UAE Job Market Set To Grow Further – Survey

Hiring in the UAE will see a significant uptick over the next three months, especially in the junior executive positions, the latest Bayt.com Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Job Index Survey has revealed.

According to the survey, 44 per cent of companies in the UAE are definitely hiring in the coming three months, of which 64 per cent will be looking to hire up to up to 10 people, mostly for junior executive positions.

These findings show a significant upward trend from the same time last year, when the same survey found that 32 per cent of companies in the UAE were definitely hiring over the next three months.

Suhail Al-Masri, VP of Sales, Bayt.com said, that the region’s hiring outlook is looking quite positive for the coming three and 12 months.

“This will particularly be the case for multinationals, which could provide professional residents a foot in the door for some of the world’s largest companies,” he added. “We can also see an increase in plans to hire in the public sector with 37 per cent definitely hiring in the next three months, compared to 31 per cent in January 2014.”

Sales managers, HR professionals needed 

According to Masri, the uptick in hiring continues from past waves with most employers planning to hire people for junior or middle-level executive positions.

The survey also found that companies in the UAE would primarily seek out sales managers (19 per cent), customer service representatives (15 per cent), human resources professionals (14 per cent), project managers (14 per cent), and executive assistants (14 per cent) over the next three months.

The most sought-after qualification amongst candidates in the UAE is engineering at 31 per cent, followed by business management (29 per cent), and commerce (21 per cent).  However, apart from qualifications, UAE employers are also looking for candidates who have good communication skills (60 per cent), who are team players (50 per cent), have good leadership skills (45 per cent), and good negotiation skills (45 per cent).

In terms of experience, employers in the UAE prefer candidates who have the ability to manage a team (40 per cent), who have worked in sales and marketing (37 per cent), or in administration (30 per cent), the survey found.

Saudi Arabian employers most confident after UAE businesses

The survey, which is conducted by job portal Bayt.com, and YouGov, a research and consulting firm, also found that 66 per cent of UAE’s companies have hired new employees in the last 6 months, higher than the MENA average of 63 per cent.

As per 71 per cent of the respondents, the UAE is more attractive as a job market than any other country in the MENA region. UAE respondents also said that that the most attractive industries in the country are construction (39 per cent) and banking and finance (39 per cent), followed by oil, gas and petrochemicals (35 per cent).

Companies in Saudi Arabia were revealed to be the most optimistic after their GCC counterparts in the UAE, with 40 per cent claiming that they will be definitely hiring over the next three months, followed closely by Qatar (37 per cent) and Kuwait (35 per cent).

In the same survey last year, Saudi Arabia was ranked as the country with the highest hiring expectancy over the next three months with 65 per cent of the companies confirming new recruitment.

Across the MENA, 62 per cent of companies are definitely or probably hiring in the next the months. Private multinationals are most likely to lead hiring in the region, with 41 per cent claiming to be definitely hiring in the next three months. 

The survey, which was conducted by jobs portal Bayt.com and YouGov, a research and consulting firm, polled a base of 2,279 online respondents over 22-day period. Countries that were covered under the survey UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.