Opportunities for New Jobs in UAE Post Pandemic

The Coronavirus pandemic has badly affected jobs globally where an estimated 2.7 billion workers are out of a job, according to the International Labour Organisation. However, every challenge is also an opportunity. This axiom has been true with at least some industries that are performing extremely well in pandemic times.

Though most businesses have been operating on minimum resources and have kept the hiring on the back burner, many critical jobs like logistics and medical niche have been operating in full capacity or even above it.

Growing business niches

There has been a rise in companies that are hiring aggressively to meet workforce requirements. Some of the niches that have seen an increase in new job vacancies in UAE include Internet & E-commerce, IT Services, Medical, Distribution & Logistics, and software development.

The rise in demand for these core job sectors was quite expected because with most organizations switching to the remote workforce and adapting to a fully virtual world for running their business, the technology sector is likely to make a robust growth in the days ahead.

Internet & E-commerce has recorded a growth rate of 54 percent while for IT services the growth rate increased by a staggering 164%. Medical services grew by 73% while Distribution & Logistics recorded 275% and the Software Development growth rate was up by 150 percent compared to April 2020.

Digital future

The pandemic has triggered a digital transformation of workplaces and organizations at an unimaginable pace across every sector. As employees participate in Zoom meetings, virtual tradeshows, and business events, business activities have become smarter and faster. The use of the internet during the pandemic has risen by 50 percent in some parts of the world as most areas of our daily lives have moved online.

In the near future, job opportunities in automation, digital and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies will make the cornerstone of the economy of most countries including UAE. These state of the art technologies are likely to account for about 60 percent of potential productivity growth globally by 2030. 

How conventions about jobs may change

While 70% of UAE employees are forced to take a fresh look at their career goals post Covid-19, companies may have to come up with flexible working policies to retain and attract the best talent.

With the plum job postings likely to be centered around IT and technology in the days ahead,  employees in other niches like hospitality,  tourism, and other allied segments will be motivated to evaluate their career prospects as global job markets make fine adjustments in the wake of to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Many employees might be looking for new roles or enhancing their skill sets and job-worthy attributes to fit into the new normal world job market. 53 percent of UAE respondents said they feared coronavirus-induced job losses to be short term with no repercussions on their long-term career prospects.

Remote working may become the new norm

Reports show that 8 in 10 people in the UAE will continue to work remotely after Covid-19. So, virtual world technology will be the calling card for the best possible career options for prospective employees. Remote working will no longer be a stop-gap arrangement for organizations to manage schedules and ensure better employee rotation. It is likely to be a permanent arrangement even after the pandemic wave is flattened completely.

80 percent of employees in UAE opined that they wish to continue working from home after the pandemic ends to save time and money. About half of the respondents said remote working made them feel more productive.

How work culture can change

As more businesses plan to reopen their businesses and switch back to near normal operations companies may have to come up with flexible working policies and practices. Employee's core skills and competency will be reassessed and to meet the evolving business priorities a supportive workplace culture may set in.

For employers, retaining and attracting the best talent has become as important as never before. The workforce with adequate technical skills that will be valued in the virtual new normal world will be in huge demand for sure.

Digital by design

To sustain itself and grow in the post-pandemic world, any organization has to be digital by default. The companies that survived the aftermath of the pandemic are those that were better prepared in terms of IT infrastructure. The adaptation of digital and AI technologies will see a huge demand for employees in this core sector. The employees may have to upskill or reskill to remain ahead in the evolving job market and climb up their career ladder.

Company leaders will need to consider appropriate tools, training, and incentives to enable employees to be productive and adapt to the tech business world. Employees will get an opportunity to learn from a lot of innovations and experiments, which will ensure a substantial increase in economic and social welfare.

Accelerating Industries

Some sectors that have registered enormous growth during this difficult time include technology, internet services, digital entertainment, e-commerce, and e-groceries.  In general, we are likely to see an emerging economy where businesses become more focused on implementing new technologies and identifying efficiencies.

Employees indeed have a lot of new jobs in UAE coming up often in the most unexpected areas of the job market beyond the conventional sectors in UAE like construction, real estate, tourism, etc.  Having the right skill sets will indeed make the difference between the ordinary and extraordinary job positions in the post-pandemic new normal world.