Ahmad Waarie, a managing consultant for Towers Watson Middle East has noticed a shift in the UAE’s talent requirements since first coming to work here 13 years ago. The global professional services company released its Talent 2021 report this month, examining how the supply and demand of talent in the UAE and Middle East will change over the next decade. Mr Waarie explains more.
You have been in Dubai for more than a decade. What talent requirement shifts have you noticed?
I have seen two shifts and am looking at the third. Before 2008, there was a high shortage of talent, and that led to a talent war and higher salaries. That was the first shift. After the crisis in Europe, there was a second shift when a lot of European talent headed for the UAE. Then supply was big, demand was not that big, so salaries started settling down. This started around the end of 2009 and beginning of 2010. In the next couple of years, we will see more talent coming in, with the UAE economy growing and Europe still slow on recovery. But going into 2021, we will see a reverse movement because supply will be growing in the region, and by 2021 supply will exceed demand in the region. We will see an export of talent into Europe mainly as well as to India and other Bric countries. This trend will start in the next three to four years.
The report surveyed human resources managers and senior management in sectors such as financial services and transportation, in the first quarter of 2012. Why did you commission the report?
This was a global report and we wanted to understand how the talent map will look in 2021. It’s important for multinationals to know how talent is moving, and what kind of skills are needed. Since the UAE is an importer of talent, it is important to know the talent situation in other countries.
What did you find?
In Europe, demand will be higher than supply, and in India, Brazil and in the region – UAE and Saudi Arabia – supply will exceed demand yet there will be high economic growth figures. Digital skills will be in high demand, as is agile thinking because there is a lot of uncertainty going on. Global operating skills are also needed, especially for companies growing in Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
Will the UAE start exporting its own talent?
The number of young people going into the market is growing, and there is a good development in skills in the region such as in the [finance] and hospitality sectors. In the UAE, a lot of private and public organisations are building the skills and a lot of them are sending talent outside for experience. It’s also about a personal desire to go abroad. Local business groups are expanding outside the UAE and they are taking talent with them, and the key element is the willingness among UAE nationals who are keen to gain international experience. The banking sector has started to see this. Talent will also be leaving because there will be more supply than demand in the region.
What other changes will we see?
In the Middle East, which has a huge young population, there will be more and more leakage of talent, and that has raised an alarm because it is losing human capital. But this will continue, especially for those countries where there is a troubled situation. The biggest migration now from the Middle East is towards the Gulf, especially Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE. Good talent will be going back to India from the region because India will be picking up. India will see movement both ways. There will be a good export of talent if growth continues, and companies in India will be looking at importing [Indian] talent back because of their skills and highly exposed experience. The quality of talent going back to India will be higher and their demand will be higher. Moreover, some of the talent will be going back home to Europe for better positions. But because the market will be growing with the Expo 2020, we will see expats coming in to the UAE. The number of young graduates will be increasing tremendously here because the education system here has attracted a lot of people, and this will continue.
ssahoo@thenational.ae