Over half of job applicants in the UAE have revealed a company’s mental health policy would dictate whether they chose to work for them.
And, according to Michael Page’s 2022 Salary & Hiring Insights Guide, a fifth of those surveyed said they are really feeling a greater sense of pressure during these times.
The employment landscape in the UAE is shifting in favour of employees and job applicants, in which 98 percent of surveyed candidates are confident that they have the skills needed for today’s market, according to the guide.
The shift has been accelerated by the UAE’s positive market sentiment, supported by a rise in both GDP and inflation, as well as the country’s swift deployment of its Covid-19 vaccination programme and the increased tourism brought about by Expo 2020 Dubai.
“With the very successful launch of the long-awaited Expo 2020 Dubai, coupled with the UAE’s overall positive handling of the pandemic and other government initiatives, a significant return in market confidence has led to a strong recovery in the UAE job market,” said Jon Ede, regional director at PageGroup Middle East.
With their renewed sense of confidence and a positive market sentiment to support it, employees and job candidates are now reassessing their demands and expectations from their employers.
“A catalyst for change, the pandemic has cemented a long-term impact on the world of work as we knew it. Never has it been more important to understand what attracts, motivates and helps retain talent – understanding these aspects should influence any organisations’ hiring management strategy moving forward,” added Ede.
Despite this, a recent Mercer report revealed that only two in five HR professionals know the skills needs of their organisation and only 9 percent of companies formally monitor the market demand and availability of skills.
However, this generation of job applicants are ensuring that their value is cemented in the rapidly changing job market, in which 84 percent of applicants actively looked for their skills gap and 43 percent upgraded their skills after comparing themselves to the market.
With 27 percent of the surveyed job applicants’ last managers not talking at all about training and 25 percent considering it optional, the report suggests that employees are the ones actively driving their own skill development to match market and company demands.
Today’s job applicants are also keen to learn new skills, at 66 percent, and are yearning for a sense of fulfilment in their working lives, with almost 58 percent wanting to work for a company with a strong purpose.
Pandemic impacts
With employers becoming increasingly comfortable working with dispersed teams and employees seeking flexible working opportunities, eight out of 10 (85 percent) candidates expressed that they could fulfil their tasks or responsibilities remotely and 32 percent reported no change in their work-life balance.
Questioned as to whether remote work would impact salaries and benefits, a majority (41 percent) felt they did not see a connection between benefits, salaries, and remote work.
Candidates are also looking for their employers to improve communication to better control time and task planning (50 percent), be more flexible regarding work arrangements (49 percent), create some wellbeing initiatives (48 percent), as well as employee recognition programmes (37 percent).
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