UAE employers eager to hire again, study finds

UAE continues to have a strong and highly attractive job market at the regional and global level.

When it comes to expanding their workforce, nearly 70 per cent of employers in the UAE are planning to hire within the next year, a new survey has found.
Bayt.com's latest Middle East Job Index Survey found that 51 per cent of employers in the UAE said that they are 'definitely' or 'probably' going to hire. Among UAE companies that plan to hire within the next three months, 38 per cent are going to hire for a junior executive, followed by 30 per cent who intend to hire a coordinator, and 25 per cent who intend to hire a manager. When it comes to specific roles, 27 per cent of employers in the UAE said they are looking to hire a sales executive, while another 18 per cent are planning to hire an administrative assistant.
"The UAE continues to have a strong and highly attractive job market at the regional and global levels," said Suhail Masri, VP of employer solutions at Bayt.com. "Our latest Bayt.com Fresh Graduates in the Middle East and North Africa Survey, which interviewed over 1,800 fresh graduates, revealed that the UAE is a top career destination. Nearly six in 10 young job seekers want to work in the UAE. At the same time, the hiring forecast as shown in our Middle East Job Index Survey shows that many UAE employers are looking to hire in the short and long term and at so many different career levels."
In terms of future hiring expectations, private sector - multinational companies have the highest hiring intentions in a year's time, at 67 per cent, within the Middle East and North Africa region. Among employers who were surveyed, 75 per cent claim that their company has hired new employees in the past 12 months. In fact, 50 per cent of employers claim that new hires at their companies were made within the past three months.
"In the UAE, the hiring forecast shows a continuation of a strong job market, with nearly seven in 10 UAE employers planning to hire within the next year and more than one in two planning to hire within three months," said Masri. "We have also seen that more than a third (36 per cent) of those planning to hire in the UAE within three months are looking to hire for more than five job roles."
When UAE employers look for experience, 35 per cent of employers said that they look for candidates with good 'managerial' experience, 32 per cent of employers look for 'mid-level' experience, and another 31 per cent are looking for candidates with 'sales and marketing experience'.
The industries emerging as the ones attracting/retaining top talent in the UAE include Real Estate/Construction/Property Development at 31 per cent, Banking/Finance at 30 per cent, and Engineering/Design at 25 per cent. When it came to industries attracting/retaining top graduate talent in the UAE, 35 per cent of respondents said Banking/Finance, this was closely followed by Engineering/Design at 33 per cent and Business Consultancy/Business Management/Management Consulting at 31 per cent.