Businesses in the UAE are entering the last quarter of 2025 with a robust intention to hire, as outlined in the recent ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey. This quarterly assessment, regarded as a reliable indicator of global employment trends, gathers insights from 525 employers across various sectors within the UAE.
The overall hiring outlook shows a Net Employment Outlook of 45 percent, indicating a strong desire among organizations in the UAE to expand their workforce, despite the backdrop of economic uncertainty, technological evolution, and changing workforce dynamics.
This figure marks a slight decline of three percent from the previous quarter, but it still signals a high level of business confidence. Companies in the region are not only adapting to evolving market conditions but also focusing on recruitment to meet immediate operational demands while developing long-term capabilities.
The Q4 2025 employment outlook indicates measured growth in the job market, where employers are adopting strategic hiring practices, investing in new positions, and adjusting to shifts in skills requirements, all while managing automation, restructuring challenges, and regional economic factors.
Driving Forces Behind Job Growth
Among the employers planning to recruit in the fourth quarter of 2025, 46 percent cite company expansion as the primary reason for job creation, which aligns with trends observed in previous quarters.
In addition to overall business development, other motives for increasing staffing levels include:
- 34 percent are hiring for new ventures and initiatives.
- 32 percent plan to acquire new or updated skills to remain competitive.
- 29 percent attribute new roles to diversity and inclusion efforts.
- 27 percent respond to changing service needs and customer expectations.
- 24 percent are adding staff for specific projects, while an additional 24 percent point to technological advancements as motivation for recruitment.
- 12 percent aim to fill roles that became vacant before the last quarter.
- 11 percent are replacing employees who left in the previous quarter.
No participants indicated “other reasons,” suggesting that hiring decisions are closely tied to defined strategic business developments.
Downsizing Due to Skill Redundancies and Automation
While a majority of companies plan to expand their workforce, some are also preparing for reductions. The primary challenges for these employers relate to changing skill needs and automation:
- 30 percent of employers report that evolving skill requirements have rendered some roles obsolete.
- 29 percent attribute staffing cuts to automation and streamlined processes.
- 27 percent are engaged in restructuring or downsizing efforts.
- 25 percent are aligning headcount with current market demands.
- 21 percent mention the conclusion of project-based roles.
- 18 percent cite market shifts that have decreased demand for their products or services.
- 18 percent also highlight broader economic issues impacting workforce requirements.
- 14 percent report voluntary exits with no plans for backfilling.
- 5 percent provided other reasons.
This data indicates a shift towards more streamlined and responsive organizational models, emphasizing a re-evaluation of roles based on technological relevance and cost efficiency.
Deliberate Staffing Stability
For many employers, maintaining existing staffing levels is a deliberate strategy. Among those not planning to change headcount in Q4 2025:
- 44 percent believe their current workforce is adequate for achieving operational objectives.
- 29 percent have optimized operations to eliminate the need for new hires.
- 28 percent prioritize retaining existing employees, indicating a focus on development and engagement.
- 25 percent foresee no significant industry changes necessitating staffing adjustments.
- 23 percent state that their current teams already fulfill legal and policy requirements.
- 22 percent intend to adopt a wait-and-see approach regarding economic conditions before making hiring decisions.
- 18 percent encounter financial constraints limiting growth.
- 16 percent are delaying hires or currently lack projects that require additional personnel.
No respondents selected “Other,” supporting the notion that decisions regarding headcount are based on clear internal guidelines and visibility into the external market.
Sector-Specific Hiring Trends
The employment outlook varies by sector, with the highest hiring intentions seen in consumer-oriented and capital-intensive industries:
- Consumer goods and services, along with financial services and real estate, boast a 65 percent outlook.
- Transport, logistics, and automotive sectors follow closely with a 61 percent hiring outlook.
- Information technology reflects a strong demand for talent at 57 percent.
- Energy and utilities report a 56 percent outlook.
- Communications services stand at 53 percent.
- Industrials and materials show a 49 percent outlook, while the “Other” category, including government, NGOs, education, and agriculture, is at 48 percent.
- Healthcare and life sciences exhibit the lowest hiring outlook at 47 percent.
