UAE sees surge in online job listings in Q3

The UAE led the Gulf region with a 27 per cent increase in online recruitment listings in the third quarter compared to the previous three months of the year, according to listings site Monster.

The company said its employment index showed a surge in listings over the last three months, coinciding with an increase of Dhs1.97bn ($536m) to the current UAE fiscal budget in September.

Read: UAE President increases 2018 budget by $536m

That increase saw additional funds allocated to the National Media Council and Emirates Space Agency and resulted in a 28 per cent rise in listings for marketing and communications, arts and creative roles and 19 per cent rise for engineering roles, Monster said.

Other occupations that saw significant growth quarter-to-quarter included finance and accounting (16 per cent), software/hardware and HR/admin (13 per cent each).

“The quick impact that the announcement of the budget increase had on the related sectors is very impressive,” said Monster.com CEO for Asia Pacific and Middle East Abhijeet Mukherjee.

“We have already seen a spike in demand for engineers and media professionals which may be a result of the national focus on these sectors for the remainder of this year.”

Monster said finance and account roles were the top performers in September year-on-year, with listings up 33 per cent, followed by HR and admin with 32 per cent and marketing, communications, arts and creative at 19 per cent.

In contrast, healthcare occupation listings were down 4 per cent, sales and BD showed no growth and customer service up 2 per cent during the same period.

Some industries also moved into negative territory year-on-year with advertising, market research, public relations and media and entertainment listings down 8 per cent, production, manufacturing, automotive and ancillary listings down 5 per cent and consumer goods, FMCG, packaging and related listings showing no growth.

Other reports have indicated the UAE job market has suffered in recent months.

A September purchasing managers’ index survey released by Dubai bank Emirates NBD showed non-oil private sector employment numbers declined across the country for the second month running.

Read: UAE private sector firms continued to cut jobs in September – survey