RELATED: UAE salary guide 2022: how much should you be earning?
Niche roles in the UAE's support staff sector are attracting record-high salaries in 2022 as business confidence and hiring activity return to pre-coronavirus levels, with some employers offering wages up to 95 per cent higher compared with a year ago, according to Tiger Recruitment.
Demand is particularly strong for office managers, who are being offered up to 95 per cent more and can earn between Dh12,000 and Dh35,000 a month depending on the sector, the recruitment specialist said in a report on Wednesday.
“At the start of the pandemic, we saw large numbers of foreign workers return to their home countries. They are starting to come back again but not quickly enough to fill the growing number of roles available,” said Zahra Clark, head of the Mena division at Tiger Recruitment.
“Forward-thinking employers now recognise that if they want to attract and retain high-calibre candidates in such a competitive market, they need to be prepared to pay a premium.”
Forward-thinking employers now recognise that if they want to attract and retain high-calibre candidates in such a competitive market, they need to be prepared to pay a premium
Zahra Clark,
head of Mena for Tiger Recruitment
The jobs market in the UAE, the second-largest Arab economy, has made a strong recovery from the coronavirus-induced slowdown on the back of the government’s fiscal and monetary measures.
About 76 per cent of UAE employers plan to expand their workforce in 2022, according to a survey this week by jobs portal Bayt.com and market research company YouGov.
Experienced lifestyle managers, chiefs of staff and private chefs are among the most sought-after business support roles in the region, the Tiger Recruitment report found.
At the top end of the scale, some private households are paying up to 40 per cent more to secure lifestyle managers, while family offices have raised salaries by 80 per cent, it said.
About 43 per cent of businesses in the Emirates plan to raise salaries this year by an average of 3 per cent, Cooper Fitch said in its 2022 salary guide in December.
Salary remains the most important factor for companies to attract talent and is the number one priority for jobseekers searching for new roles, the Tiger Recruitment report said.
Flexible working is the second benefit of choice for UAE jobseekers, with many candidates turning down roles that require them to be in the office full-time, the report found.
“I expect the current talent shortage to ease over the next 12 months, allowing the market to stabilise. But for now, candidates have the upper hand,” according to Ms Clark.
Businesses need to rethink their benefit packages to attract the best talent, according to the report.
“There is a growing realisation that employers need to offer personalised benefits to attract the best talent,” Ms Clark said.
“We have seen employers step up and introduce benefits related to mental health and well-being but it is flexible working that is the most in demand.”
Some of the mental health benefits currently offered by UAE employers include access to counselling services and wellness initiatives. Other examples of innovative work benefits include paid childcare during lockdown and an annual work-from-home stipend, according to the report.
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Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
Frankenstein in Baghdad
Ahmed Saadawi
Penguin Press
