Careers in the Middle East - Special Report

In the Weekend Australian newspaper Conduit Recruitment are featured in the Careers in the Middle East Special Report. I was interviewed by journalist Mark Eggleton about the current job market in Dubai and where the market is headed during this economic downturn.

Bulls, bears and what’s looming over the horizon

IT’S the big question for Aussie jobseekers thinking of making the leap to the Middle East: is it still booming or is it heading for bust?
It probably all depends on who you talk to, and what industry they’re in when it comes to discussing the effects of the global downturn on the Middle East job market.

On a bullish note, the managing director of human resources specialists, EFI International, in the Middle East, Dr Francine Pinnuck suggests the good times are set to roll on.
Sitting in her Dubai office, she remarks: ‘‘ There are so many cranes on the skyline, that it’s difficult to count them. I can see 20 at a glance in just one direction.

‘‘ The world has never seen anything like the scope of development happening here at present. It’s a massive boom and while the downturn may come, I would expect it to be short.’’
Conversely, Adam Walker, a director at Conduit Recruitment, paints a rather less rosy picture with at least one large property developer putting a freeze on international recruitment.
‘‘ We have even had a few offers of employment withdrawn,’’ Mr Walker says.
Conduit specialise in the property recruitment market and, according to Mr Walker, the picture isn’t rosy right across the Middle East.

He suggests the downturn could be deep, especially with capital drying up and oil prices flattening.
‘‘ Dubai could especially be effected as it does not have a lot of oil and much of its development is debt-funded,’’ Mr Walker says, ‘‘ and just like everywhere else, they’re finding it hard to find money at present.
‘‘ You look at the big local developers such as DAMAC and they’re already retrenching people and have put in place a freeze on recruitment.’’

Mr Walker says job opportunities could also dry up due to circumstances not associated with the Middle East.
‘‘ There are a lot of British companies based in the region, and rather than offer redundancies to staff in the UK as the downturn bites there, they may just transfer staff to the Middle East,’’ Mr Walker says.
On the plus side, Mr Walker says the trough may not be deep. He suggests the situation may change over the next six to 12 months. ‘‘ The big infrastructure projects are still slated to go ahead, so there should be opportunities opening up there,’’ he says.
He says the price of oil will no doubt rise and much of the United Arab Emirates will recover relatively quickly, although he’s not so sure about Dubai.
‘‘ The Dubai property bubble may soon burst,’’ he says. ‘‘ At present, it’s a real false economy with investors paying high prices for big returns.
‘‘ It doesn’t sound like a problem, but half of the apartments are empty because investors just lock them up at completion and wait for the market to rise. It doesn’t make sense to rent them out.

‘‘ On the other hand, rents are high because there’s not much stock on the rental market even though there’s an oversupply.’’
Dr Pinnuck is well aware of the overheated rental market as she recently signed a lease on a two-bedroom apartment requiring a $60,000 downpayment upfront. To her, the high price is merely a reflection of the robust economy in Dubai.
‘‘ In this region, it’s always blue sky; we remain optimistic,’’ she says.
At present, EFI International is working closely with the local stock exchange in Dubai and, according to Dr Pinnuck, it’s all business as usual.
‘‘ They’re really focussed at present and have a good board in place,’’ she says.

The company are also working with the ruling family on a number of initiatives designed to help local companies structure their businesses more effectively.
‘‘ Working throughout this region is such a satisfying experience,’’ she says.
‘‘ Sure, it’s hot and we work long hours, but the cultural diversity and the passion of the people from all over the world, make it so rewarding.’’

Conduit’s Adam Walker agrees, it’s a rewarding place to work in more ways than one.
‘‘ With the Aussie dollar weakening, the region is looking very attractive at present,’’ he says.
‘‘ With the local Dirham currency tied to the US dollar, it’s much better than six months ago, doubly so considering that you pay no tax. The problem is that there are not a lot of jobs around at present.’’

Dubai Cityscape Conference - A Vision of Tomorrow

A couple of consultants at Conduit along with myself recently attended the Dubai Cityscape Conference.

Cityscape Dubai 2008, in its 7th year, is the largest business-to-business real estate investment and development event in the world. Cityscape Dubai attracts regional and international investors, property developers, governmental and development authorities, leading architects, designers, consultants and all senior professionals involved in the property industry. It provides an annual forum that celebrates the very best in real estate, architecture, urban planning and design from around the world.

About 60,000 participants from over 150 countries had gathered in Dubai, to be a part of the world's largest development exhibition and its associated conferences, which is expected to break all previous records. About 40,000 visitors flocked the Cityscape Dubai during the first two days of the show, which exceeds a total of three days of crowd gathering during last year's event.

With the world facing market uncertainty, we enter a new era in which the Middle East developers are expected to maintain or even increase their presence across the world.The intensity and scale of the iconic projects, is one of the most impressive property booms in modern history that has kept the UAE and Dubai in particular, on focus worldwide for most of the decade.

However, a report by the property consultants Colliers International stated that Dubai prices would drop by 16 percent during second quarter of 2008, and will remain flat until 2010, which came as bad news just prior to opening of the seventh Cityscape Dubai.

On the whole, about $100bn worth of new projects were launched on the first day of Cityscape. However, this news failed to ignite investor confidence, as there were growing fears about the global credit crunch and the possible overheating of the local property market. Starting from Dh.350bn beachfront project to a kilometer-high tower, the developers at the annual Cityscape exhibition in Dubai launched the usual series of mega-developments, which has been responsible for boosting the Gulf Arab Commercial hub to international fame.

While the Dubai mortgage lender Tamweel, announced plans to launch about Dh.2bn worth of Islamic bonds in 2009, the Sorouh Real Estate of Abu Dhabi announced that all its projects have been proceeding on track.

It is evident after attending Cityscape that we began to think about whether the large scale projects exhibited at the conference will actually be built. Although the shopping malls and apartment complexes look great now, when they are completed in 10 years time they will look dated. There was alot of talk surrounding Dubai and whether places such as Abu Dhabi will in fact prdouce bigger and better developments in the years to come.

It will be interesting to see as to whether other countries in the Middle East overtake Dubai with the grandeur and large scale of their developments. One thing is for sure that the Dubai Cityscape Conference will continue to be the largest property exhibition in the world attracting tens of thousands from all over the globe.