- City Fajr Shuruq Duhr Asr Magrib Isha
- Dubai 04:28 05:46 12:20 15:47 18:49 20:07
It’s a great time to be an IT professional in the UAE. If you’re one, you’ll have far more job opportunities coming your way than the average employee, and will be much better placed to choose one you like.
According to the latest Monster Middle East Index, IT and telecom is the top growth sector in the country, with a 40 per cent year-on-year increase in the number of online job opportunities advertised in the country.
The data is for July 2015 when compared with the same period last year.
This also links well with the top growth occupation for the month. Software, hardware and telecom saw a 66 per cent increase in online job postings as compared to the same period last year, making the job market an exciting one for IT professionals.
As the UAE’s Smart City vision creates hundreds of new jobs in the sector, this demand is only expected to go up in the forthcoming years.
“The government is stimulating the growth of the sector to establish the UAE as a regional and global hub for innovation, and technology will play a pivotal role to achieve this. Both government and private companies are looking for talent and resources to drive growth,” says Sanjay Modi, Managing Director, Monster.com (India, Middle East, South East Asia and Hong Kong).
On an average, a Data Centre Manager can earn Dh32,000 per month whereas the monthly salary of the Head of IT of a decent-sized organisation could go up to Dh60,000.
If you are thinking of landing a job in the sector or negotiating an offer, here are current salary levels that you can expect for the below roles.
|
Technical |
Average |
Low |
High |
|
ERP Consultant (SAP / Oracle) |
20,000 |
15,000 |
30,000 |
|
Business Analyst |
22,000 |
15,000 |
27,000 |
|
Business Intelligence Consultant |
25,000 |
20,000 |
30,000 |
|
Data Centre Manager |
32,000 |
22,000 |
40,000 |
|
DBA |
20,000 |
16,000 |
25,000 |
|
Developer |
14,000 |
9,000 |
20,000 |
|
System Administrator |
13,000 |
10,000 |
17,000 |
|
Head of IT |
50,000 |
40,000 |
60,000 |
|
Helpdesk |
10,000 |
6,000 |
15,000 |
|
IT Manager |
30,000 |
20,000 |
40,000 |
|
IT Security Analyst |
20,000 |
15,000 |
25,000 |
|
Programme Manager |
45,000 |
40,000 |
55,000 |
|
Project Manager |
35,000 |
20,000 |
45,000 |
|
Network / Infrastructure Engineer |
15,000 |
12,000 |
20,000 |
|
Solutions Architect |
45,000 |
35,000 |
55,000 |
|
Support Engineer |
15,000 |
10,000 |
25,000 |
|
Service Desk Manager |
25,000 |
18,000 |
35,000 |
Gross monthly salaries excluding bonuses in AED; Source: Charterhouse Middle East
After the IT sector, professionals in the chemicals/plastic/rubber, paints, fertiliser/pesticides industry saw the most job growth over the same period.
The sector market a 25 per cent jump in job openings in the country. This was followed by healthcare, which saw a decent 18 per cent jump in online job opening last month if compared to the same month the year before.
Industries that saw a negative growth in job openings have traditionally been the strong points of the local economy.
Engineering, construction and real estate saw the steepest decline with a -17 per cent dip in numbers followed by the oil and gas industry with a -16 per cent lower growth over last July.
Despite the opening of several new schools in the country, education did not fare well.
This could be attributed to the summer months, when schools close and recruitment activity is low. The sector registered a -5 per cent growth.
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