Revealed: LinkedIn unveils most ‘in-demand’ jobs, skills in UAE

Despite the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on human resources around the world, demands for certain jobs in the UAE have seen an uptick.

Specialised medical professionals, digital content freelancers, professional and personal coaches, and finance and general business roles are among the pick of the jobs that have seen a spike in demand, according to an analysis drawn by professional networking platform, LinkedIn, from among its four million members in the UAE.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted the way businesses operate and how people work, but it has also opened up opportunities in a number of sectors as businesses continue to adapt to the pandemic,” said Ali Matar, head of LinkedIn MENA and emerging markets in Europe and Africa.

“2021 will undoubtedly be a year of continued change, but companies will also continue to look for new ways to improve services, create fresh business opportunities and strengthen their talent pools, taking advantage of a greater diversity of skills and talent in the job market.”

Here are the top 15 job categories driving the UAE job market :

Specialised medical professionals
This category saw a 112 per cent growth in hires, with nurses and general practitioners being in high demand across the UAE. To tackle the virus, the country also launched a national volunteer campaign in April 2020 that registered more than 1,000 volunteers (retired doctors, students, general practitioners, psychiatrists, nursing staff) in just a few days.

· Top skills: 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

Digital content freelancers
To support the local economy during the Covid-19 pandemic, the UAE created new work permits for international freelancers. The rise in online activity, adoption of digital platforms across sectors, and changing consumer behaviour led to high demand for freelancers and a 200 per cent increase in digital content-related jobs, with 25 per cent of them being available remotely.

The average age for this job category was 29, slightly higher than other markets like Brazil and Spain where the average age was 25 and 26 respectively.

· Top skills: YouTube, Blogging, Social Media Marketing, Creative Writing, Video Production

· Top locations hiring: Dubai

· Common job titles: Content coordinator, blogger, Youtuber, podcaster

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. All of this work and developments led to 129 per cent rise in supporting staff roles.

· Top skills: 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

E-commerce
Although e-commerce has been steadily growing in UAE year-on-year, the pandemic made virtual stores the new normal for any small business looking to stay afloat. The average age of those hired in e-commerce coordinator and online specialist roles was 29, and 66 per cent of them hold a bachelor’s degree.

· Top skills: Digital Marketing, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), E-commerce

· Top locations hiring: Dubai

· Common job titles: Ecommerce coordinator, online specialist

Digital Marketing Specialists
With online usage increasing, companies moved to capitalise on it, with a growth of 71 per cent hired into digital marketing roles in 2020. Social media related roles showed some of the highest growth. This category saw one of the most balanced gender hiring, with 51:49 female to male ratio, and the vast majority were self-employed or freelancers.

· Top skills: 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

Business development and sales roles
Industries like software and technology, and enabling digital transformation, saw an upward trend in the region. This resulted in more salespeople being hired in the UAE to capitalise on this growth, contributing to a 74 per cent growth in Business Development and Sales hires.

One possible complementary factor to this growth was the UAE’s decision to allow foreign investors and entrepreneurs to set up businesses without involving local shareholders.

· Top skills: 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

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 which led to a 207 per cent growth in these roles compared to 2019.

· Top skills: Life Coaching, Executive Coaching

· Top locations hiring: Dubai

· Common job titles: Life coach, leadership coach

Creative professionals
Freelance writers and video producers were in high demand in 2020, with more companies looking to enhance their digital presence with high-quality content.

· Top skills: Video Production, Writing, Illustration, Graphic Design, Photography

· Top locations hiring: Dubai, Abu Dhabi

· Common job titles: Writer, video producer, fashion stylist, Art consultant, illustrator

Education roles
Education-related roles registered a 72 per cent increase in 2020, with teaching assistants being in high demand at New York University Abu Dhabi and American University of Sharjah. Also, 67 per cent of those hired within this category were women with an average age of 27.

· Top skills: 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

Language services
This job category increased by 134 per cent in 2020 compared to 2019, with medical interpreters and English teachers amongst those that transitioned to a translator role.

· Top skills: Translation, Proofreading, Legal Translation

· Top locations hiring: Abu Dhabi, Dubai

· Common job titles: Translator

General business roles
Business-related roles soared in 2020 with many of these job openings for top management positions.

· Top skills: 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

Technology
The UAE witnessed a 61 per cent growth of technology hires in 2020. A large proportion of technology roles, for example Front-end developer and technical director, were in a freelance or self-employed capacity.

· Top skills: 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, front-end developer, user interface designer, product design consultant, cyber security analyst

Specialised engineering roles
Engineering is one of those ‘pandemic-proof’ job categories that has shown a continued rise over the past few years. In 2020, engineering roles grew by 72 per cent.

· Top skills: 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

Finance roles
The expertise of financial professionals was highly sought after in 2020. This category has seen a 63 per cent growth, with 41 per cent of the roles being filled by women.

· Top skills: 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

Online news and 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

· Top skills: Editing, Journalism, Television

· Top locations hiring: Dubai, Abu Dhabi

· Common job titles: Editor, journalist, television producer