Data doesn’t always reflect reality, but the job market in the Middle East is on shaky ground, with hiring below expectations and an increasing number of layoffs. 

This tough environment has left many employees hesitant to demand better pay or benefits, giving rise to a new trend: “ghost promotions.” The practice involves offering workers new job titles without additional responsibilities, salary increases, or meaningful career progression—a tactic often used by employers to retain staff without incurring extra costs.

The phenomenon feels all too familiar for Nancy Ahmed, 27, a real estate agent. Despite receiving three promotions in recent years, she says she has only had one raise. “The title changes have helped my experience, but my salary hasn’t kept up as prices and inflation rise,” she says.

“It’s the classic situation of negotiating a raise only to be told the company can’t afford it,” Ahmed adds. “While I don’t want to stay, the job hunt has been long and exhausting.”

FACTORS AT PLAY

Dalia El Gezery, Chief Human Resources & Administration Officer at e& Egypt, says the Middle East is grappling with a unique set of pressures. “Our rapid economic diversification creates budget constraints while simultaneously demanding we retain top talent to drive transformation initiatives,” she notes.

She adds that 44% of regional employees are considering changing jobs within the next year—well above the global average of 28%—leaving organizations under pressure to find effective retention strategies.

“The absence of specific frameworks addressing phantom promotions creates an environment where these practices can proliferate unchecked,” El Gezery says. “However, this approach fundamentally misunderstands our diverse workforce’s expectations, particularly among the youth who view authentic personal and career progression as non-negotiable.”

Similarly, Zeta Yarwood, CEO and founder of Zeta Yarwood Coaching, notes that businesses in the region are under intense pressure to maximize profits for shareholders or investors. “Contract contracts often go to the lowest bidder in industries like construction, facilities management, and logistics. That forces companies to keep salaries flat. Yet they still have to show growth, performance, and staff retention. New job titles become a mechanism for maintaining morale and motivation without increasing pay,” she says.

This tactic is particularly effective in cultures where hierarchy and titles carry significant weight. “Employers know titles have social value, so they use them to pacify ambition. It’s a quick fix when budgets are tight or leaders want to avoid the harder issues like succession planning or building career development plans.”

Similarly, Ayman Abdelkader Helmy, HR Director, People & Culture, Next Technology Development, says Middle Eastern culture greatly influences how companies utilize this tactic. “Being called a manager or head often feels like career growth, even if the role itself hasn’t really changed, it also helps companies compete with other organizations that use similar ways.”

“While this can boost morale in the short term, it often leads to frustration later, as employees realize the recognition doesn’t match their pay,” he adds.

KNOWING THE DIFFERENCE

El Gezery says the true test of an authentic promotion rests on three concrete elements: compensation adjustment, organizational visibility, and role clarity.“A genuine promotion always includes a compensation discussion with specific timelines. If your promotion conversation lacks any mention of salary, benefits, or bonus adjustments, that’s your first red flag,” she explains.

She adds that real promotions also create visible organizational changes through formal announcements, updated reporting structures, and expanded decision-making authority.“If colleagues are unaware of your supposed advancement, or you’re still seeking approval for tasks you previously handled independently, you’re experiencing title inflation rather than career progression.”

The third indicator, she notes, is clarity in expectations: authentic advancement comes with defined success metrics, new challenges, and structured transition support. “When managers respond to questions about your new responsibilities with vague statements like ‘keep doing what you’re doing’ or ‘you’ll figure it out,’ they’re revealing the promotion’s hollow nature.”

Her advice to employees: document every element of a promotion in writing. Genuine opportunities withstand scrutiny, while ghost promotions evaporate under examination.

Yarwood adds that employees can test this by asking direct questions: What’s new about my role? What authority do I now have? How is my compensation being adjusted?

“If leadership can’t provide clear answers—or if nothing in your day-to-day work changes—it’s a ghost promotion,” Yarwood says. “Titles alone don’t grow your skills, make you more marketable, or give you influence. Without changes in scope, resources, or pay, it’s not career growth, it’s optics.”

Taking it a step further, noting that while new responsibilities are often assigned, proper compensation and recognition are usually absent, Ahmed says, “You find yourself being told you’ve done well, and the company wants you to lead upcoming projects or oversee others. But there’s no discussion of salary adjustments, no involvement from HR—nothing concrete.”

EMPLOYEE MORALE

“The effects are almost always negative. Employees may feel flattered at first, but morale dips once they realize the ‘promotion’ is hollow,” Yarwood says. Productivity often declines, and retention becomes a problem as top talent seeks genuine opportunities elsewhere.

“Trust in leadership takes the biggest hit. When employees see titles used as cheap rewards, they feel manipulated—sometimes damaging trust irreparably,” she adds.

Abdelkader echoes this, noting that ghost promotions often push employees to pursue real growth elsewhere. “However, the impact isn’t the same for everyone,” he says. “Younger generations, who place greater emphasis on fairness and career development, are quicker to call it out and may leave faster, while older generations might accept it for stability.”

“Ghost promotions create a cascading failure across all organizational metrics,” adds El Gezery. She cites data showing that 29% of employees leave within a month of receiving their first promotion—nearly double the 18% departure rate of non-promoted employees—demonstrating that phantom advancements accelerate rather than prevent turnover.

She highlights strong generational differences: “Gen Z employees, who value transparency and authentic growth, often view ghost promotions as organizational failure and broadcast these experiences on social platforms, harming employer brands. Millennials, seeking financial progression, feel the compensation gap most acutely. Meanwhile, Gen X in middle management positions become cynical about organizational integrity, often taking their institutional knowledge elsewhere.”

Ahmed exhibits most of these behaviors, already having been on a job search for the past year and a half. “While the initial praise and additional responsibilities felt like a possibility for real upward mobility and career progress, with time, it felt manipulative and exploitative,” she adds.

NEEDED REGULATIONS

“While labor laws exist in Egypt, their implementation is nearly impossible to track, especially in smaller businesses and startups,” says Ahmed, stressing the need for stricter checks and stronger regulations.

“You can cite the law or even report a business, but that often just means losing the job you desperately need, with no replacement in sight.”

Yarwood argues that HR departments must set firm standards: no title changes without corresponding adjustments in pay, responsibility, or authority. “That should be reinforced by clear promotion policies and internal audits to ensure promotions reflect reality, not optics. Regulatory bodies could also push for more transparency, particularly in employment contracts and job descriptions. If HR wants credibility, it has to protect employees from manipulative and hollow recognition.”

Abdelkader adds that HR can curb ghost promotions by establishing a grading system where each level comes with defined responsibilities, authority, and required skills. 

“Promotions should only occur when an employee moves into a higher grade with changes in duties and decision-making power. This must be directly linked to the pay structure so rewards are fair and transparent. Clear communication about what each title means and regular reviews of pay and roles help employees trust the system.”

Dalia El Gezery says HR reform must rest on four pillars: transparency, accountability, documentation, and employee empowerment. She outlines mandatory compensation reviews tied to every title change, competency-based promotion frameworks requiring measurable achievements, and regulations obliging companies to prove substantive advancement or face penalties.

“Most importantly, HR must shift from being promotion gatekeepers to career development partners, investing in genuine leadership development programs and succession planning,” she says.

“I recognize organizations face financial pressures and may view ghost promotions as a temporary bridge during difficult times,” she notes. 

“But every ghost promotion creates a 14-day productivity loss over nine months, while damaged employer brands significantly raise future recruitment costs. The path forward requires compassionate partnership—authentic transparency, even about constraints, builds more trust than hollow gestures ever could.”