UAE set for Recruitment Drive – Are you ready?

New Recruitments coming – Be ready!

According to a recent report published in Gulf News, 69% of employers in the UAE plan to hire new employees over the next 12 months. This represents a rise compared to the same period a year before, which saw 67% of employers state the same intentions. Between May and July 2017, 1,500 respondents declared their intentions to hire new staff, across a range of industries to fulfill many positions. This could have a big impact on the UAE and provide many opportunities. 

Recent Recruitments

Over the last few years, recruitment has been slow for many businesses, mainly due to low oil prices, which have introduced a lot of caution. This has resulted in a slowdown for a lot of business, with companies opting to streamline their payrolls rather than hire new recruits. It was best demonstrated in the second quarter of 2017, which showed a 14% fall in job postings in the UAE, though some industries did report a rise.

From the same survey mentioned above, around three-quarters said they had hired new employees in the last 12 months, while about a half claimed to have done so in the last three months alone. If oil prices strengthen, then a further increase in recruitment and job opportunities in the UAE would not be unexpected.  

Skills, Qualifications and Opportunities

Many of the predicted job opportunities set to appear in the UAE job market are for graduates with a business management or engineering degree, while those with commerce degrees are also sought after. That’s because a lot of the vacancies include positions such as engineer, technician, salesperson, accountant and administration jobs. As well as graduates, many require previous experience in the engineering, commerce and sales sectors too.

Skills sought after by employers in the region to fill their positions include the likes of cooperative, flexible, able to work under pressure and strong communicators. There is also a big demand for those who are multilingual in both Arabic and English.

Potential Setbacks

Despite a rise in recruitment, there are worries that the supply of jobs still won’t meet the demand. A separate report found that 57% of professionals in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region were intending to switch jobs this year. Even though the number of opportunities are increasing, there may be many people from outside the UAE looking for a position in the region which could impact upon the supply and demand levels.  

The Wider Impact

Such predicted rise in job opportunities in the UAE could be a signal for stronger growth of the region’s economy. This could see growth for the dirham and potentially present opportunities for those investing in the currency markets before it increases in value. If more workers from overseas begin to take advantage of increasing job opportunities then there could be higher immigration into the region as well as providing a further boost to the economy.