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29 March 2024

UAE market in hiring mode: Click for professionals in demand

Published
By Shuchita Kapur

Job opportunities are up in the UAE and that too in double digits. According to the latest Morgan McKinley UAE Employment Monitor, professional job opportunities in the UAE have gone up 15 per cent year-on-year.

The hiring market has shown improvement this year as the recruitment activity in the professional jobs market increased by 2 per cent from 6,310 vacancies in Q2 to 6,458 in Q3.

This represents a 15 per cent rise when compared to Q3 2012 when vacancy levels stood at 5,611.

The data released by the recruitment firm shows professionals looking for new positions in Q3 2013 totalled 35,790. This represents a 9 per cent increase on the 32,760 that were seeking work in Q2, and a 19 per cent (round up to 20 per cent as it is 19.6 per cent) rise on the 29,901 jobseekers who were searching for new job opportunities in Q3 2012.

Previous reports by other recruitment companies like Bayt.com also show that hiring sentiment is up in the country. 

The recent survey on hiring trends in the region by the portal showed that more employers are likely to hire. Released in August, this report revealed that 30 per cent of surveyed employers in the Middle East claimed they will ‘definitely hire’ in the next three months (which is September, October and November).

Future hiring, as per Bayt, is also consistent with 68 per cent being positive of hiring in the next 12 months. Of these, 31 per cent say they will ‘definitely hire’ and 37 per cent say they will ‘probably hire’.

So, where should the candidates look for jobs?  Bayt findings suggest that private sector (large local companies) are more likely to hire for jobs in the next 3 months (63 per cent) and in the coming 12 months followed by private sector (multi-national corporations) (59 per cent).

Companies will be looking to hire professionals who are business graduates/ post graduates (28 per cent) and ones with engineering graduation/post graduation (25 per cent).

This rise in job opportunities in on the back of a healthier local economy.

“The UAE economy continues to grow at a steady pace which is very much reflected in the local stock markets which continue to perform well. This positivity has prompted banks to foster a more competitive lending environment and organisations across the region are taking advantage of this confidence,” as Trefor Murphy, Managing Director, Morgan McKinley UAE explains.

“As we highlighted in the last report, the construction industry continues to grow, with significant building projects due to begin in the coming months thanks to international investment from the UK, Russia, India and East Asia.

"This positive sentiment has also created solid demand for business analysts and M&A specialists across every area of business as organisations look to put in place fresh investment strategies post-recession as they plan for next year. 

"Entrepreneurial dealmakers who have had experience working in more established markets such as London, New York and Hong Kong are particularly sought after. As we move into 2014 and beyond, we expect to see this activity continue as companies persist in seeking out the most profitable avenues for growth” he added further. 

(Home page image courtesy Shutterstock)