Jobs in UAE: Construction sector offers new opportunities

Published Wednesday, November 21, 2012

By Shuchita Kapur

One of the worst hit sectors during the recession phase may now offer many new jobs as construction activity picks up in the country.

According to a survey by naukrigulf.com, more than half of the recruiters (58 per cent) in the GCC predict new jobs in the coming quarter.

These recruiters are optimistic about the overall recruitment scenario. Most of these opportunities will be for the 8-15 years’ experience levels.

Experts agree that this is one sector which looks very promising in the coming year. Trefor Murphy, Managing Director at Morgan McKinley believes this sector will show marked improvement in 2013. “Construction is picking up in Abu Dhabi and Dubai,” he told Emirates 24|7.

Agrees Toby Simpson, Managing Director at The Gulf Recruitment Group. According to him, “construction and engineering consultancy have shown growth, although largely due to projects outside the UAE.”

Despite the optimism about the sector, a minority of the recruiters believe that we may see more layoffs in the coming quarter. The naukrigulf.com survey reveals that 19 per cent of the respondents forecast layoffs in the said period, whereas 13 per cent predicted no hiring.

“This clearly suggests that the global financial crisis has impacted hiring decisions of some companies who prefer to adopt a wait and watch mode,” said the findings.

The widening gap between demand and supply for talented workers has become a major issue across the sector and those who predict new jobs said a talent crunch while hiring their employees is a problem they have to deal with. The findings suggest it is most difficult to hire talent at the 4-8 years’ experience level.

“We are happy to see return of positive sentiments in the construction industry. We expect to witness things turning even better in the mid-term. Most of the GCC governments have large development projects in the pipeline and this should help provide the required boost to the construction industry,” said Tarun Aggarwal, Business Head, Naukrigulf.com.

As new jobs open up in the sector, employees can also expect increments. Even in 2012 many employees got pay hikes. Majority (54 per cent) of the recruiters surveyed said that the range of increments were within the range of 5 per cent and 10 per cent. About 18 per cent recruiters said that they got less than 5 per cent increments.

(Home page image courtesy Shutterstock)

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