In spite of all the ups and downs currently going on in the shipping industry, it is encouraging to read that a new survey by Antal International suggests that while recruitment levels within the United Arab Emirates are lower than predicted they are still relatively strong.
Antal asked employers whether they were currently recruiting or letting staff go at a managerial and professional level and whether they intended to do so over the coming quarter.
The percentage of companies currently hiring at senior level has dropped from 54% to 49% but this is expected to rise to 56% in the coming months. The construction sector remains buoyant with 61% of businesses currently recruiting for senior roles.
Job loss figures in the region are more encouraging with 29% of employers letting staff go compared to the 34% reported in the last edition of the snapshot. This figure is expected to slide to 22% in the next quarter but only time will tell if this is the case.
According to Antal’s CEO, Tony Goodwin. “Feedback from our clients across the globe suggests that many are under pressure to do more with fewer resources, particularly human ones. Despite a consistent decline in the percentage of companies hiring, a steady fall in the percentage of organisations shedding staff – down from 20% in April to 18% in August and just 16% in December – infers that workforces are stabilising and offering more in the way of long-term security to employees. Listening to reports from our network of offices the feeling seems to be that the sourcing of talent is going through a period of “wait and see”. There is an atmosphere of expectancy, that something, hopefully positive, is about to happen, but in the meantime caution prevails”.
