Hiring picks up on last year but caution remains

The hiring situation improved by three percentage points compared with this time last year. Jeff Topping / The National

Move over corporate earnings season, several new hiring and salary reports were released yesterday - showing mixed results in the Emirates.

In what may be worrisome to jobseekers, only 49 per cent of companies in the UAE said they were hiring for managerial and professional positions during the first quarter this year, down 13 percentage points from the previous quarter and led by drops in the electronics and fast-moving consumer goods sectors.

Although most local employers - 54 per cent - expect to hire over the coming quarter, that is down from 58 per cent in the last quarter, according to data from the recruitment firm Antal International.

Still, the hiring situation improved by three percentage points compared with this time last year, and the more recent drop reflects caution over growing business uncertainty with Iran and Syria.

"I have seen this trend, [where] the moment something significant goes around in the region companies get a little cautious," said Nizar Lallani, the chief executive and country manager for Antal in the UAE. "The moment the situation gets clarified, they go 'bingo!' I wouldn't say [the hiring situation is] unstable."

Those already working in the Emirates are likely to be more interested in determining whether their employer is set to give them a pay increase - and if so, how much?

Already, four out of every 10 employees surveyed in the UAE say they have received a pay rise in the past 12 months. But nearly half of these individuals were "unhappy" or "very unhappy" with the amount they got, according to a survey released yesterday by the online jobs site Bayt.com.

Most respondents - 63 per cent, according to Bayt.com - say they expect a raise this year.

There may be good news for these individuals.

Another report released yesterday, at a human resources forum in Dubai, found that salaries are poised to grow 5 per cent in the UAE this year.

That figure is down slightly, however, from a previous 5.7 per cent forecast when employers were asked late last year how much they might raise wages this year, according to Towers Watson, the consultancy behind both of these studies.

"Once [businesses] look through the finance review and have different things to juggle, you find the actual pay increases are slightly less than what they would have been," said Billy Turriff, who leads the data, surveys and technology business at Towers Watson in the Middle East.

The projection by Towers Watson closely matches data from Aon Hewitt, which pegs current salary increases at 5.4 per cent, up 0.2 per cent from last August.

Still, not everyone should expect to see similar rises.

Employees in the pharmaceutical sector are projected to earn an average of 6.1 per cent more this year than last, compared with 5.1 per cent for those in high-tech fields and 5 per cent for financial services workers.

Another important differentiator comes down to whether a worker is considered a "high performer" or not.

Only 10 per cent of employers surveyed in the UAE said an increased budget would be allocated to all workers at the same rate, while 85 per cent reported that they would give a larger portion to their high performers.