Boost for jobseekers as firms in UAE get hiring

Jobs are coming back to the UAE in numbers, a leading recruiter has revealed, as once-struggling sectors including construction and banking crank up their hiring efforts.

Sanjay Modi, managing director of employment website Monster Gulf, said his own firm’s monitoring efforts put the number of UAE job vacancies advertised online up 41 per cent year-on-year.

The retail and logistics sectors which have spearheaded the country’s economic recovery are doing even better - with 42 per cent more employment opportunities advertised at the end of April than in the same month last year.

However, Modi says that even those sectors hit hard in recent years look to be on the mend. The UAE’s once-booming construction industry slowed sharply as prestigious projects, especially in Dubai, ground to a halt amid the global financial crisis.

However, the message from the men in the suit and ties to the men in the hardhats and steel-cap boots now seems to be changing from ‘you’re fired’ - to ‘you’re hired.’

“Construction and construction engineering has been doing extremely well over the past few months,” the Monster supremo told 7DAYS.

“The downslide we saw in the region, which

was sharp during the tough times, has now moved up - it’s moving.”

Other job areas looking to fill spots in the UAE, according to the Monster man, include hospitality and banking and finance.

“Post 2009 has been challenging, so to see the [job] market holding is encouraging,” said Modi. He also raised hopes that Emirati workers will step into private sector jobs in bigger numbers.

“The skills gap still remains - but that is being addressed,”the Monster Gulf boss explained.

“If they continue to invest as they have in the last three or four years then in five or six years time I can see a perceptible shift.”

Meanwhile, another high-profile regional employment website - Bayt.com - yesterday announced it has now racked up more than eight million users.

“We are thrilled,” said the firm’s CEO Rabea Ataya, who added that the site helped thousands of people find work each year.