Dubai, fueled by its oil industry, is growing faster than any other city in the world.  Most available jobs are to be found in that sector and in fact, about 80% of Dubai’s population is foreign oil workers. Jobs, however, can also be found in the booming construction industry and other  sectors. 

The safest option for a foreign worker would be to secure a job before actually going to Dubai . This can be done through the help of countrymen who already work in the city or through employment agencies. Agencies based in major cities such as Paris usually supply managerial level employees while manual workers are recruited from agencies based in their own countries. Make sure that you tap only registered and reputable recruitment agencies.

Jobs in Dubai

Foreigners recruited for Dubai jobs are expected to stay only until the end of their work contracts, in contrast to other countries that allow or even encourage foreign workers to become permanent residents or citizens. Don’t pin your hopes on going straight to Dubai and getting temporary or casual work. Asian foreign workers have already cornered that market. Also, unemployment is going up in Arab countries and Dubai companies are being encouraged to hire more local people, especially new graduates.

Still, Dubai is a tax-free haven with a booming economy and net incomes higher than in many other countries. It still offers many employment opportunities, especially for young, up and coming professionals.

Moving to Dubai

Basic services including education, health care and housing are quite expensive. You should see if your prospective employer’s compensation package provides for these items, in what form, and to what extent. If the company will not provide you with housing you have to find your own, which usually means paying an entire year’s rent in advance or by using postdated checks.  You should be prepared to adjust to the differences in culture that you are sure to encounter, especially if you come from a western country.  You can take advantage of the briefings that recruitment agencies and government bodies usually offer to people moving to another country to work.  The Internet is also a good source of helpful advice and information.

Typical Job Prospects in Dubai

Skilled workers and professionals have been and still are in great demand in many sectors including but not limited to the following: sales and marketing, oil and gas, finance and accounting, information technology, banking, consumer services, software, and health and medical services.

Dubai Media City offers jobs in the media and in the advertising, marketing and publishing industries. Dubai Internet City, a government free economic zone specializing in IT, has many opportunities for people with skills in education and training, software development, business services, web based e-commerce and consultancy. Potential employers include Nokia, Microsoft, Canon and other well-known global giants.

Typical Salaries and Benefits in Dubai

There is no legislated minimum wage in Dubai. Regular working hours are 48 hours per week (8 hours x 6 days) with a weekly break on Friday. However work hours in commercial and professional companies vary from 40-45 hours a week and 35 hours in government offices. During Ramadan, working hours are limited to only two hours each day.

Benefits vary but in general include the following: salaries similar to or even higher than salaries in western countries; higher net income due to zero personal taxes; housing allowance or free housing; health or medical benefits; educational benefits for children; and annual vacations with paid transportation expenses.  Workers are also given an “indemnity” or a thank you bonus when their contracts expire. The total amount is one month’s pay multiplied by years of service.

On the other hand,  working hours for the average worker who is paid $175 a month can reach up to 6 days each week, 12 hours each day.  Migrant workers are sometimes forced to pay fees to unscrupulous recruitment agencies although such expenses should legally be paid by the employer, not the worker.  In other cases workers are paid lower than the contracted wage. The UAE government is said to be instituting reforms to prevent such practices and improve the condition of foreign workers.

Local Taxes in Dubai

Direct personal taxes are illegal in Dubai. It is a no-tax emirate. The UAE may introduce a value added tax to diversity its sources of government income but this may take several years to accomplish.

High Demand Jobs in Dubai

High demand jobs include the following:

• Foreign language teachers followed by pre-school and college level instructors
• Engineers especially electrical, mechanical and chemical engineers
• Construction workers and contractors
• Computer experts who can operate and maintain both hardware and software, especially those who can program industrial-operations software
• Medical practitioners/professionals from all fields especially medical transcriptionists, caregivers, nurses and physical therapists.
• International marketing and advertising experts who will promote Dubai’s products

Immigration and Visa Issues in Dubai

Your sponsor (a relative or prospective employer) will arrange for your entry visa.  You have to provide the sponsor with a passport photocopy, passport ID photos, and your educational certificate (notarized and verified) who will in turn send you a copy of the entry visa so that you can enter Dubai. S/he must also arrange a health card, residence visa and labor card. The latter contains the labor contract, which contains the details of your employment agreement, and should be translated into English. Labor cards and residence visas are valid for three years and can be renewed. This is the process for private sector employees.  You will also need a family residence visa that will enable you to bring your family (spouse, parents, and children) to Dubai but your salary must be more than AED 4,000 a month.

Best Job Locations in Dubai

Dubai Internet City (DIC) brings together an international community of IT global corporations such as Dell and IBM plus small and medium businesses that engage in software development, business services, E-commerce, etc. Its target market ranges from the Middle East to India, Africa and Central Asia.

Dubai is another tax-free zone, which has become a regional center for news agencies, online media, advertising and publishing companies, and the like. Some of the corporations in Dubai Media City are BBC World, Bloomberg, CNN and APTN.

Online Job Sources in Dubai

Bayt.com advertises itself as the leading employment site in the Middle East in touch with 26,000 companies in the Middle East, Pakistan and North Africa, and almost 1.5 million registered job seekers. Other useful websites are free online UAE Job Classifieds sites such as Emirates-Ads, NaukriGulf.com, Careermideast.com, DubaiDonkey.com and GulfJobSites.com.