UAE Job Market: What to Expect in Q4

**Tim Elliott** (0:00)
It's the Morning Drive. The UAE private sector kicked off 2026 with a solid 2.5% growth in its workforce, characterized notably by a rise in high-skilled talent. That's data from the Ministry of Human Resources and Emeritization, MoHRE, as they are known. So with regional uncertainty and changing business conditions, can the hiring momentum continue through the rest of the year? Sonam Haider is a Global Mobility Strategist. Make sure I get my words out.
She's the founder at Aethra Advisory with me. Good to meet you.

**Sonam Haider** (0:38)
Good to meet you, Tim. Nice to have you in the room.

**Tim Elliott** (0:40)
You're very welcome. So 2.5% growth in this is Q1 this year. How much of that was driven by mandatory regulatory shifts? And how much was genuine organic appetite for expansion? Sonam?

**Sonam Haider** (0:58)
I think, just to take a step back, I know your listeners are probably well acquainted with the landscape, the geopolitical scenario that's going on across board.
I think a lot of it is driven by a mix of both. There's regulatory component, obviously, with how the government and policies are built around every jurisdiction, and then there's a mix of what happens, the environment part, as we call it in psychology, how two things mix up, and then that's the product what you see.

**Tim Elliott** (1:35)
Gotcha.

**Sonam Haider** (1:36)
Not trying to complicate it, but I think that would have a good segue into the questions you'll be asking me today.

**Tim Elliott** (1:41)
Okay.
What does 2.5% then say about Q1? What does it mean? What does it tell us about business confidence at the moment?

**Sonam Haider** (1:51)
Well, it says that things are looking good. And I think they continue to look good.
I can give you a lot of examples, but given the fact that 2.5% in Q1, and there might have been a gradual, I don't want to say delay, but there's been a bit of apprehension within the companies when they're hiring, especially with what went down since Feb. But the momentum has already picked up, and that's when we say business confidence has gained traction back again. And we're seeing that on a steady uprise.

**Tim Elliott** (2:29)
I mean, to be honest with you, it's nice to have a positive story at the moment, and that's kind of what you're putting forward. We're not at the end of Q2 at the moment, but what about expectations for Q2 in hiring terms? Because that's going to be a real, I figure that's more of a litmus test than Q1.

**Sonam Haider** (2:46)
Yes, yes. I think there's this one word I hate using the most, the delay, right?
I think the word I'd rather use is adaptation. We're not saying that since what happened end of Q1, beginning of Q2, it hasn't slowed down hiring. And I say this because companies have strategically adapted to what came their way, just like in COVID. During COVID, we didn't stop working. We worked remotely still. And the same thing's happening right now. For example, hiring still happened. Nothing stalled, nothing paused. The start dates got a bit set back.
Companies hired individuals and talents who continue to work from their home countries, for example. So they didn't have to make the movement, but they still continued to strategically be positioned in a place that doesn't stop business. So the impacts go down.

**Tim Elliott** (3:40)
Okay, so what do you see in terms of hiring trends, looking towards, you know, when things really pick up? We're looking at, you know, obviously Q3 and hoping for this huge Q4. That seems to be the expectation.

**Sonam Haider** (3:54)
Yeah, that is the expectation. And we're seeing that a lot.
If you're following very closely, there has been a lot of projects in the pipeline talking about government projects that are coming in, real estate. I was at an event yesterday. It's called the Purple Breakfast by Business Today in Middle East. And they spoke positively about the projects that are coming in and how the markets haven't shifted whatsoever. Even when there was a downtime, there's been no differentiator in pricing. And the sellers kept their momentum.
I'm sure you speak to a lot of real estate guests as well. But that was promising. And the fact that the rulers here are adept to how they want to keep this momentum going, the projects, the investments, the need for skilled workers, I think that's on the rise. And Q3 and Q4 are definitely going to be seeing some of the more prominent jobs that are going to be in high demand.

**Tim Elliott** (4:52)
There's been a trend, hasn't there, towards highly skilled workers joining this market. Do you think that is a reflection of companies moving up the value chain? Or is it a response to the UAE's increasingly kind of visa mobility frameworks? What is it that's...