Jobseekers On The Rise In The UAE As Hiring Increases

Professional job vacancies available in the UAE grew month-on-month by eight per cent in March while the number of professional jobseekers rose 16 per cent.

That’s according to a recent survey by global recruitment firm Morgan McKinley.

Professional vacancies in the UAE saw a marked rise from 2,238 in February 2014 to 2,417 in March while the number of professional candidates numbered 13,152 in March, up from 11,366 the previous month.

Job vacancies also saw a two per cent year-on-year growth in March while the number of professionals looking for vacancies increased by seven per cent, the survey said.

“The rise in professional opportunities has been driven by a number of key sectors,” said Trefor Murphy, managing director, Morgan McKinley UAE.

“The construction market has expanded once again as projects that were stalled in the first two months of the year kicked off. Consequently, architects, project managers, and quantity surveyors have been in strong demand.

“As previously highlighted this is due to a renewed focus on projects as Dubai prepares for the Expo 2020. As a result we expect demand in this area to continue for the foreseeable future.”

Murphy added that the Expo win and strong growth in the UAE’s non-oil private sector have also contributed to solid employment figures during March.

“The banking sector has also remained exceptionally strong throughout March which is in line with reports that the Dubai Financial Market General Index surged 32 per cent in Q1 2014,” he said.

“This growth is expected to have a knock on effect on hiring as we progress through the year. In the same vein the finance, supply chain and procurement sectors all continue to do well, which is reflective of the huge number of businesses going through periods of restructure to increase productivity levels.”

However, the report also noted that there is a growing war for talent in the region despite a rise in the number of jobseekers.

“Whilst our data points to a 16 per cent increase in jobseekers month-on-month, employers are still struggling to find candidates with the requisite skills and experience in some key areas.

“This can be attributed to impressive growth in neighbouring countries – Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Oman, for example – which is enticing jobseekers from Dubai.

“We are also seeing increased confidence amongst candidates, which in turn is prompting many to seek new positions to further their career prospects,” he said.

A recent consumer survey by Dubai’s Department of Economic Development (DED) showed that around 79 per cent of the emirate’s residents rated current job prospects as excellent compared to 75 per cent in Q4 2013.

The percentage of consumers who see better job prospects in the next 12 months remained consistent at 92 per cent with 37 per cent seeing excellent prospects and 55 per cent rating them ‘good’, according to the DED survey.