Dubai: Companies in the UAE were hiring less in recent months partly due to falling oil prices, with the number of jobs created dropping by one per cent in June from the first quarter of the year.
There were also less people looking for jobs in the UAE, as more employment opportunities open up in other markets like the UK, Ireland, America, Australia and Asia.
The latest UAE Employment Monitor report by Morgan McKinley showed that the decline in oil prices has slowed down the recruitment market in the country, with the number of vacancies offered dropping from 8,213 in the first three months of 2015 to 8,109 in the second quarter.
Recruitment specialists had earlier confirmed that companies in the oil and gas sector are trimming down their workforce as they seek to reduce operational costs amid weak fuel prices. Rajiv Ramanathan, associate partner for human resources consulting firm Aon Hewitt, said that they have seen some job cuts in the UAE’s oil and gas industry.
The impact is felt not just in the UAE, but across the globe, with companies in the industry, including oilfield services firms, parts manufacturers and steel pipe makers, shedding at least 75,000 workers worldwide as of March this year, according to a Forbes report.
However, despite the decline in hiring activity, more jobs will be up for grabs in the UAE during the rest of the year because new investments are expected to come into the market and new real estate and infrastructure projects will be launched before the end of 2015.
Trefor Murphy, managing director for Middle East and North Africa at Morgan McKinley, said he expects the hiring market to post a 5 to 10 per cent growth rate every quarter for the rest of 2015. However, the overall employment scenario will still depend on the “stability of oil prices.”
Murphy said there will be “further investment” in important industries, including the financial services and banking sectors, the Dubai International Financial Centre and the Abu Dhabi Global Market. “There will also be big infrastructure, property, oil and gas projects as well as alternative energy ones,” he said.
Besides, banks in the UAE, which already have branches abroad, intend to expand to other markets such as Egypt, Indonesia and Pakistan, creating employment opportunities for jobseekers.
Morgan McKinley’s statistics were based on the company’s internal data and cover sectors like banking and financial services, accounting and finance, construction, energy, engineering, oil and gas, manufacturing, logistics and supply chain, office administration, sales and marketing, public relations and corporation communications.
