United Arab Emirates · free · no signup · new-hire planning

What does an SDR actually cost in the UAE?

Build a UAE SDR hiring budget from your offer, its basic-salary split, insurance quote and employment-processing costs. The example below is for a new full-time hire, not every UAE employment arrangement.

Hiring in a different market? Compare all four side by side.

TL;DR

Start with the offer, not a national average. The AED 144,000 annual package, 60% basic share and insurance and processing amounts are editable examples. They are not a salary survey or a government fee quotation.

Budget separately for gratuity and cash expenses. At these starting inputs, one eligible full year represents AED 5,040 of gratuity provision, plus AED 4,500 of illustrative insurance and processing allowances. The selected costs total AED 9,540, or 6.625% of the example package, before tools, recruitment and management.

Build your employer-cost estimate

One SDR in the UAE, one year. This is pay plus selected employer costs, not a fully loaded operating budget or payroll advice. Sources include statutory rates and illustrative allowances; they are not all statutory charges.

New, full-time, non-UAE/non-GCC national hire under the standard federal private-sector gratuity rules. Assumes one complete year of continuous service, unchanged monthly basic pay and no unpaid absence. Not for DIFC, ADGM, pension-covered employees, a savings scheme, part-time work or an existing employee's settlement.

AED 144,000 is an example, not a market salary benchmark. Replace it with your offer.

14 is a planning assumption from the existing US research, not a verified local benchmark or provider promise.

Use the contracted basic salary as a share of annual package. The 60% default is an illustration, not a legal minimum or a verified market norm. Housing and other allowances are not basic pay.

Use your actual annual allowances

Defaults are the existing research assumptions. Replace them with the applicable annual charge or quote; a blank entry is not zero.

AED 2,000 is an illustrative annual allowance, not an insurer quote. Use the premium for the employee's location and cover. MoHRE's AED 320 scheme does not establish a Dubai or Abu Dhabi premium.

AED 2,500 is an illustrative annual budget, not a government tariff. Use actual employer-paid permit, residence, ID and medical-processing charges over their applicable period. One-off recruitment costs are additional.

Optional planning scenario, not a forecast. Ramp to full productivity does not mean zero meetings. Attrition, vacancies and replacement costs are not calculated.

Your planning estimate

Annual packageAED 144,000

$39,210

Selected employer costsAED 9,540

6.6% of modelled pay. $2,598.

Pay plus selected employer costs / yearAED 153,540

$41,808. Excludes tooling, data, recruitment and management.

Calendar-month costAED 12,795

Annual estimate divided by 12. Not a productive-month price.

Steady-output cost per booked meetingAED 914

12 months at your meeting input. Not a held-meeting or accepted-opportunity metric.

First-year meetings = monthly target × [12 − ramp months + ramp months × ramp-output share]. This changes modelled output, not the annual budget. USD conversion uses the AED 3.6725 peg; it is a comparison convention, not a bank conversion quote. Currency conversions are indicative and exclude exchange fees.

Where the employer costs come from

Gratuity provision for one eligible full year
AED 5,040

New hire completing one continuous year: annual basic pay ÷ 12 ÷ 30 × 21. This is a budget provision, not a termination settlement or accounting valuation. Excludes pay changes, unpaid absence and other schemes.

MoHRE, Federal Decree-Law 33 of 2021, Articles 51 and 67. Evidence: statutory rule. Reviewed 2026-08-31. Read the source

Employer health insurance budget
AED 2,000

AED 2,000 is an illustrative annual allowance, not an insurer quote. Use the premium for the employee's location and cover. MoHRE's AED 320 scheme does not establish a Dubai or Abu Dhabi premium.

Illustrative budget; MoHRE guidance establishes the cited scheme's scope, not this premium. Evidence: illustrative budget. Reviewed 2026-08-31. Read the source

Annualised employment-processing budget
AED 2,500

AED 2,500 is an illustrative annual budget, not a government tariff. Use actual employer-paid permit, residence, ID and medical-processing charges over their applicable period. One-off recruitment costs are additional.

User-replaceable planning assumption, not a verified fee schedule. Evidence: illustrative budget. Reviewed 2026-08-31.

Choosing a salary assumption

We have not established a sufficiently reliable UAE SDR salary median for this model. AED 144,000 is an illustrative annual package, not a survey finding. Use your actual offer, contracted basic-salary share and employer quotes.

What else to check before hiring

Check which employment arrangement applies

New, full-time, non-UAE/non-GCC national hire under the standard federal private-sector gratuity rules. Assumes one complete year of continuous service, unchanged monthly basic pay and no unpaid absence. Not for DIFC, ADGM, pension-covered employees, a savings scheme, part-time work or an existing employee's settlement.

Pensions and Emiratisation are separate checks

UAE and GCC national hires may have pension obligations outside this model. Confirm the scheme, contribution salary and applicable government support. Emiratisation requirements include establishments with 50 or more employees and selected establishments with 20–49; headcount alone is not a complete compliance assessment. Source: GPSSA contribution guidance; MoHRE expansion of Emiratisation targets, reviewed 31 August 2026

Cash timing differs from the budget provision

The example plans for a completed first year. It does not show what is payable before one year, value an existing employee's accrued liability or forecast when a person leaves. It also does not include future pay rises, recruitment, tools or management.

