DUBAI – The real estate industry in the Gulf region has seen a pickup in hiring activity in the last quarter as confidence returns to the sector, property recruitment specialist Macdonald and Company said in its ‘”Middle East Salary Guide” launched at the opening of “Cityscape Global 2012”, the Middle East region's largest and most influential international real estate event, at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre (DICEC) recently. A preview to its Middle East Salary Guide, which is scheduled to be launched in February 2013, showed that there was “renewed optimism and confidence that the region is faring better compared to Europe.” It said the Middle East region has witnessed an increase in hiring activity over the last few weeks, following a relatively busy summer and everyone has returned to work with renewed optimism and confidence that the region is faring better compared to Europe, the UK and the US. Several large Dubai developers and government institutions have been searching for senior individuals, and it seems that there is a real willingness to look forward, plan and budget for new staff appointments. Critically, employers in the region are now being very selective about their new hires and are keen to bring in new expertise from outside the region again. It said the other main generators of hiring activity in real estate markets were in Saudi Arabia and Qatar. “Saudi Arabia is by far the largest market but still proves very challenging to recruit into due to strict nationalization policies,” the company said. It added that Qatar “has an air of expectancy” surrounding the World Cup but has yet to really move forward. Other regions in the Arab World that used to be active - such as Syria, Yemen, Egypt and Libya - have remained off limits as the Arab Spring plays out, it said. “Professionals remain very attracted to the region for financial, career and family reasons, particularly when compared to current available opportunities in the UK, Europe and the US, the report added. Ben Waddilove, director, Macdonald and Company, said: “The current situation is definitely improving and we expect that the Gulf States will continue to achieve significant GDP growth compared to other Western economies as the year progresses.” Selective Abu Dhabi developers are also active in hiring, although the employment market in the capital remains steady ahead of the proposed Sorouh and Aldar merger and clarity on the role of the newly formed company. Residential sales and rents in Dubai are showing increases this year. – SG
