While the pandemic has affected hiring activity across different job categories over the past year, a new report from LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network, has just revealed the most in-demand jobs in the UAE according to analysis of the website’s over four million members in the UAE. Here are the top 15 job categories driving the UAE job market in 2021
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SPECIALISED MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS: The true heroes of the pandemic, nurses and general practitioners are in high demand across UAE. These professionals have been working around the clock to treat patients and save lives, and tackle the virus in the UAE. This category saw 112% growth in hires. Most needed skills and experience: Nursing, Basic Life Support (BLS), Internal Medicine, Patient Safety, Healthcare Management Top locations hiring: Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah Common job titles: Registered Nurse, Nurse, General Practitioner, Medical Doctor, Clinical Pharmacist.
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DIGITAL CONTENT FREELANCERS: Freelancers are currently in demand as the trend, partly due to the fact that to support the local economy during the COVID-19 pandemic, the UAE created new work permits for international freelancers. Additionally, the rise in online activity, the adoption of digital platforms across sectors, and changing consumer behaviour led to high demand for freelancers and an increase in digital content-related jobs. Most needed skills and experience; YouTube, Blogging, Social Media Marketing, Creative Writing, Video Production Top locations hiring: Dubai Common job titles: Content Coordinator, Blogger, Youtuber, Podcaster.
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HEALTHCARE SUPPORTING STAFF: While nurses and doctors battled COVID-19 on the frontline, Healthcare Supporting Staff like Laboratory Assistants and Clinical Managers worked behind-the-scenes on PCR testing and vaccine development. Most needed skills and experience; Hematology, Infection Control, Microbiology, Laboratory Skills, Clinical Research Top locations hiring: Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman Common job titles: Medical Laboratory Technologist, Laboratory Assistant, Healthcare Assistant, Medical Consultant, Clinic Manager.
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E- COMMERCE: Although E-Commerce has been steadily growing in UAE year-on-year, the COVID-19 pandemic made virtual stores the new normal for any small business looking to stay afloat. This explains why virtual store platforms like noon.com continue to grow the UAE’s E-Commerce sector and attract new investors. Most needed skills and experience: Digital Marketing, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), E-commerce Top locations hiring: Dubai Common job titles: Ecommerce Coordinator, Online Specialist.
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DIGITAL MARKETING SPECIALIST: With online usage increasing year on year, companies moved to capitalise on increased E-Commerce activity, leading to a growth in Digital Marketing roles . Social media related roles showed some of the highest growth, which is understandable when you look at the social media usage by platform. Most needed skills and experience : Influencer Marketing, Content Strategy, Digital Marketing, Market Research, Google Ads Top locations hiring: Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah Common job titles: Digital Marketing Manager, Social Media Manager, Social Media Marketing Specialist, Marketing Director, Social Media Marketing Manager.
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BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AND SALES ROLES: As the economy slowly picks up, industries like software and technology, enabling digital transformation, saw an upward trend in the region. The complementary factor to this growth was the UAE’s decision to allow foreign investors and entrepreneurs to set up businesses without involving local shareholders, resulted in more salespeople being hired in the UAE to capitalise on this growth. Most needed skills and experience: Business Development, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Lead Generation, Team Management, Sales Management Top locations hiring: Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Ajman Common job titles: Business Development Specialist, Business Development Associate, Vice President of Sales, Sales Team Lead.
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PROFESSIONAL AND PERSONAL COACHES: Due to several roles being impacted across several industries, many of those affected adjusted their career paths to become personal and professional coaches. Most needed skills and experience: Life Coaching, Executive Coaching Top locations hiring: Dubai Common job titles: Life Coach, Leadership Coach.
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CREATIVE PROFESSIONALS: UAE is well known for being a strong regional creative hub, with talent stemming from the Middle East and North Africa. Data shows that Freelance Writers and Video Producers were in high demand in 2020, with more companies looking to enhance their digital presence with high-quality content. Most needed skills and experience: Video Production, Writing, Illustration, Graphic Design, Photography Top locations hiring: Dubai, Abu Dhabi Common job titles: Writer, Video Producer, Fashion Stylist, Art Consultant, Illustrator.
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EDUCATION ROLES: Teachers kept our children learning despite huge disruption to education. Education-related roles registered a 72% increase in 2020. Most needed skills and experience: Educational Leadership, Curriculum Development, Instructional Design, Special Education, English as a Second Language (ESL) Top locations hiring: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah Common job titles: Teaching Assistant, High School Teacher, English Second Language Teacher, Career Counselor, Curriculum Developer.
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LANGUAGE SERVICES: This job category increased by 134% in 2020 compared to 2019, with Medical Interpreters and English Teachers amongst those that transitioned to a Translator role. Most needed skills and experience Translation, Proofreading, Legal Translation Top locations hiring: Abu Dhabi, Dubai Common job titles: Translator.
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GENERAL BUSINESS ROLES: With many organisations having to adapt their business plans in order to keep up with fast-changing customer needs, it stands to reason that business-related roles soared in 2020. Many of these job openings were for top management positions. Most needed skills and experience Business Strategy, Strategic Planning, Organizational Development, Leadership, Team Management Top locations hiring: Dubai Common job titles: Managing Partner, Outreach Manager, Head Of Compliance, Organisational Development Manager, Strategic Partner.
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SPECIALISED ENGINEERING ROLES: Engineering is one of those ‘pandemic-proof’ job categories that has shown a continued rise over the past few years. Most needed skills and experience: Biomedical Engineering, Deep Learning, Audio Engineering, Marine Engineering Top locations hiring: Dubai Common job titles: Biomedical Engineer, Marine Engineer, Materials Engineer, Audio Engineer, Machine Learning Engineer.
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TECHNOLOGY: The UAE is fast becoming one of the global technology and innovation hubs,. Interestingly, a large proportion of Technology roles, for example Frontend Developer and Technical Director, were in a freelance or self-employed capacity. Most needed skills and experience: Responsive Web Design, JavaScript, User Experience Design (UED), SASS, Web Development, User Interface Design Top locations hiring: Dubai, Abu Dhabi Common job titles: Web Developer, Frontend Developer, User Interface Designer, Product Design Consultant, Cyber Security Analyst.
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FINANCIAL ROLES: With turbulence in the economy and uncertainty in financial markets, the expertise of financial professionals was highly sought after in 2020. Most needed skills and experience: Corporate Finance, Financial Modeling, Portfolio Management, Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), Trading Top locations hiring: Abu Dhabi, Dubai Common job titles: Corporate Finance Manager, Finance Business Partner, Equity Trader.
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ONLINE NEWS & JOURNALISM: At the start of the pandemic, the UAE decided to limit distribution of all print media to contain virus spread. However, the rapidly evolving situation surrounding COVID-19 saw a great appetite for related news and information, thereby increasing online media consumption and resulting in a 58% rise in hires for News & Journalism roles. Most needed skills and experience: Editing, Journalism, Television Top locations hiring: Dubai, Abu Dhabi Common job titles: Editor, Journalist, Television Producer.
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