Te UAE has registered a 14 per cent increase in online hiring the first half of 2018, in line with recent government initiatives aiming to accelerate progress on National Agenda goals, according to the latest Monster Employment Index (MEI).

In 2017, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President, Prime Minister of the UAE, and Ruler of Dubai, pledged to accelerate the progress made on the objectives of the National Agenda. The Government accelerator program was designed to meet the ambitious goals of UAE Vision 2021, focusing on several industries and sectors including infrastructure, smart services and energy.

The ‘Dubai Pulse’ initiative, announced late last year, will host a virtual platform which will allow residents to access country data and pay-bills online. The initiative is the first step towards creating a smart and sustainable UAE, who has pledged to process its last paper transaction by 2021. To date, 120 key initiatives have been implemented for 30 national pillars.

Abhijeet Mukherjee, chief executive officer, Monster.com, APAC & Middle East, said: “The latest findings of our MEI are a reflection of the strong first half performance of the UAE market since the launch of key government initiatives.

“The National Agenda aims to diversify the country’s economy and position the UAE as a preferred hub for global business and trade. As a result, we are seeing a demand for more skilled talent across sectors. This demand is for both expatriate and local talent in the private sector as companies embrace Emiratization efforts and strive to keep up with the nation’s progress rate.”

Occupations within Software, Hardware and Telecom registered an impressive surge of 14 per cent in the first half of 2018, signifying the growing nature of demand for jobs within the sector.

“It is not surprising to see that the Telecom industry is spear-heading the recent transformation of the UAE. Technology is an integral part of Vision 2021, and the smart initiatives launched by the UAE continue to fuel hiring in the sector. Initiatives like Dubai Future Foundation’s ‘One Million Arab Coders’ programme, which helps Arab youth acquire the skills needed for jobs in the IT sector, will shape the future of the industry. It will be interesting to see how jobs in this sector will transform in the coming years,” added Mukherjee.

Other industries to contribute to the continued first half growth of the UAE market include Consumer Goods (including FMCG, Food and Packaging, Home Appliances, Garments, Textiles, Leather, Gems and Jewellery), Production and Manufacturing Business Financial Services, registering increases of 14, 12 and 9 per cent respectively.

From the industries evaluated by the MEI, the UAE’s performance closely follows Bahrain at 16 per cent growth in the first half of 2018, while Egypt was the only other country to register growth during this period at six per cent. On the other hand, Qatar registered the highest decline at seven per cent from the same period last year. – TradeArabia News Service