Dubai Employment Tips

The wild popularity of the Dubai governments electronic payment system, ePay, has many other business owners pondering the impact going electronic could have on their businesses. As the world embraces a more green and sustainable style of living, relieving the burden on the environment that traditional billing and reporting causes is a big concern to many consumers. ePay collected over $300 million in electronic payments thus far in 2010, and the number of transactions increased from 13,000 in the first half of 2009 to 23,000 in the first half of 2010.

As more people in Dubai become accustomed to paying their bills via the Internet, companies that bill their customers will have little choice but to succumb to the technology. And of course, they will need Information Technology experts that have managed online finances and bill pay in the past to develop, monitor, maintain and troubleshoot these essential systems.

While the IT sector in Dubai is very well established, it has seen less slow down in hiring than other sectors have had in the last year. Because the majority of modern companies cannot sustain themselves without their IT systems working properly, the IT departments of major companies are the last to see job cuts due to the economy.

With the evolving needs of medium and large businesses in regards to technology combined with how freely the people of Dubai are embracing online bill pay, it seems that now would be a great time to start looking for career possibilities in the IT sector in Dubai.

OPITO has recently established new safety training and compliance standards that are designed to reduce the numbers of fatalities and injuries of workers in the oil and gas sector. Similar to the American OSHA standards, these requirements must be met to avoid costly fines. Oil and gas companies will be responsible for implementing training to ensure these new standards are upheld. Needless to say, the majority of this will fall to companies’ Human Resource Departments to facilitate.

Every year 1.2 million people around the globe are killed in vehicle related accidents. While a normal accident is a tragedy, when a vehicle hauling oil and other flammable materials is involved the results can be devastating. In an effort to help ensure motorist safety, the OPITO has stepped in and tightened the training requirements for all drivers involved in the gas and oil sector.

While it may seem that this training would take place behind the wheel, the OPITO has cited that attitude and behavior of drivers is the main cause behind the majority of accidents. The training that is to be delivered to drivers will need to encompass both on the road driving techniques as well as classroom based attitude and behavior modification classes.

Human Resource departments are typically the professionals responsible for any type of behavior training and enforcement, so it is safe to assume that many new opportunities for HR professionals that specialize in designing and implementing training processes will be on the horizon. If you have an HR background and have been considering a move to Dubai, now is the time to get your resume in front of recruiters that work in the gas an oil sector.

Despite the challenges of the global economy, the Dubai World Trade Centre announced that it had a rise in the number of visitors in the first quarter of the year. This rise in visitor numbers is significant at a 15% increase over the same period of 2009. Over 639,000 people visited the six events hosted at the Dubai World Trade Centre, and it is expected the number of total visitors for the year will greatly exceed the numbers of 2009.

This news is very promising for the hospitality and travel job sectors. Recent economic worries have slowed down the hiring of Dubai’s hotels and restaurants as businesses waited to see how bad business would be due to the economy. Thankfully, it looks as if things will be on the upswing. With these types of numbers coming from the Dubai World Trade Centre, it is expected similar increases in sales and guests will be reported by restaurants and hotels in Dubai.

There are many planned hotel openings throughout 2010. The security of knowing that the guests will be in Dubai once the hotels open will likely spur hiring of experienced hotel and restaurant staff throughout Dubai. If you have been considering a job in Dubai and have hospitality or travel experience now may be the best time to get your resume or CV in front of Dubai’s prominent hospitality recruiters. Many of the projects that are still under construction will begin hiring key employees prior to the completion of construction.

For those health care professionals that focus on healthy living, such as physical trainers, dieticians and providers of spa related services, there is some good news brewing in Dubai. While traditionally you would be keeping an eye on the local news regarding hospitals and clinics, it seems a new opportunity for careers in Dubai is becoming quite popular.

Spas located inside of hotels have seen an enormous growth over the last quarter. Ernst & Young’s Spa Benchmark Survey Report was released this week, and it shows that profits have increased over 45.5% in the first quarter of 2010 over the same period of 2009. At first this may seem irrelevant, but it shows a promising trend.

If hotel guests at the five-star hotels that offer spa services such as massages, facial cleansing and physical fitness areas are seeing such a huge boom in business, it leads to believe that others that specialize in healthy living aspects of health care will be shortly following in profit increases. Getting healthy and staying healthy is reaching a fanatic level around the globe, and the people of Dubai are no exception to the rule.

Physical fitness trainers and holistic lifestyle professionals thinking about a career move to Dubai will find that there is a need for these services outside of the five star hotels. If working in a hotel spa does not seem quite the ideal situation, the time is right for going into business yourself and offering these same types of services to the residents of Dubai who typically must travel to the hotels for lack of other options.

According to Dr. Ben Hughes of the Heriot-Watt University campus in Dubai, there is a new pressure on engineers in the area to find more sustainable options for energy sources. The heavy amount of construction throughout the UAE is harmful for the environment, as it releases emissions that contain carbon dioxide. Rather than focusing all efforts on developing new sources of energy, engineers are being encouraged to look at the past. Wind towers are becoming an important aspect of the areas energy conservation efforts, and engineers experienced in this type of technology are in high demand.

Simulations of a wind generated heating and air conditioning system that utilizes modern versions of wind towers combined with patented technology that relies on solar power were very successful at the Heriot-Watt University campus in Dubai. Adapting this technology to be cost effective for the climate in the UAE will require the collective work of engineers and architects in Dubai. For engineers that have been considering looking for opportunities in Dubai, this push for sustainable and eco-friendly heating and cooling options provides a chance to get in on the ground floor of what will likely be a system the world looks when moving forward into the future of energy use. Few areas of the world are putting such a high priority and focus on renewable energy as the UAE, and Dubai is the place to be if you want to be an engineer on the cutting edge of this advanced technology.

With the banks backing new construction projects again, it seems that the construction and infrastructure sector has its eyes on Dubai once again. Al Jaber LEGT Engineering and Contracting LLC just opened its new factory in Dubai Industrial City, and many more construction and infrastructure firms have plans in motion to do the same. ALEC’s new facility boasts 420,000 square feet of space that is home to five manufacturing divisions that include rebar, MEP, ceiling and partition, formwork and facilities management.

As ALEC and other similar companies settle into their new homes in Dubai, it is obvious to see why job growth in the sector has been on the rise over the last quarter. The construction sector was the hardest hit sector during the recent years slow down in building, but it seems to be the fastest to rebound.

Across Dubai, there is a rise in the number of vacancies and a significant increase in the amount of interviews taking place. In the first quarter it is estimated that there was a 113% increase in interviews over the same quarter last year. With more vacancies and more interviews, it is safe to say that the job market in Dubai is once again on the upswing from its past couple of years of troubled times.

Those considering a career in construction or infrastructure in Dubai should keep watch over the business happenings and announcements involving the Dubai Industrial City, which seems to be the hub of the activity and new growth. If you are considering a career move to Dubai, it would be best to be ahead of the competition by making contact with recruiters in the area now.