Many baby boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964) working in the UAE are delaying retirement due to rising living costs and the desire to maintain residency, according to recruitment experts.
Older expats need a few more earning years to feel comfortable about retirement back home. They also want to keep UAE residency, particularly if their family is settled here or they hold long-term or golden visas, says Aws Ismail, director of recruitment at outsourcing and training provider Marc Ellis.
The UAE is a great place to work and live, and people are not ready to give this up easily, so they tend to postpone their retirement plans to make the most of it, he says.
Since there is no automatic state pension for foreign workers and no strict mandatory retirement age for expats in the private sector, many simply choose to carry on working while they still can add value, he adds.
“For most boomers, it is less about money and more about purpose,” says Waleed Anwar, managing director of Dubai recruitment company Upfront HR. “Many still feel they have a lot to offer, and they want to stay active in a market they enjoy living in, but staying in the UAE means they must remain employed because residency and cost of living are high.”
Nicki Wilson, owner and managing director of Dubai consultancy Genie Recruitment, says living in the UAE can sometimes create a false sense of security. Many baby boomers have earned high salaries yet have minimal long-term savings, she says.
Dubai is an expensive place to raise a family and maintain a lifestyle, and many baby boomers need to keep working well into their sixties simply to sustain their commitments, she reckons.
Financial preparation
There needs to be more awareness around preparing for retirement early and working closely with a fiduciary financial adviser. Some people choose to keep working to maintain a certain lifestyle but for many, financial preparation simply did not happen in time, she says.
More than half (58.8 per cent) of baby boomers in the US are delaying retirement due to financial stress, according to the 2025 Employee Financial Behaviour report by financial wellness company Your Money Line.
Instead of enjoying a well-earned break, many are staying in the workforce longer, the report said.
The UAE’s retirement visa offers five-year renewable residency for those who qualify. Eligibility is typically based on age and meeting certain financial criteria such as savings, property ownership or regular income.
For a person to be eligible, they must either have worked for not less than 15 years within or outside the UAE, or be aged 55 or older at the time of retirement; own a property/properties worth no less than Dh1 million; have savings of no less than Dh1 million; or have a monthly income of Dh20,000 (Dh15,000 a month for Dubai).
Are employers open to retaining boomers?
In some larger organisations, recent mass redundancies have disproportionately affected those with higher salary packages or family benefits, Ms Wilson explains.
As companies look for cost-cutting opportunities, senior professionals on premium packages are often the first to be let go or have their benefits reduce, she says.
“We’re seeing more companies review senior salary structures where a boomer executive’s package is significantly above what the market is paying now for similar roles,” Mr Ismail says.
“We have also seen that with more competition in the market, there is pressure from boards and chief financial officers to improve margins in a higher-cost environment, which makes very senior, high-salary profiles more vulnerable to change.”
Mr Anwar says employers never make a decision based on age alone. It comes down to whether the senior profile still brings future value and impact worth the investment. Companies look at the return on investment and how many years the employee can contribute, which naturally puts boomers at a disadvantage, he adds.
There is a clear shift towards hiring younger, more cost-effective talent who can be developed for long-term return. Age bias is never expressed openly, but it definitely exists in hiring decisions, he says.
Boomers vs mid-level hires
In many cases, retaining a senior professional can cost the equivalent of two mid-level hires and sometimes more, once you factor in benefits, allowances and long-tenure salary increments, Ms Wilson explains.
However, the trade-off is depth of experience, leadership stability and the ability to handle complex business challenges, she says. Many companies still prefer mid-level hires because they perceive them as more cost-efficient, but this can be shortsighted, depending on the business need, she adds.
“Many corporates’ functions would have one very senior boomer, which can cost the same as 1.5 to two solid mid-level professionals,” Mr Ismail says. “By the time you factor in things like base salary, housing and education allowances, annual bonuses, tickets, benefits, etc, the total cost of a long-tenured senior executive can be substantial.
“Many companies are now running a simple internal calculation with two options, option A: keep one senior profile with deep institutional memory and relationship, option B: redeploy budget into two mid-levels, one operational, one with strong digital/AI skills and accept a short-term experience gap.”
More companies are choosing option B in non-critical roles, and option A only where the senior individual is central to revenue, key accounts or regulatory relationships, he adds.
Mr Ismail says employers in the Gulf are generally practical and skills-driven. That means that if a 60-year-old employee has the relationships, regulatory knowledge or technical depth the business needs, age becomes secondary.
“I have seen specialist roles in banking, energy, aviation, cyber, data and large transformation programmes where older talent is actively retained,” he notes.
“Flexibility on work permits beyond traditional ages for ‘extensive and rare experience’ is allowed under UAE rules. However, we have also seen that this flexibility is less visible at mid-level roles. For generic management roles, our clients often prefer ‘next generation’ leaders who combine experience with very strong digital skills and lower cost.”
However, in top-heavy organisations, where Boomers and older Gen X leaders hold on to key seats, it can increase the risk of attrition as ambitious younger employees jump to other companies or markets to get a promotion, Mr Ismail adds.
Recruiters also report a rise in consultancy-based arrangements in the Gulf. This is partly due to changes in visa flexibility and more progressive company mindsets in the UAE, according to Ms Wilson. This is a flexible and cost-friendly way to retain experience across all seniority levels.
Are boomers upskilling?
There are two types of older workers at the moment: boomers who are actively upskilling through AI, data, cloud and digital leadership courses – many attending executive programmes and industry certifications because they understand that digital literacy is now essential – and another group who rely almost entirely on their relationship capital and industry knowledge and are less comfortable with new technology. This is where the skills gap is widening, Mr Ismail says.
director of recruitment at Marc Ellis
Another group relies almost entirely on their relationship capital and industry knowledge, and is less comfortable with new tech. Here is where the skills gap is widening, he says.
The gap is growing in tech-heavy roles where tools evolve fast, Mr Anwar points out.
“Staying employable today requires continuous learning, regardless of age,” Ms Wilson says.
“In Dubai, networking is absolute key and should be something that people continuously seek out. Even if happily employed, networking can only benefit you, both in professional and personal life.”
