What should be the salary of a software project manager with 10 years of experience in Bahrain?

Answer 1

This question is incomplete and needs to further define the comparative jurisdiction or geographical region that is in question. Depending on where this software project manager intends to site himself/herself or is sited, the salary may be much more or much less than he/she previously drew in Bahrain.

Basic Economics explains income levels from the perspective of demand and supply. The stronger the demand for a job, the higher the level of income; while the greater the supply of people around, the cheaper it is to find labour, and hence the lower the salary. This basic understanding from John Sloman's text on economics explains why Beckham commands such a high salary (how many talented football stars are there in the world?) as compared to bus drivers? Basically, the more scarce and the more in-demand a particular skillset is generally means the higher the level of the salary.

At a more advanced level, the answer to the question should be derived in terms of the real income level, which is also determined based on a myriad of global factors such as the living standards of the locality - While the average software engineer earns much more in Japan than in Thailand, the extremely high standards of living and inflation levels of Japan mean that his US$1 buys much less in Japan than in Thailand. Compared in this 'big-mac index' way, the engineer actually earns more in Thailand relative to Japan. The specific demand of the locality for such skills should also be taken into account as well - Third world countries, as opposed to first world countries, are likely to be in greater need of intellectual capital to modernise industries and infuse capabilities like software engineering, and are thus willing to pay top dollar for skilled individuals willing to enter the arena.

The short answer: Taking into account the need for Bahrain to modernise and catch up in IT standards with much of the Western world, the experience gained from the software project manager may not be substantial relative to the software project management industry as a whole - since it is likely the projects that he has been involved in may well have been rudimentary in nature. Bahrain is a specialist in oil and minerals; Silicon Valley type of inventions are not usually associated with Bahrain. However, the ability to interact and work with Bahrainis is a special skill set that is relatively scarce and sought after.

For a software Project Manager with ten years experience in the area, his search for a job in the field, sui generis, is likely to be mediocre in salary, if he is going to locate himself in a tech-rich area. However, if he chooses to work in Bahrain, chances are he will receive the sort of pay that a first rate engineer in the UK or the US receives, because of the rare skill of interaction with the locals.