The war for talent in the UAE is expected to intensify, driving up the importance of employee attraction and retention, with large-scale growth looking over the UAE’s business landscape in preparation for the Dubai Expo 2020, according to an expert.

Jonas Prising, chief executive officer, said: “The UAE has definitely seen an upswing in hiring over the last few months, and this trend is expected to continue.

“The talent pool is finite, and as local organisations compete for skilled candidates, employee attraction, and the ability to hold onto that talent becomes critically important.”

Prising is an expert on the labour market and world of work trends, and head of $22 billion workforce solutions specialist and regularly shares insights at conference and summits around the world.

He is also leading ManpowerGroup’s delegation to the World Economic Forum 2015 Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, and he frequently provides commentary on jobs and employment trends for global media.

“Dubai winning the bid to host the World Expo 2020 has proved a major catalyst for development, sparking a flurry of projects and initiatives and creating jobs across multiple sectors including construction, infrastructure, real estate, hospitality, travel and tourism,” said Prising.

The UAE has also witnessed remarkable growth of dedicated Free Trade Zones for media, entertainment and other creative industries, and has successfully attracted major international companies to set up their Middle East base in the country, he said.

“Effective employee retention should focus on strategies that prevent employees being lost to other organisations. This means going beyond simple monetary rewards and offering a competitive range of benefits —, learning and development experiences,  career development paths, opportunities to move around the organisation and the flexibility to balance work and personal life – the things that matter most to today’s talent,” concluded Prising.

Meanwhile, experts have predicted that hosting World Expo 2020 is expected to create over 200,000 jobs in the UAE over the next five years, and there will be an increased demand for contract workers and outsourced recruiting, as many of the roles created will be primarily project-based.

The Gulf economies continue to create jobs, with Saudi Arabia in the lead — 62 per cent of companies there reported increased headcount last year, followed by the UAE at 51 per cent, said a statement.

Healthcare, telecom and retail are the sectors that lead job growth, it said.

Infrastructure development for both Expo 2020 and the 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar, as well as the continuing global economic recovery, are expected to impact the rate of regional growth.

Salaries are set to rise at a higher rate this year in most of the GCC, with Oman and Saudi Arabia in the lead. - TradeArabia News Service