Advertised job vacancies in the UAE rise by 3% from Q4 2016 to Q1 2017

The latest Robert Walters Middle East Jobs Index has revealed that despite a year-on-year decrease in the number of advertised vacancies across the United Arab Emirates, there has been an increase of 3% between the last quarter of 2016 and the first quarter of 2017.

Jason Grundy, Country Head at Robert Walters – Middle East, comments:

“Although the number of job vacancies have fallen year-on-year in the UAE compared to 2016, the actual number of job vacancies has increased from last quarter to this quarter. This has been driven in the past by a more stable oil price in the UAE over the past couple of months.”

Demand Increases for procurement and supply chain professionals 

“The demand for procurement and supply chain professionals is a particularly positive sign. Even though Q1 started very slowly, towards the end of the quarter budget approvals have allowed corporate functions to recruit again, as seen by the spike in jobs. Despite jobs being down compared to this time last year, we can see the market steadily recovering”

Sales and Marketing Professionals also in demand

“Last year was particularly challenging for the sales and marketing sector due to oil prices dropping, having a direct impact on sales and marketing recruitment. With oil prices stabilising, organisations are gradually growing their sales and marketing functions, especially within the bottom line.”

Jason Grundy Country Head at Robert Walters – Middle East, concludes:

“While market conditions remain challenging for some sectors, especially legal and banking and we note the reduced number of roles between both years, I am pleased to see some sectors, in particular supply chain and sales and marketing, are seeing an increase in the vacancies advertised”

About the Jobs index 

The Robert Walters Job Index tracks advertising volumes across leading job boards, across the accountancy and finance, banking and financial services, legal, sales, marketing, and procurement and supply chain, across the Middle East. The Index was launched in Q1 2015.

For further information, please contact Janki Johri on janki.johri@robertwalters.com or +44 78349 93839