The UAE is increasingly becoming a hot spot for temporary overseas assignments, as more and more international companies are looking to send their staff to the country in order to better compete globally, industry sources told Gulf News.
According to Olivier Meier, senior mobility consultant focusing on the growth markets at Mercer, there is an increasing number of foreign workers being sent to the UAE for short or long-term assignments, reflecting the country’s position as a key economic hub and top priority destination for expatriates.
The assignments are for a wide range of business reasons, including transferring skills, managing specific projects, training junior employees or setting up new operations in the region. The appointing employers are mostly affiliates of foreign multinational organisations, but they also include UAE-based companies looking for international talent.
“[They’re from] across all industry sectors, from energy to finance as well as telecom, engineering, construction, transportation and fast-moving consumer goods,” Meier said. “We obviously see a recent surge in the engineering and construction sectors due to the growing demands for the country in terms of continuous effort to improve the infrastructure.”
Temporary assignments
Tarun Aggarwal, business head of Naukrigulf.com, said they have noticed more companies looking to recruit staff for temporary assignments in the UAE. “Given the positive environment, especially in the backdrop of Expo 2020, this trend should continue upwards and temporary assignments are expected to grow further.”
Mercer’s Worldwide Survey of International Assignment Policies and Practices 2012 had earlier ranked the UAE as the seventh top destination worldwide for multinational organisations looking to expand their global footprint. “This attests to the strategic position of the UAE as an economic hub for many multinational organisations,” said Nuno Gomes, principal — information solutions leader, Middle East at Mercer.
Overseas assignments involve the transfer of an employee to another location for a set period of time. Some people view international postings as an opportunity to learn new things, experience foreign travel and enjoy attractive financial benefits.
Meier pointed out that the UAE is home to a number of regional headquarters of foreign multinational companies. Homegrown organisations in the country are also looking to recruit skilled talent from different countries to fuel their global expansion.
“From an employee’s perspective, the combination of competitive remuneration, career opportunities and high quality of life [in the UAE] is particularly attractive,” he said.
In Mercer’s 2014 Quality of Living Survey, Dubai emerged as the top city with the best quality of living in the Middle East and Africa region. HSBC’s latest Expat Explorer survey also ranked the UAE the nineth best country overall for people choosing to move abroad.
