While online job postings in the UAE dropped by 35 per cent year-on-year during November, evidence suggests that 2017 will be a better year for job seekers, says an industry expert.

According to research recently conducted by Hays, more than half of GCC workers surveyed are considering leaving their current employer in 2017 while 14 per cent of UAE employers claim they do not have the talent needed to achieve next year’s objectives.

This is further emphasised in separate study by Manpower Group which shows that over two thirds of surveyed employers are looking to expand workforce in the coming 12 months. With employees leaving and employers in need of relevant talent, job opportunities are likely to rise in 2017.

“With the uncertainty surrounding the new oil production cuts by Opec and the strengthened US dollar, it appears that UAE businesses are taking a cautious approach to growing their workforce, however this is likely to change in 2017 as confidence is restored with more stable market conditions,” said Sanjay Modi, managing director at top employment website Monster.com, APAC & Middle East.

“While online hiring activity in the UAE currently remains very low, the movement of employees and employee talent gaps will create more opportunities but higher competition for job seekers, making it important for job seekers to find ways to stand out.”

The latest Monster Employment Index (MEI) , based on a real-time review of job opportunities from a large representative selection of career web sites and online job listings, reveals that Purchase/ Logistics/ Supply Chain occupations were the only segment to register growth at 19 per cent, while the Education industry registered the least decline in online hiring at -1 per cent.

Finance and Accounting occupations demonstrated the steepest decline among industries surveyed with a -49 per cent fall from the same period last year while Banking, Financial services and the Insurance industry showed the lowest year-on-year growth in online recruitment at -39 per cent.

In the wider Middle East region, online recruitment is down by 44 per cent with the Hospitality sector demonstrating the largest decline at -66 per cent, while IT and Telecom is among the only sectors to register growth at 5 per cent from November 2015.- TradeArabia News Service