Nearly 70 percent of employers in the UAE are planning to hire new staff in the next 12 months, according to the latest Middle East Job Index Survey.
Compiled by Bayt.com and YouGov, the survey results showed that within the next three months, more than half of UAE employers (52 percent) said that they are “definitely” or “probably” going to hire.
Among UAE companies that plan to hire within the next three months, 45 percent said they are going to hire for junior executive roles, followed by 28 percent who intend to hire a coordinator, and 27 percent intend to hire managers.
Most respondents in the UAE also said they are looking to hire sales executives, the survey added.
Looking at future hiring expectations, 69 percent of employers in the UAE claim that they intend to hire in 2018, with private sector companies continuing to have the highest hiring intentions.
From those surveyed, 75 percent of UAE respondents claim that their company has hired new employees in the past 12 months.
“The hiring forecast in the UAE is looking promising, with 69 percent of UAE employers planning to hire in a year’s time and more than half (52 percent) planning to hire within three months,” said Suhail Masri, VP of Employer Solutions, Bayt.com.
He added that 39 percent of those planning to hire predict having at least five vacancies to fill this year.
The survey said that in terms of academic qualification, a large number of UAE employers are looking for engineering graduates, followed by business management and commerce while the ability to communicate in both English and Arabic is still a much sought-after skill.
Data for the Bayt.com Middle East Job Index survey was collected online between December 4, 2016 and January 22. Results are based on a sample of 3,107 respondents from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, and Pakistan.
