UAE job market slowly gains traction

The impact of the downturn is still weighing heavily on employers' hiring practices as they continue to try to control costs and seek to do to more with less. However, there are signs that companies are gaining confidence about their growth prospects and are looking to add more staff in line with their increasingly positive outlook.

'In 2008 we had a very drastic shock to the system,' said Cliff Single, Commercial Manager, BAC Middle East. 'There was uncertainty about where the bottom was and how things were going to play out. Now, more companies are feeling, ok, we've had a difficult year or two, but we know where we are, and we are increasingly confident that the trajectory from this point is going to be more stable or upwards. So we are seeing more companies now, if not hiring, at least starting to think in terms of hiring.'

The slow recovery in hiring was to be expected as recruitment typically is one of the last business functions to pick up after a downturn. 'Companies will only start expanding head counts again once they are really sure that the worst is behind them and are seeing consistent improved performance over one or two quarters or so,' he told AMEInfo.com.

One factor that is holding companies back is that they are entering the summer season, which is traditionally a quieter time in terms of hiring. 'There are companies that are saying that they are ready to move ahead with things, but that is likely to be happening in Q4,' he said.

UAE employer confidence grows

Amer Zureikat, Vice President of online jobs portal Bayt.com, agrees that the job market in the UAE has witnessed a relatively slow but steady improvement since 2009. Over half (56%) of UAE employers said they are planning to "definitely" or "probably" hire in the next quarter, according to Bayt.com & You Gov Siraj's Job Index Survey- April 2010, he noted.

'The UAE government is again heavily investing in infrastructure projects across various industries, which is triggering more confidence in the UAE economy and job market and contributing in making the UAE an even more attractive destination for both new investments and seasoned talents,' he said.

The industries that are most actively hiring are construction, oil, gas & petrochemicals, and telecommunications, he noted. And with the worst of the downturn behind us, the outlook looks brighter on the salary front as well, with average pay rises expected to be 11.6% in the upcoming year, Zureikat added.

Candidate shortage

Although many companies in Dubai are more eager to add staff, a number of factors are making it more challenging for them to attract candidates, Single noted. On one hand many people have left the emirate, thus shrinking the pool of potential candidates. Also, fewer prospective job seekers from overseas are considering the emirate compared to a few years ago, due in part to the negative international media coverage the emirate received.

'There was a phase where we had a lot of people coming from the UK and Europe on visit visas on a speculative basis to have a look around and see what they could find in the market. That is not happening in anything like the same numbers now because the perception is that things are very different,' he noted.

On the flip side, some companies are now less willing - due to financial pressures - to hire people from overseas because it is more costly than local hires and poses higher risk. As a result, vacancies are staying open for longer because employers are being much stricter with their standards, their expectations are higher, and they are less willing to take a risk on someone they are not sure about.

'It's no longer the first instinct of people who may be struggling in Europe or North America to look to this region. At the same time, employers won't necessarily look at them as their first preference if they are completely new to this region,' he noted.

Still, there are signs that the job market is gathering steam, albeit slowly. 'Confidence is returning, there is gradual improvement in the picture, but we have to patient and realistic in our expectations,' he said.