A recent Bayt.com Telecommuting poll indicated that 47% of companies in Dubai were now allow telecommuting, with an additional 15% allowing it dependent on individual employee circumstances. Jobseekers and employers agreed that the secret to successful telecommuting was a combination of “Clear Guidelines agreed upon between employer & employee”, “Trustworthy employees who are capable of working well independently”, “Supportive Management who will oversee and guide the telecommuting system”, and “Proper training program for employer & employee (in new procedures, etc…)”.

The main telecommuting benefit to employers was deemed by them to be a combination of better productivity, more skills retention and cost savings. And the main benefit to professionals was agreed to be a combination of all of better work-life balance, productivity and loyalty.

Dubai is now following the trends in Europe and America with regard to telecommuting which is important if Dubai is to compete effectively on the global talent stage.

A recent report in the UK’s Daily Telegraph Newspaper predicts that Dubai will overtake Heathrow as the world’s largest international airport by 2016. In fact, by 2020, Dubai is expecting to be handling 90,000,000 passengers a year through its terminals, which it is currently planning to expand. Dubai also has plans for a new airport which will be completed in around 2025.

This growth in capacity and infrastructure at Dubai airport is already beginning to feed through the chain into additional airline jobs. For example, a recent report in Emirates 24/7 conveys the exciting news that Dubai-based airline group Emirates will be hiring around 5000 personnel to fill positions across their business in all continents, starting from April 2012. Their hiring will include an additional 450 pilots and 4,000 cabin crew, plus many more operational staff.

The airline industry in Dubai is expected to show both explosive and sustained growth over the next decade and Dubai airport is expected to become the world leader in commercial passenger transportation. This makes the airline industry a prime sector for forward thinking progressive employees to start and build a career as airline cabin crew.

I have therefore provided some tips and advice on how to start and develop your career in the airline industry as a flight attendant.

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2011 was the United Nations international year of youth and in support of this I thought it would be good time to devote a career article to Dubai youth.

While youth unemployment levels in Europe and the Arab region remain generally high, the UAE is enjoying unemployment rates as low as 6.3% and this may even be lower within Dubai. This means that Dubai is potentially one of the most promising places in the world to be a graduate student at the moment. And with growth predicted across most if not all industry sectors in Dubai, Dubai based graduates are seemingly spoiled for choice in terms of profession or industry sector.

However, one exciting new growth area that students should be considering is mobile application development. It was highlighted in the Gulf News last month that mobile computing and application development is a very viable career option for students in Dubai and the UAE, due to the increasing penetration of smart-phones within Dubai, UAE and globally. Latest figures from the International Telecom Union estimated that there were 6 billion mobile subscriptions world-wide with 349 million of those existing in the Arab world and 11.9 million existing in the UAE.

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In recent times, Dubai and the Middle East have gradually increased their status as a trading power due to the fact it can operate and trade in time zones not covered by the established financial centres such as London and New York.

As a result the number of finance jobs has increased in Dubai over recent years as Dubai continues to establish itself on the world stage in finance and trading.

Demand for accountants with the right qualifications and experience remains steady according to a March 2012 report from Gulf News and Dubai is expecting to see a surge in demand in several industry areas over the coming months:

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Dubai’s economy is forecast to grow by 4.5% this year according to an announcement by the chairman of the Dubai Supreme Fiscal Committee. This means that companies will be growing and hiring new staff. In fact, ‘93% of employers in the UAE anticipated increasing their head count in the first quarter of this year’. FMCG, Pharmaceutical and Construction sectors are expected to experience the most hiring activity during 2012.

This is great news for the HR profession as increased hiring activity and headcount will increase the demand for HR and Recruitment professionals within Dubai. This means it is an exciting time to start or develop your HR career in Dubai especially as the profile of HR in Dubai is growing as it gains real traction within corporations by showing how world class HR strategies can make deep impacts on the bottom line of Dubai businesses. The annual HR Summit and expo in Dubai now draws speakers from the world’s leading organizations, including Yahoo, Siemens, Ernst and Young, Pepsico, Johnson and Johnson and Friends Provident, which underlines how important HR in Dubai has become.

However, there is no question that HR is a niche profession and entering and progressing within HR requires a specific set of qualifications, skills and experiences. Below, I have provided some advice and tips on how to start and advance your career within the Dubai HR sector.

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