UAE sees best job growth in GCC

Dubai - Healthcare industry generates most employment opportunities

The UAE exhibited the most positive employment growth among its neighbouring countries in April, with hiring activity growing at 18 per cent in April as compared to the same period a year ago. While Bahrain is growing at a modest five per cent year on year, Oman, Kuwait, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have all slipped into negative growth.

The UAE Monster Employment Index registered an 18 per cent growth from the corresponding period a year ago.

“For the first time since January 2015, the Monster Employment Index for the Middle East has slipped below the year-ago level. At the same time, e-recruitment activity in April 2016 is 10 per cent lower than in March 2016. The survey further revealed that finance professionals in the GCC will mostly face the brunt. Banks and other financial institutions have already announced job cuts in response to the changed economic reality,” said Sanjay Modi, managing director, Monster.com (India, Middle East, South East Asia and Hong Kong).

The banking and financial services (BFSI) industry is one of the worst performing, with a negative 30 per cent growth in April 2016 as compared to the previous year.

It’s not all bleak. Looking at the UAE market specifically, certain sectors are still hiring robustly. The healthcare industry is the biggest generator of employment opportunities. For the third month in a row, the industry is charting the steepest growth in year-on-year online recruitment activity; up by 45 per cent in April. This is not surprising since the country is anticipated to require an annual increase of nearly three per cent in the number of hospital beds, demanding for more than 13,800 beds by 2020.

The annual growth of 49 per cent in job opportunities for healthcare professionals also mirrors the UAE’s focus on training and development of this profession.

Year on year, consumer goods/FMCG, food and packaged food, home appliance, garments/textiles/leather, gems and jewellery (up 27 per cent) led all monitored industry sectors in April.

E-recruitment in production/manufacturing, automotive and ancillary exceeded the year-ago level by double digits this month; up 11 per cent. The sector has been charting positive growth on an annual basis since the beginning of the year following low levels in the past years.

Online hiring has gained momentum; an 11 per cent growth on the month is the highest among all monitored industry sectors. The sector also registered a 24 per cent three-month growth and 12 per cent six-month growth respectively.

Online recruitment in engineering, construction and real estate slipped 12 per cent below the corresponding period a year ago.

BFSI (down 30 per cent); retail/trade and logistics (down 25 per cent); education (down 27 per cent); hospitality (down 38 per cent) saw further decline in annual growth momentum. Advertising, market research, public relations, media and entertainment (down 46 per cent) exhibited the steepest decline among all monitored sectors.

Customer service (up 26 per cent) and purchase/logistics/supply chain (up one per cent) charted positive growth on the year. Customer service witnessed the steepest slowdown in growth momentum among all job roles; down 38 percentage points from 64 per cent in March. The three-month growth rate for the group, nevertheless, continued to be positive.

Online demand for software, hardware and telecom slipped five per cent below the year-ago level.

Marketing and communications/arts/creative (down 34 per cent) followed by hospitality and travel (down 30 per cent) registered the most notable decline, year on year.

— business@khaleejtimes.com