: verified primary sources across 12 sectors in UAE and Saudi, refreshed quarterly, with no band published on fewer than three sources. The full methodology is public at /methodology.
Yes. Pick the market the role sits in, choose the level being promoted into, and enter the current monthly package in AED, SAR, or USD. The tool converts into the band's currency and prices the uplift against that market's verified band.
Promotions are easier when every level already has a band.
Tenure Comp Intelligence holds the verified band for every rung in 12 sectors across UAE and Saudi, so promotion pricing is a lookup, not a debate.