Diversification working well for UAE job sector

Dubai - The findings from the past five years show that apart from 2013, all calendar years under consideration recorded steady job creation across the GCC landscape.

The UAE has recorded a steady wave of job creation across almost all sectors, as a result of the country's efforts to diversify its economy, Monster.com's Middle East Employment & Opportunities report shows.
As part of the Monster Employment Index, a monthly gauge into the region's recruitment scenario, Monster.com monitored 11 occupational categories across 12 broad industry sectors and tracked online job postings in the six GCC economies, as well as Egypt, since 2011.
The findings from the past five years show that apart from 2013, all calendar years under consideration recorded steady job creation across the GCC landscape.
Compared to 2014, the year-on-year growth momentum improved significantly in 2015; while oil and gas is the only sector where employer hiring activity has plunged from a year-ago level, with the growth rate down by 10 per cent in 2015.
"Looking at the past five years, we have seen a lot of fluctuations in the job market in the UAE, with the global financial crisis shaking up the economy," said Sanjay Modi, managing director of Monster.com for India, the Middle East, South East Asia and Hong Kong.
"Employer hiring activity was growing at an average rate of 16 per cent in 2015. This is significant when viewed against a backdrop of prolonged economic turbulences, and shows how successful the UAE has been in diversifying the economy when expanding the non-oil sector over the past couple of years," he added.
The Monster.com report also revealed that the job market in the UAE was very optimistic in 2015, even if the online hiring rate is still much below that of 2012.
Largely led by a customer and service-oriented industry, a steady rise in demand was registered for professionals in software, hardware and telecom, finance and accounts, as well as sales and business development.
The steepest growth in online opportunities was registered in the IT and telecom/ISP this year, with online recruitment in the sector moving at a pace of 23 per cent year-on-year.
"This is impressive when looking at the past years, where the average year-on-year job growth was at six per cent in 2012, negative-13 per cent in 2013 and three per cent in 2014," Modi noted. "The Internet of Things is transforming the recruitment landscape in the UAE. Demand for personnel in customer service, for example, is diminishing slowly as automation technology continues to replace manpower in the field."
With an anticipated 25 million visitors coming to the UAE in 2020, one of the biggest opportunities to ensure future revenue lies in Expo-orientated development plans.
"World Expo 2020 to be hosted in Dubai is expected to pull inward investment in the Emirates and lead to a major job boom, with additional jobs being created in tourism and hospitality," added Modi.
"Similarly, the retail, trade and logistic sector appear promising, as the mega-event increases penetration of international retail players, with ripple effect on infrastructure projects and construction activities."
- rohma@khaleejtimes.com