Fewer jobs are being advertised in the Emirates than they were at the same time last year, with positions in customer service recording the steepest fall.
The Monster Employment Index, which measures job demand via the number of postings online, has dropped 19 per cent in the UAE year on year.
There were 41 per cent fewer customer service occupation positions advertised in May compared to the same month a year previously. Purchase/logistics/supply chain positions registered a 21 per cent fall, followed by software, hardware and telecoms at a 17 per cent decline.
The lowest growth industries were production/manufacturing, automotive and ancillary, followed by banking, financial services and insurance and IT and telecoms/internet service providers.
But it was not all bad news.
Positions in healthcare rose 13 per cent year on year, while hospitality and travel jobs increased by 1 per cent. The third strongest sector, marketing and communications/arts/creative, registered a 7 per cent decline.
Heath care was also the strongest sector, posting a 15 per cent growth. Hospitality was second with a 12 per cent rise in openings. Engineering, construction and real estate was third with a 5 per cent growth.
Regionally, the index fell 14 per cent year on year. However the drop is more to do with what was happening elsewhere in the world, according to Monster.
"The double digit drop in the Monster Employment Index is owing to the cautious approach adopted by Middle East employers owing to the business scenario globally," said Sanjay Modi, managing director of Monster.com for India, Middle East and South East Asia.
The lowest growth occupations in the Middle East were software, hardware, telecom, followed by customer service, HR and admin, purchase/logistics/supply chain and finance and account.
The highest growth occupations were health care, hospitality and travel, marketing and communications/arts/creative, sales and business development, and engineering and production.
Egypt led the region with a 16 per cent growth in postings, followed by Bahrain at 13 per cent.
Kuwait registered the steepest fall at 26 per cent.