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UAE jobs: Employees need to learn new skills as AI can take over routine tasks, says expert

Employers in the UAE are increasingly looking for candidates with strong digital skills

Generative AI in combination with legacy technologies like robotic process automation (RPA) and machine learning has the potential to substitute and augment human work for a significant variety of tasks, especially for work involving like data analysis and synthesis, content generation, customer support, and even aspects of software development, a senior official said.

While this can lead to efficiency gains and enable employees to focus on higher-value-added work, it has the potential to affect employment in numerous, particularly white collar, jobs. “At the same time, demand for AI specialists, data scientists, and machine learning engineers is growing rapidly, as companies seek talent to build, manage, and improve AI systems. Employers in the UAE are increasingly looking for candidates with strong digital skills, including social media skills, the ability to navigate online tools and platforms, and the skills to work with generative AI and large language models,” said Ravin Jesuthasan, global leader of Mercer’s Transformation Services business.

Ultimately, the impact on the job market will depend on how organisations and individuals adapt, emphasising the importance of upskilling and reskilling in a rapidly evolving digital landscape. As employers place increasing value on individuals with a diverse skill set who can adapt to changing industry demands, we will see a shift toward skills-powered employment, leading to a new focus on lifelong learning, continuous skill development and providing individuals with the tools they need to stay competitive in the labour market.

The UAE has positioned itself as a global leader in AI as part of the UAE Strategy for Artificial Intelligence, underscoring the nation’s commitment to innovation and economic transformation. There are a significant number of government-supported training programmes aimed at bridging skills gaps and preparing the workforce for AI integration, recognising that achieving the full potential of generative AI requires intentional, human-centric work design.

“So, while we will likely see AI impacting jobs that involve routine tasks that are easier to automate, we’re also likely to see a transformation in the types of new roles that the UAE is actively recruiting for, accompanied by a positive impact on productivity and creativity,” Jesuthasan said.

Generative AI is most useful in democratizing knowledge and creativity through augmentation, lowering the skills premiums traditionally required for a variety of creative tasks where the goal is achieving productivity gains or seeking a breakthrough through an innovative solution to a problem. It can be a valuable tool for boosting productivity where the tolerance for risk is higher (i.e., the consequences of a mistake are low). Compelling use cases have ranged from copywriting to call centre operations where it has demonstrated significant value in boosting productivity particularly for the least experienced talent as it helps reduce the “experience premium”.

“As result, business leaders will need to understand when to rely on — and when not to rely on — generative AI and the specific role it should have in either substituting, augmenting of transforming human work. There are key steps that businesses should be taking now, such as establishing a work model that includes AI and developing future skills with AI in mind. Companies need to be upskilling and reskilling their workforce to adapt to AI advancements and adapt roles and skills to account for greater human-AI collaboration,” Jesuthasan said.

In addition, it’s important for companies to encourage a shift in their culture so that they can embrace a mindset of perpetual reinvention to take full advantage of AI’s democratization of knowledge and creativity.

Leaders need to understand the cost of all their resources whether it is human or a machine, Jesuthasan stressed. T”his means capturing the cost of all types of work options (e.g., employees, gig workers, outsourced labour, process automation, AI, etc.) on a like-for-like basis through a measure like the total cost of work (TCoW),” he added.

TCoW is defined as total labour cost (e.g., full-time employees, free agents, gig workers) + vendor cost (e.g., outsourcing cost, AI and robotics vendor cost) + annualized capital charge for relevant capitalized investments (e.g., company-developed AI or robotics, equity stakes in third-party work options). “It is important to put all work options on a comparable basis so that the analysis is not distorted by differences in accounting treatment (e.g., labour cost is expensed, while the investment in robotics is capitalised). One should multiply the company’s cost of capital by the total capital investment in work options like AI/robotics and alliances so as to capture the annualized charge for using these options,” Jesuthasan said.