Revealed: The most in-demand jobs and skills in the UAE

The most in-demand job titles and skills in the UAE have been revealed.

New research from job site Bayt and YouGov reveals sales managers, sales executives and marketing executives are the positions employers in the UAE are anticipating to be hiring most for in the coming quarter. These positions were followed by director, customer service representative, marketing manager, project manager, HR professional, PR specialist, and HR manager.

Advertising, marketing, and public relations were seen as the industries attracting the top talent in the UAE – or at least were the ones respondents said they were hiring the most for. Hospitality came in second, followed by recreation and entertainment, banking and finance, and business consultancy.

In terms of skills, more than a third of respondents said they were looking for candidates with sales and marketing experience (36 per cent of the total). Others said they were searching for those with mid-level experience and managerial experience. When it comes to skill sets, good communication skills in both Arabic and Englishw ere particularly sought after. “Being a team player” and “the ability to work under pressure” were also seen as highly desirable, as was “the ability to take on new challenges.”

Business management and engineering (24 per cent each) were the most sought-after academic qualifications amongst employers in the UAE, followed by commerce and science (19 per cent each).

Data for the Middle East Job Index Survey for August 2019 was collected online from July 11 to August 17. Results were based on a sample of 1,886 respondents from the UAE, Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia and others.