The UAE firms are finding it difficult to hire suitable candidates for vacant positions such as artificial intelligence and cybersecurity experts, data scientists and cloud engineers due to a lack of competent and qualified workers.
According to human resources and recruitment gurus, one of the main difficulties businesses encounter when hiring qualified IT workers is dealing with applicants who claim unrealistic compensation. In addition to this, businesses often lose qualified applicants to rivals because of needless delays in hiring.
According to the most recent Hays GCC Salary Guide for 2022, 50% of companies cited a lack of qualified candidates as their top hiring difficulty, while another 21% of employers cited candidates with excessively high salary demands. Around 19% of businesses anticipate a lack of IT and technology workers, particularly in the domains of cloud computing, cybersecurity, and data.
Waleed Anwar, managing director of Upfront HR said, “There is definitely a shortage of skilled workers in the technology sector as many employers are struggling to find the right talent, particularly in industries like fintech. Being a tourist hub, the UAE, Dubai in particular, always faces a shortage of experienced tourism and senior hospitality professionals.”
He claimed that there is a dearth of qualified software developers, cybersecurity specialists, and experts in artificial intelligence.
According to Billy Bilton, senior consultant for technology at Hays, roles requiring specialised and highly technical skill sets, such as data scientists, cybersecurity architects, cloud engineers, and cloud architects, are challenging to fill due to a lack of suitable candidates.
Billy Bilton continued by stating that one of the major issues was that organisations weren’t appropriately positioning themselves in the market, which led to prospects defecting to more reputable companies.
“Additionally, we regularly see unnecessary delays in the recruitment process, from CV submittal to job offer. As a result, candidates often open themselves to other opportunities and seek employment elsewhere. Some firms are not up-to-date with market conditions, not flexible enough with their working model and not offering any work-from-home options,” Billy Bilton said.