Dubai: Contract staffing companies expect to see a 12 to 25 per cent increase in demand for temporary workers this summer, when hundreds of UAE employees will take their annual holidays, leaving many positions vacant.
Dulsco, a provider of human resource solutions and waste management services in the UAE and Qatar, said they expect a 25 per cent increase in demand from companies in the logistics, retail, engineering, oil and gas, information technology, manufacturing, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industries, among others.
The companies, many of them small and medium enterprises (SMEs), will be looking to temporarily fill in positions of receptionists, clerks, accountants, data entry operators, document controllers, retail promoters and secretarial staff. Besides vacationing staff, seasonal events, such as the Dubai Summer Surprises, Ramadan and Eid will also drive the demand for temporary placements.
“Our clients usually put in requests for summer hiring well in advance. The requirements are usually for administrative and junior management positions,” S. Balakumar, managing director of Dulsco, told Gulf News. The company has a workforce of more than 7,500 employees and operates offices in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Fujairah and other emirates.
The summer months pose some challenges to companies in the UAE. While many positions will be left vacant in the period between May and August, businesses are expected to maintain the same level of productivity. With a limited resource, organisations are forced to seek outside help.
Mahesh Shahdadpuri, executive director of contract staffing company Tasc, said summer is a busy period for their business and they expect to see a 12 per cent increase in demand for temporary appointments.
“Historically, residents and much of the local workforce, plan their holiday during this period, opening up a number of short-term opportunities for temporary resources,” Shahdadpuri told Gulf News.
Last summer, Tasc saw the demand for contract staff increase by up to 8 to 10 per cent. Shahdadpuri said that hospitality and retail companies are more impacted by Ramadan and summer events, and tend to cope with the high volume of work by hiring staff on a temporary basis.
“The retail sector finds it particularly challenging to get quality talent in sufficient numbers when there is a need for boots on the ground, so to speak, to meet seasonal spikes. There is a need for a quick turnaround of trained staff, which in itself is a logistical and HR [human resource] challenge, along with the added issue of what to do with these additional employees during leaner periods,” he said.
“In such cases it makes sense to outsource staffing and even other managed services for a contracted period, so retailers have on-demand resource flexibility.”
Balakumar said they expect to see a demand for 1 to 2 employees in every organisation with 100 employees. Companies employing 100 blue collar workers are likely to require 5 to 6 temporary staff in the summer.
In the summer of 2011, Dulsco saw a 9.5 per cent increase in demand for contract staff. “The trend has been the same in the last couple of years as well and the demand is set to grow exponentially due to the fast growing level of business activity in the region,” said Balakumar.