Compare a scoped outsourcing proposal

$3,500–$5,500/mo depending on market; $5,500/mo ($16,500/quarter) for a US-market dedicated SDR. These are our stated regional rates, not a quote for every role. Confirm the market, capacity, scope and commitment before comparing them with your hiring budget.

Do not compare a payroll subtotal with a managed-service package as if their inclusions were identical. Add tools, recruitment and management to your hiring budget; check agency onboarding, ramp and qualification requirements separately.

Confirm staffing, management, data, tools, onboarding and replacement responsibilities in the proposal. Outsourcing does not eliminate campaign ramp, buyer involvement or performance risk.

Discuss the scope for your market

Explore the other market examples

United StatesSelected costs: 22.2% at this example's inputsUnited KingdomSelected costs: 16.0% at this example's inputsSaudi ArabiaSelected costs: 13.5% at this example's inputs
SDR Cost Calculator · United Arab Emirates → Division50

Compare hiring with a scoped SDR service.

Division50 runs the SDR seat from $3,500/month by region, billed quarterly. Confirm the role, capacity, included tools, onboarding and contract terms in your proposal. Bring your United Arab Emirates budget and qualification criteria so we can compare equivalent scopes.

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How the math works — every component, sourced

Scope. New, full-time, non-UAE/non-GCC national hire under the standard federal private-sector gratuity rules. Assumes one complete year of continuous service, unchanged monthly basic pay and no unpaid absence. Not for DIFC, ADGM, pension-covered employees, a savings scheme, part-time work or an existing employee's settlement. If your arrangement differs, select the alternative in the calculator; it will not show a total for unsupported cases.

Monthly pay converted to a daily amount. For this full-year example, annual basic pay ÷ 12 ÷ 30 × 21 produces the provision. At AED 7,200 monthly basic, that is AED 240 × 21 = AED 5,040. See Articles 51 and 67 of the federal employment law.

A budget provision is not an exit payment. Standard gratuity eligibility requires at least one continuous year. Later service, unpaid absence, pay changes and the statutory cap require an individual calculation. We do not calculate a termination settlement, accounting valuation or probability of departure. Use the government's gratuity guidance and confirm the applicable arrangement.

Use the contracted basic salary. The 60% starting share is an illustration, not a legal minimum or a verified market norm. Housing and other allowances should not be folded into basic pay merely to match this example.

Insurance depends on location and cover. The MoHRE AED 320 annual basic package targets Sharjah, Ajman, Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah and Umm Al Quwain; it is not a Dubai or Abu Dhabi premium quote. The AED 2,000 input is an illustrative annual employer budget. Replace it with applicable cover, including any additional contractual obligations.

Processing costs depend on the actual route. AED 2,500 is a user-replaceable annual budget, not a published tariff or proven market midpoint. Use actual employer-paid permit, residence, ID and medical-processing costs, annualising recurring multi-year charges separately from one-off recruitment costs. Do not treat a zero input as permission to pass employer obligations to a worker.

Nationality and establishment obligations need a separate check. GPSSA contributions depend on the applicable scheme and contribution salary, including government support where eligible. Emiratisation is not simply an above-50 threshold: MoHRE also includes selected establishments with 20–49 employees. These company-level obligations are not calculated as a fixed surcharge on this SDR.

At the starting figures above, employer on-costs come to AED 9,540 a year, about 6.6% of this example's pay, not a country average. UAE scope and sources reviewed 2026-08-31. Insurance and processing defaults remain illustrative. The cross-market write-up is in What an SDR actually costs in 2026. Calculations run in your browser; no calculator submission is required.

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to employ an SDR in the UAE?
There is no single percentage that fits every hire. Our editable new-hire example uses AED 144,000 annual pay, a 60% basic share, AED 2,000 insurance and AED 2,500 annualised processing costs. With AED 5,040 gratuity provision, selected employer costs are AED 9,540 and the total is AED 153,540. These are planning inputs, not a UAE salary benchmark or a complete operating budget.
How does this calculator work out gratuity?
For one complete year in the supported new-hire scenario: monthly basic salary divided by 30, multiplied by 21. AED 7,200 monthly basic therefore gives AED 5,040. This is a provision for an eligible full year, not a final settlement. Existing service, pay changes, unpaid absence and other employment schemes require a separate calculation.
Can I use the AED 320 insurance package for a Dubai SDR?
Do not assume so. The cited MoHRE basic package is for the five named northern emirates, not a universal Dubai or Abu Dhabi price. Obtain the appropriate local insurance quote. The calculator's AED 2,000 default is only an illustration and can be replaced.
What if I hire a UAE or GCC national, or use DIFC, ADGM or a savings scheme?
This calculator does not estimate those arrangements. Select the alternative employment scenario and no cost total will be shown. Confirm the relevant pension, savings or employment rules with your payroll adviser before comparing hiring with outsourcing.
Are insurance and visa costs included in the salary?
Enter the annual employer-paid insurance and employment-processing budget separately from the employee's package. The calculator does not establish who owes every fee or quote a visa tariff. Check the permit route and contract; entering zero removes a budget line from the model, not an employer's obligations.
Is hiring in the UAE necessarily cheaper than hiring in the US or UK?
No. Compare actual pay, employer obligations, tools, recruitment and management for the same job and service level. Different worker categories and cost inclusions can reverse a comparison. The UAE example includes employer health cover; it is not a claim that UAE hiring has no insurance expense.