Most companies in the UAE took a cautious approach to hiring in the first quarter of 2025, choosing to maintain their current workforce rather than expanding it, according to a new report from recruitment firm Cooper Fitch.
While there was still a 1.25% increase in hiring activity from January to March compared to the last quarter of 2024, companies have begun shifting away from bulk recruitment to more strategic, role-specific hiring.
“The UAE experienced considerable growth in hiring last year. So, to continue to grow by 1.25 per cent is really strong,” said Trefor Murphy, founder and CEO of Cooper Fitch in a The National report. “It’s gone from being a developing market to a developed market to now being a highly developed market.”
Murphy noted that while hiring slowed in areas like consulting, supply chain, procurement, manufacturing, and HR, there was strong demand in Dubai’s legal private practice, trade, technology, and real estate sectors.
He also pointed out that external pressures — such as the introduction of corporate tax, rising commercial rents, increasing service fees, and salary hikes due to inflation — have caused businesses to reassess their hiring strategies.
“With the cost of doing business rising, the era of double-digit profitability is shrinking, especially in some sectors,” Murphy said. “To remain profitable and expand, organisations are looking at who they want to retain and how to retain them much more diligently.”
