Jobs in UAE: These professionals are in high demand in 2018 – Khaleej Times
Demand for technology and accounting jobs is on the rise across the UAE as businesses continue to invest in massive digital transformation, cyber security, big data and cloud infrastructure projects in addition to ensure a VAT-complaint system in place.
Recruitment firms affirm that the demand for IT and accounting jobs is here to stay as most of the Gulf countries look set to introduce value-added tax (VAT) by next year following its successful implementation in the UAE and Saudi Arabia in January this year.
Similarly, headcount for IT-related roles is bound to further increase as more and more organisations are leveraging the opportunity offered by the Internet of Things (IoT) innovation and blockchain popularity.
The IT industry continued to exhibit restrained hiring, charting a 4 per cent decline between fourth quarter of 2017 and first quarter of 2018. However, recent month-on-month hiring is optimistic; the sector registered a 3 per cent growth in February 2018 and a 2 per cent increase in March 2018. There has been a nine per cent growth in online hiring activity between March 2017 and 2018. This is unsurprising given the need for companies in the UAE to hire trained specialists to effectively manage new VAT-related requirements.
Abhijeet Mukherjee, CEO of Monster Gulf, said the UAE businesses are now required to submit tax returns and they must have to recruit the necessary talent to meet the new reporting and compliance obligations.