What will turn UAE job market around
Hiring activity slowed down in second quarter but will post 5% to 10% growth during the rest of the year
Dubai: Despite the decline in hiring activity, more jobs will be up for grabs in the UAE during the rest of the year because new investments are expected to come into the market and new real estate and infrastructure projects will be launched before the end of 2015.
Trefor Murphy, managing director for Middle East and North Africa at Morgan McKinley, said he expects the hiring market to post a 5 to 10 per cent growth rate every quarter for the rest of 2015. The overall employment scenario will still depend on the “stability of oil prices”.
Murphy said there will be “further investment” in important sectors, including the financial services and banking industries, the Dubai International Financial Centre and the Abu Dhabi Global Market. “There will also be big infrastructure, property, oil and gas projects as well as alternative energy ones,” he said.
Besides, banks in the UAE, which already have branches abroad, intend to widen their presence in other markets such as Egypt, Indonesia and Pakistan, creating employment opportunities for jobseekers.
Companies in the UAE were hiring less in recent months partly due to falling oil prices, with the number of jobs created dropping by one per cent in June from the first quarter of the year.
The latest UAE Employment Monitor report by Morgan McKinley showed that the decline in oil prices has slowed the recruitment market in the country, with the number of vacancies offered dropping from 8,213 in the first three months of 2015 to 8,109 in the second quarter.
The tail-off in growth, however, has also been due to Ramadan, as well as the summer months, when many expatriate workers go back to their home countries during the school break.
The sustained decline in oil prices has squeezed profit margins of oil and gas businesses not just in the region but around the world, forcing employers to reduce their staff size. As of March 18, companies in the industry, including oilfield services firms, parts manufacturers and steel pipe makers, have shed at least 75,000 people worldwide, according to a Forbes report.
