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Employment

Bahrain FinTech Bay is seen as staff chat in its office in Bahrain Bay, Manama, Bahrain

GCC faces tech talent shortage while Meta cuts 10,000 jobs

Experts warn that the fintech sector in the GCC still has several obstacles to overcome, chief among them a shortage of talent. Against this backdrop, Riyadh hosted the region’s largest fintech recruitment fair last week. The two-day Fintech Careers Fair involved more than 50 companies showcasing 600 job opportunities. Over 8,000 people attended. It took […]

People, Person, Woman, Man

GCC firms compete for talent as they expand workforce

Gulf employers, especially in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, expect to expand their workforces further this year, boosting salaries as organisations vie to hire the region’s best talent. Top recruitment agency Hays surveyed about 4,500 working professionals in the GCC in the final three months of 2022. It found that last year 67 percent of […]

doctor, stethoscope, phone

Mandatory health coverage boosts Middle East insurance sector

Mandatory health insurance requirements swelled Gulf insurers’ income last year, although growth will slow in 2023 and profitability remains a challenge despite the coverage boom. Those are some of the findings in a report by S&P Global Ratings which predicts easing inflationary and supply chain pressures should lower costs arising from property, motor and casualty […]

Furniture, Table, Desk

More senior execs opting to live in Emirates and work globally

Global firms are increasingly looking to hire senior executives based in the UAE to work for them remotely, according to industry experts. Deel, a headhunting company based in San Francisco, found that 89 percent of global roles it handled were for remote workers, with this figure rising to 97 percent in the UAE. The company’s […]

People, Person, Woman, Man

Rise in UAE non-oil orders means more staff recruitment

UAE non-oil businesses reported a three-month high in the growth of new domestic orders last month, leading to a continued rise in staff recruitment as companies move to clear their growing backlog. However, this was offset by a “sustained reduction” in overseas orders, which fell at the quickest rate since June 2021, according to the […]

European and Russian expats opt for freelance jobs in UAE

UAE job visa applications will increase by nearly one third this year, with many expats from Europe and Russia opting for freelance roles, the managing director of recruitment and HR consultancy Connect Group told AGBI.  Aaron Portero forecasts that visa applications will rise at least 25 to 30 percent in 2023. This is on top […]

People, Person, Woman

UAE calls on workers to register in unemployment insurance scheme

The number of subscribers to the UAE’s unemployment insurance scheme has reached more than 250,000 since the start of registration on January 1, 2023, state-owned WAM news agency reported. The scheme aims to secure a temporary income for insured employees at a low premium, should they lose their job and until they are able to […]

UAE’s unemployment insurance ‘first step’ towards welfare state

The introduction of the UAE unemployment insurance programme is the “first step” towards the country creating a welfare state, experts predict. Over 60,000 people signed up for the social security programme, called the Involuntary Loss of Employment insurance scheme, in the first two days since going live on January 1.  Represented by Dubai Insurance, it […]

Turkey drops retirement age requirement for millions

President Tayyip Erdogan has eliminated a retirement age requirement in a move that allows more than two million Turkish workers to retire immediately, less than six months before an election. The announcement was made during a news conference and follows Erdogan’s ruling AK Party delivering a hefty hike to the minimum wage last week as […]

Saudi employment

Employment among Saudi citizens rises above 50% mark

The participation rate of Saudi citizens in the labour market increased to 52.5 percent in Q3 from 49.8 percent in the same period last year, figures from the General Authority for Statistics showed. The overall unemployment rate – which includes citizens and non-Saudi residents – remained unchanged at 5.8 percent, the data released on Thursday showed. Unemployment […]

Video conference

Hybrid working is the key, as UAE offices fill up again

After years of coronavirus pandemic-induced remote and hybrid working, 2022 saw the UAE’s offices once again filling up. However workers have made it clear that they would prefer a hybrid model, according to a study by Cisco Middle East and Africa. Out of the 1,050 full-time UAE employees surveyed almost 90 percent said they wanted […]

UAE’s unemployment insurance scheme starts from January 1

Federal government and private sector employees have been urged to subscribe to the UAE’s new unemployment insurance scheme. Represented by Dubai Insurance, the scheme aims to create a low-cost job safety net that supports employees, providing career stability at no cost to employers. Anyone losing their job due to termination of services, except for disciplinary […]

UAE’s Bayzat mulls expansion in Saudi after new funding round

UAE-based employee benefits platform Bayzat has closed a Series C funding round, raising $25 million, the company said in a statement. The funding round was led by DisruptAD, ADQ’s venture platform, alongside Ischyros New York, a global hedge fund.  To date, Bayzat’s has raised more than $60 million in funding by receiving backing from leading investors […]

IT talent

Middle East tech boom leads to high price of talent

The most significant barrier to technology adoption in the Gulf is a shortage of talent, according to Miriam Burt, managing vice president at Gartner. The latest forecast from the technological research and consulting firm revealed that IT spending in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region will total $178.1 billion in 2023, an increase […]

Person, Hat, Clothing

We can work it out: the future for the GCC’s labour markets

“Help wanted” signs are going up all over the Gulf as employers seek to expand their workforces and attract migrant labourers. This hiring spree is not the kind of free-for-all seen in previous oil booms, however. In Saudi Arabia, for example, overseas workers make up more than 70 percent of the labour market, but their […]