• Home
• /
• UAE

UAE can offer good opportunities to staff laid off by Meta, Twitter, Amazon

The three US-headquartered technology giants recently announced that they were laying off around 25,000 employees in order to cut costs

Many talented technology professionals who were laid off by global giants including Meta, Twitter and Amazon in the past few weeks will be attracted to UAE as the local jobs market is experiencing the strongest growth in six years.

The recruitment professionals believe that UAE can offer these IT professionals various job opportunities, especially with the growing number of startups and fintech companies. In return, this will also benefit startups to choose from the best talent as the market sees a shortage of skilled IT personnel.

The three US-headquartered technology giants recently announced that they were laying off around 25,000 employees in order to cut costs.

The UAE market is also facing a shortage of skilled personnel with IT skills as around half – 48 per cent – of local businesses see a shortage of skilled professionals as one of the main threats to their businesses, according to Equinix 2022 Global Tech Trends Survey.

It said the most in-demand tech employees are IT technicians, cloud computing specialists and those with an AI/machine learning aptitude. Other skills shortages include security engineer, data protection, security software development and security analysis.

Nicki Wilson, managing director of Genie Recruitment, believes that there will be a strong talent pool of tech skills worldwide and there are a lot of companies in the UAE that want those ‘buzz brands’ like Meta, Twitter etc. on a candidate’s CVs.

ALSO READ:

• UAE jobs: Apple announces new vacancies for Dubai, Abu Dhabi outlets

• UAE jobs: What you need to know about 6-month probation period after new employment law went into force

“Candidates that have this type of experience are often seen as top-tier candidates by companies… Big tech firms are often positioned as being stable, but this is not always the case. It is unsettling to walk into work one day to find that you and thousands of your colleagues have been made redundant overnight. Many SMEs pride themselves on staff wellbeing and development and it may change perceptions on who are the best organisations to join,” added Wilson.

In order to attract a talent pool in the field of new-age technologies, the UAE government has announced a host of measures including Golden Visa 100,000 for coders, the establishment of 1,000 new digital companies over the next five years and massive support and initiatives taken to support the local start-up and fintech ecosystem.

Deepa Sud, chief executive officer, Plum Jobs, said with fierce competition in many people’s home countries, Dubai will always remain an attractive place for still being able to earn a tax-free salary and enjoy a high standard of living in a safe environment.

“The development of data centres in the region such as Microsoft, Oracle, Amazon and the growth of Khazna, will ensure that large-scale investments will increase opening up more scope for technology talent in the region,” she said.

Startups benefiting from layoffs

Sud added that a high volume of technology start-ups continue to establish themselves in the region. “With the ease of company formation in the UAE, many investors and entrepreneurs are confident that the UAE is an ideal place to set up their main office. Careem and Noon are examples of local start-up success stories,” she added.

Plum Jobs chief sees opportunities for data scientists, cyber security, software engineers, analytics and FinTech specialists to dominate as key roles as their demand soars in the UAE and region.

Nicki Wilson said there are a lot of growing technology start-ups in the UAE that require established skill sets.

“I definitely see a lot of these types of companies benefiting from the talent pools emerging because of the mass layoffs. Also, with many bigger organisations establishing branches in the Middle East there will be a requirement for diverse tech skillsets,” she added.

The UAE job market is highly competitive and many companies scout for talent from overseas markets.

“There are a lot of growing tech start-ups in the UAE who require established skill sets so I definitely see a lot of these types of companies benefiting from the talent pools emerging because of the mass layoffs. Also, with many bigger organisations establishing branches in the Middle East there will be a requirement for diverse tech skillsets,” she added.

Strongest growth in 6 years

A recent study released by Hays showed that technology continues to be the most in-demand profession, particularly roles relating to data science, product development, software development, and cybersecurity.

Wilson added that Dubai's employment sector is experiencing the strongest job growth in six years, fuelled by technology jobs which were growing even through Covid-19 and it is continuing to grow at a very fast pace.

“We have adjusted a lot in recent years to understand how to hire for technology within the consumer space and it is lucky that we did. A huge amount of our clients are hiring candidates with technology, data, digital, performance and social media expertise,” she added.