About 91 per cent of the UAE-based companies intend to strategically recruit additional employees in 2015, a report said.

The private sector leads the demand for fresh talent in the UAE, according to a recent survey by REACH Employment Services, a regional market leader for recruitment and outsourcing.

The banking & finance, retail, hospitality and healthcare sectors expressed the highest need, with sales, operations and technical functions among the most sought-after proficiencies. Despite falling oil prices, the oil & gas sector still sees demand as does the government sector following the release of the deficit-free UAE Federal budget for 2015, the poll found.

Aside from hiring permanent staff, 40 per cent of the companies surveyed also said that they are interested in outsourcing staff to provide a more flexible workforce.

Around 73 per cent will be hiring working mothers as well, reflecting the high confidence in the local female workforce and organizational efforts to achieve a balanced employment demographic.

REACH, an end to end talent acquisition provider, noted that a number of factors underpin the positive outcomes of its survey. These include government-led efforts to transition to a knowledge-based economy under the UAE Vision 2021 agenda; growing business and investment confidence behind the UAE’s robust and diversified economy; and employment opportunities arising from Dubai’s hosting of the 2020 World Expo, among others.

“Our survey results clearly show positive growth for the UAE employment market with 91 per cent of companies expecting to strategically hire this year, layer on top of this natural employee attrition and talent acquisition which will be a major focus for companies in 2015,” said Andrew Croft, deputy chief executive officer, REACH Employment Services.

“Another positive sign is that UAE-based businesses are continuing to see the enormous value in employing working mothers. Companies with flexible operating models for mothers will see the greatest benefits from accessing this experience.

“REACH will continue to gauge market demands and trends and employ flexible and transparent recruitment approaches to ensure that needs are met in terms of both quantity and quality,” Croft added. – TradeArabia News Service