Increasing competition for top financial professionals is worrying employers.
New figures from the financial services recruitment agency Robert Half show that high demand for a variety of finance professionals is raising concern among bosses.
It found that nine out of 10 senior finance executives in the UAE feared that top earners would be poached by rivals as companies continue to expand.
In its survey of 75 top UAE finance executives, Robert Half found that 91 per cent of those questioned described themselves as either “somewhat concerned” (64 per cent) or “very concerned” (27 per cent) about losing top financial performers to other job opportunities in the coming year.
Struggles with recruitment are a recurrent theme across the global finance industry at present, as many investment banks compete for talent with hedge funds, buyout firms, technology companies and small lenders.
When asked about expansion plans, more than one in three of the senior finance executives questioned by Robert Half (36 per cent) said they planned to create new jobs in the remainder of 2015.
More than half (57 per cent) said they expected to maintain current employment levels.
But bosses complained that finding the right candidates was a headache. In total 94 per cent of respondents said that finding skilled finance employees in the UAE was a challenge.
The most common reason given for struggling to find staff was difficulties in identifying people possessing the right skills, with 48 per cent of respondents complaining of a lack of experts with the right niche technical knowledge. Another 27 per cent of respondents said there was a lack of commercial and business skills. And 19 per cent of those questioned put their difficulties in recruiting down to general demand outweighing supply.
And, despite falls in the global oil price and an economic slowdown in China, by far the majority of finance managers (85 per cent) described themselves as optimistic about economic growth in the UAE over the coming year.
The IMF expects the UAE economy to expand by about 3 per cent this year compared to growth of more than 4 per cent over the past two years..
“With the financial skills shortage to continue, it poses significant challenges for UAE businesses as candidates have options, both within the UAE and abroad,” said Gareth El Mettouri, an associate director at Robert Half UAE. “Retention concerns will be high on the business agenda for the remainder of the year, especially as companies around the globe continue to increase hiring and struggle to find the requisite talent,” he added. “Businesses across the region who are unable to recruit and retain highly skilled professionals could find themselves struggling to maintain their competitiveness in the market.”
lbarnard@thenational.ae
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