This distribution suggests that hiring momentum is linked to consumer demand, infrastructure investment, and digital transformation, while traditional or regulated sectors are hiring at a more moderate pace.
Challenges in Recruitment: Volume, Skills, and AI Integration
As hiring continues, employers encounter significant recruitment challenges, particularly regarding the speed of hiring and the quality of candidates. The survey reveals:
- 42 percent struggle with managing a high volume of applications.
- 40 percent have difficulty attracting qualified candidates.
- 32 percent face challenges filling complex technical positions.
- 30 percent are focused on enhancing the candidate experience, especially in terms of communication and feedback.
- 29 percent highlight challenges posed by candidates using AI tools during applications.
- 27 percent are adapting to new AI recruiting technologies themselves.
- 26 percent aim to shorten the time-to-hire to avoid losing candidates to competitors.
- 21 percent cite limited resources as a barrier to effective hiring.
- Only 4 percent report facing no hiring challenges at all.
<pDespite these challenges, employer perceptions of their recruitment systems remain largely positive:
- 33 percent rate their hiring processes as excellent,
- 47 percent as good,
- 17 percent as fair,
- 2 percent as poor,
- and 1 percent as very poor.
This indicates that 80 percent of employers believe their systems effectively match candidates to the right roles.
Key Retention Strategies: Emphasizing Recognition and Work-Life Balance
With an emphasis on retaining top talent, employers in the UAE prioritize initiatives that center around employee well-being. The most effective retention strategies identified are:
- 42 percent highlight employee recognition as critical to retention.
- 39 percent focus on work-life balance and managing workloads.
- 33 percent point to leadership behavior as influential.
- 32 percent provide flexible work schedules.
- 29 percent mention flexible work locations and technology tools.
- 26 percent emphasize training and upskilling opportunities.
- 24 percent suggest that meaningful work tasks are vital for retention.
- Only 2 percent claim that none of these strategies apply.
Industry-specific insights suggest that work-life balance and workload management are particularly valued in:
- Transport, logistics, and automotive: 53 percent
- Financial services and real estate: 52 percent
This highlights a growing focus on employee well-being as a critical factor in talent retention.
GCC Employment Trends: A Mixed Yet Positive Outlook
GCC Employment Trends: Overview for Q2 2025
Broadening the scope to the GCC region, job markets grew by one percent in Q2 2025, driven by project implementation and diverse economic conditions among member states.
Where government initiatives and infrastructure projects advanced, hiring surged; conversely, areas experiencing policy delays or reforms saw slower recruitment.
Recruitment largely concentrated on operational, delivery, and revenue-generating roles, particularly within real estate, infrastructure, and technology sectors. The report identifies a transition from ambitious plans to execution, with hiring increasingly linked to concrete business results.
Economic Challenges and Sector-Specific Demand
New economic challenges emerged in Q2 2025. Delayed interest rate reductions in the US and Europe, disruptions in the Red Sea, and tighter financial conditions prompted businesses to adopt a more cautious investment stance.
Shipping delays due to tensions in the Red Sea heightened freight costs and created operational delays in manufacturing, retail, and logistics sectors. While oil exports remained stable, there was a need for resource reallocation and revised timelines across industries.
Nonetheless, regional governments upheld their investment commitments, contributing to the stabilization of labor markets.
Demand for Finance, Banking, and Compliance Roles
Within the GCC, particular positions showed notable growth:
- Senior finance roles increased by eight percent, driven by capital expansion, joint ventures, and regulatory demands.
- Hiring in internal audits, International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), and compliance surged, especially in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
- Broader financial roles rose by four percent, reflecting increased demand for financial planning and analysis specialists and treasury professionals.
- In banking, growth of three percent was fueled by mergers and acquisitions, AI integration, and governance-related tech roles.
Conversely, recruitment in strategy roles remained stagnant, as firms favor interim consultants and specialist expertise to sustain agility.
Despite global and regional challenges, the employment landscape in the UAE shows resilience, with 45 percent of employers intending to hire in Q4 2025.
While certain sectors experience structural changes, others, particularly in consumer, logistics, finance, and IT, continue to thrive.
From company growth to AI-enhanced recruitment, and retention strategies that focus on flexibility and recognition, the job market in the UAE is evolving—strategically, cautiously, and with ambition.