Cityscape, Gitex impact: Dubai firms hiring

With the ongoing Cityscape Global and the upcoming events like the Gitex technology exhibition and the Hotel Show in Dubai, companies in the emirate are looking at short-term hiring for college students and entry-level employees.

This is giving a big push to the concept of hiring employees for a limited period of time, or contract staffing.

Several companies in the country are also looking to hire staff to manage projects and keep up with seasonal demand spikes, leading to more contract staff being hired.

According to TASC, a company into talent and people management solutions, contract staffing has witnessed year-on-year increase in the UAE by about 15 to 20 per cent.

Areas where the major chunk of contract hiring is taking place is the government sector, telecom and IT, large retail companies, and the oil & gas sector.

According to TASC, these have been the first-movers and are amongst the most proactive sectors to embrace this trend.

“The highest demand for contract staff is for IT personnel, call centre employees, retail promoters including short-term promoters during events or peak seasons, office admin staff, and experienced oil and gas project managers,” say experts at TASC.

“The verticals that are still lagging but could benefit from flexible staffing, include engineering, trading companies, and the SME sector,” the firm adds.

Contract staffing is picking up in the country albeit at a slower rate because of misconceptions among employers that keep them wary of the legalities and illegalities of this kind of talent.

“In some instances, there is a lack of awareness of the benefits, along with a misconception that it is illegal to hire external staff that are not on their visas. There are businesses that genuinely need this but they are not necessarily clear about the regulatory framework,” says Mahesh Shahdadpuri, CEO and Managing Director, TASC.

Even part-time jobs are considered illegal by many in the country. However, this is not the case. Since 2010, the UAE’s Labour Law has provisions that allow an employee to opt for a part-time job along with a full-time one.

If certain conditions are met, a person who is already employed by an entity may work for another employer – legally.

Read: Employees may also work part-time at another UAE job: MoL
 

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