Silver lining to Dubai’s worker cloud

City-state may have lost its reputation as a job magnet, but there are other options to consider

The economic meltdown may have put a dampener on job opportunities in Dubai, but there are opportunities available in other parts of the Middle East.

Thousands of South Africans have flocked to Dubai in the past 10 years to take advantage of what the city has had to offer, but in the past few months retrenchments have resulted in many expats returning home and others not even getting to the city after their contracts were cancelled.

But according to Carol Kleyweg, who owns recruitment agency Waitre d’ with her husband, Marcus, all is not doom and gloom.

“The good news for those still looking for exciting overseas opportunities is that there are still great opportunities in other parts of the Middle East,” says Kleyweg.

The company recently secured the service contract to recruit for a new island project in Qatar.

“We are also looking at other exciting new projects which are under way in other parts of the Middle East, which have not been affected by the recession,” says Kleyweg.

Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates — of which Dubai is an emirate — and Doha, the capital of Qatar, as well as neighbouring Bahrain all have big new projects in development. Some of these are opening in the next few months.

Qatar, which is centrally located in the Arabian Gulf, is being promoted as a leading quality destination for business, culture, education, sport and health tourism.

The country offers world-class hotels, restaurants, spa facilities and activities for the whole family in a safe and secure environment, which makes it a particularly attractive destination for South Africans.

Ross Mengel, the managing director of DMA People, says there has been a definite drop in jobs advertised in the Middle East since the last quarter of last year.

According to research done by DMA, based on the job advertisements in the Sunday Times Careers section, there has been a 37% decrease in advertisements for the Middle East, which includes Dubai and Abu Dhabi. In the fourth quarter of last year, there were 275 ads compared with only 173 in the first quarter of this year.

Going back to the first quarter of last year, the number was 747. However, Mengel says a comparison with this figure is not very useful because since then the classified-type advertisements have been introduced, making it difficult to compare the figures accurately.

Mengel says most of the positions advertised in the region are for engineers, artisans and technical positions, as well as some educational posts.

But even the promise of some work in the Middle East may not be enough to put a stop to one of the positive spin-offs of the financial crisis — the curbing of the brain drain. Expatriates are now returning home as global job shedding gains momentum.

Birgit Thümecke, managing director of Lufthansa Global Telesales, Cape Town, argues that because South Africa’s economy is looking healthier than most, a dramatic increase of international professionals is on the cards for the country.

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