Salaries, benefits, payroll, hiring and the realities of people work.
The conversations members of this Circle are actually reading.
I'm five years in, handling recruitment and payroll for a 90-person company . Currently on 1,300 USD plus transportation. Half my friends say that's fair for this market, the other half tell me I'm underpaid for the workload. What are people actually seeing this year — and is anyone still on a split-currency package?
AskingHR ProfessionalsDirectorsPeople with 10+ years experienceRecruiters
We're still paying a flat daily amount set eighteen months ago and it no longer covers a return trip across the city. Options on the table: raise the flat rate, index it to fuel, or move to a monthly lump sum and stop tracking attendance days. Curious what other companies landed on — especially those with staff commuting from outside the city.
AskingHR ProfessionalsDirectorsEmployees
Our staff keep telling us the public reimbursement cycle is unusable in practice, so we're layering a private plan on top. The question is how to structure it: first-dollar coverage, or top-up where statutory cover is the primary and the insurer covers the gap? Also curious how you handle families — full dependent coverage is getting expensive fast.
AskingHR ProfessionalsLawyersPeople with 10+ years experience
We've outgrown spreadsheets. Requirements: payroll that can handle a USD salary with a declared contribution base, social security exports, leave tracking, and something the team will actually open. Local vendors give us the compliance side; international ones give us the interface. Has anyone found a setup that does both without three integrations?
AskingHR ProfessionalsDirectorsEnterprise Professionals
Budget is tighter than last year but management wants something meaningful, not a token. Ideas so far: a cash bonus, a supermarket voucher, a Purpl gift card, or closing the office the full week between Christmas and New Year. Honestly wondering whether people would take the extra days over the box.
AskingHR ProfessionalsTeam LeadsEmployees
Not asking who has the nicest office — asking who actually makes you think 'I'd take a call from them'. Anghami and Murex come up constantly with engineers. Toters and Roadster seem to have figured out the ops-side story. Curious who else is doing this well, and what specifically they're doing beyond posting team photos.
AskingHR ProfessionalsRecruitersHiring Managers
I've interviewed a dozen fresh graduates this month and had to turn away several who were genuinely good — we only had one seat. If you're building a marketing team, say so here and I'll point people your way. Posting this because the junior market is brutal right now and most of it happens through WhatsApp groups nobody outside can see.
AskingHiring ManagersRecruitersTeam Leads
I've been offered three months unpaid at a decent company. Transportation alone would cost me around 150 USD over the period, and I'd have to turn down tutoring work that actually pays. Everyone tells me it's about the name on the CV. Is that still true in 2026, or is it advice from a different economy?
AskingHR ProfessionalsEmployeesTeam LeadsRecruiters