Dubai CFOs most confident about UAE growth prospects

An astounding nine in 10 (91 per cent) Dubai finance executives are more confident in their country’s growth prospects compared with last year, the strongest level of confidence expressed worldwide, according to a recent survey by recruitment specialist Robert Half UAE.

Seventy-two per cent of Dubai CFOs are planning to increase their permanent finance and accounting headcount and three per cent expect declines – a net 69 per cent increase. Rising workloads and mergers and acquisitions were the primary reasons cited for adding staff.

The survey was conducted by Robert Half UAE, the world’s first and largest recruitment consultancy specialising in the placement of accounting and finance professionals and member of the S&P 500. It is based on more than 2,500 interviews with CFOs worldwide, including 75 in Dubai.

Finance leaders in Dubai share top spot with Brazil as the most confident in their country’s growth prospects for the forthcoming year, compared with their international counterparts. Ninety-one per cent of CFOs are more confident than they were last year, with China (87 per cent), Hong Kong (82 per cent) and Chile (79 per cent) also showing very strong signs of assurance.

Looking at their company’s growth prospects, Dubai executives are third most confident at 89 per cent, behind Brazil (97 per cent) and China (93 per cent) yet ahead of Austria (87 per cent), Singapore (86 per cent) and Chile (84 per cent), among others.

Hiring forecast

Dubai executives expect very robust hiring in the first half of 2012 with nearly three in four (72 per cent) finance executives planning on adding staff and 3 per cent expecting declines – a net 69 per cent increase and the highest forecast worldwide.

Other countries expecting buoyant finance and accounting hiring include China (net 50 per cent increase), Brazil (45 per cent) and Germany (32 per cent), as well as Australia, Japan and Singapore, (23 per cent) respectively. More than half (57 per cent) of Dubai finance leaders cited rising workloads as the top reason for adding additional permanent staff, followed by one in four (26 per cent) who attribute it to mergers and acquisitions.

James Sayer, associate director, Robert Half UAE said: “Confidence levels are high amongst executives who are looking for highly strategic and commercially-focused professionals to help leverage business growth opportunities. Workloads persist and additional M&A activity is resulting in increased demand for skilled finance professionals.”

The strong hiring forecast also has its downsides, with nine in 10 (91 per cent) Dubai executives indicating they are challenged in finding skilled finance and accounting professionals today. Other countries with hiring challenges include Germany (81 per cent), Australia (80 per cent), China (79 per cent) and the UK (79 per cent). As such, nearly nine in 10 (89 per cent) finance leaders are concerned about losing top financial performers to other job opportunities in the next year.

Sayer said: “Unfortunately demand outweighs supply and CFOs are reporting difficulties in sourcing the talent they require, particularly in the finance and compliance functions. Executives are therefore conscious about re-recruiting top performers to ensure they have the required resources to achieve targeted growth prospects throughout the year.”

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