Team Blitz India
MANY UAE companies are cutting costs and improving their profitability by hiring employees based outside the country and paying them up to 75 per cent less than full-time employees within the Emirates.
Recruitment consultants in the UAE said that local firms are hiring remote workers mainly from Asia, the Middle East and South Africa. According to Hays’ GCC Salary Guide for 2024, a majority of companies (87 per cent) will hire permanent employees this year. However, 19 per cent said they’d hire temporary contract employees, while 16 per cent will get freelancers.
“There’re a lot of companies out there that will actually help you set up an entire remote working team in places where salaries are less than the UAE and train them. Most companies might consider this model as a cheaper alternative in the long run. I have seen this with recruitment agencies, technology companies and fields related to customer service a lot,” said Nicki Wilson, managing director of recruitment consultancy Genie.
According to Mayank Patel, VP of sales for EEMENA and country head of Adecco Middle East, a global HR firm, workplace arrangements such as remote working have taken a slight shift this year, while some employers prefer certain roles to be completely remote, others are shifting back to office or hybrid work models.
“In either case, companies prefer their employees to come to the office for certain days of the week while also maintaining work-life balance with hybrid working policy,” he said.
