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29 March 2024

Media jobs up, pay still competitive

Published
By Shuchita Kapur

The demand for media professionals in the UAE has increased over the past year but salaries remain competitive in the sector, according to experts.

“We currently have over a hundred jobs that fall under the media and creative industry in the UAE alone, with hundreds of additional media jobs across the region. The high number isn't surprising, as media has always attracted top talent across the region. Yet, in the past few years, the industry has seen a massive change in its very nature, thanks to the shift to new types of media like digital and social. Of course, this has led to the creation of completely new roles and jobs that reflect the virtual landscape. Today, our job market space is full of companies seeking to hire ‘community managers’, ‘digital brand managers’, ‘online advertising sales professionals’, ‘social networking officers’, etc.,” Lama Ataya, Chief Marketing Officer, Bayt.com told Emirates 24|7.

The industry has also seen an increase in demand for professionals who are bilingual. “There has also been an increase in demand for bilingual PR professionals and copywriters, with industry-specific experience. Arabic content writers, specifically for the web, are also highly sought. Our latest job index survey revealed that the skill UAE employers need in their new hires is ability to communicate effectively in both English and Arabic (55 per cent),” added Ataya.

However, according to some experts it is difficult to determine the number of media job openings in the market. “Media positions usually do not even come through executive search,” she said.

A quick search on job website www.careerjet.ae www.careerjet.ae shows 708 openings in the country under the media category, of which the maximum positions are for Dubai.

Even though the demand for media professionals have increased this year, salary hikes have not been across the board.

“While media salaries remain very competitive, marketing budgets in most industries have not yet completely recovered to the pre-crisis spending levels that were witnessed in the UAE. This conservatism is mostly reflected in the salaries offered to entry and mid-career level media professionals who have not yet firmly established themselves in the industry. On the other hand, this does not seem to apply to senior-level professionals who have already made a brand for themselves in the industry locally, and are still able to command high salaries.

“The media industry is known for its great perks, steep learning curves and challenging-but-pleasant working conditions. The talented, creative professionals in the industry are able to command compensation packages that reflect their very unique personal brand identity and value propositions,” said Ataya.