Dubai’s successful bid to host the World Expo in 2020 will increase competition in the local job market, although a number of employees will benefit from salary increases of up to 25 per cent, industry experts said.

The global event considered the third-largest in the world after the Olympics and the World Cup is expected to further elevate Dubai’s status as an expatriate destination. With thousands of jobs forecast to be created, more people will want to come to Dubai for work and job seekers may be in for a tough ride ahead.

The world flocking to Dubai means more customers to businesses, which will, in turn, encourage them to have more hands on the deck, especially in the service industries, said HR firms.

“Expo 2020 will impact Dubai’s economy and we are predicting a huge influx of jobs in the region especially within travel tourism, real estate, retail, events and exhibition, technology and software consultancy, marketing and media, engineering, security, logistics, health and safety, procurement and finance and most importantly hospitality,” said Mayank Patel, Country Head Middle East, Adecco a global HR Solutions firm.

“As Dubai already is a business hub for leading industries especially real estate, hospitality and technology, but with Expo 2020 in the vicinity, the attractiveness is set to intensify further,” he added.

Last year was one of the worst years for businesses and industries as they were hit hard by Covid-19 triggered lockdowns and border closures. Many were forced to lay off people and downsize to survive. With better prospects in 2021 as Dubai gradually reopened thanks to the mass vaccination drive, many hard-hit industries especially travel, hospitality and aviation are raise back.

The World Expo is expected to create 220,000 jobs, but the UAE population, which stood at 9.2 million as of last year, is already forecast to reach 12.2 million in 2018.

Demand for drivers

With more than 25 million new visitors to the city, the demand for transportation is expected to skyrocket. Foreseeing the demand, many companies are already hiring.

A spokesperson for Careem, a car-hiring company said, “We are working with partner companies to have a sufficient amount of Captains available to provide excellent service to Expo visitors.”

Soham Shah, Founder of Selfdrive.ae, a car rental company, said they are looking to add 3000 to 3500 new cars to meet the EXPO demand.

“As an industry, we are looking at a high potential demand for six to nine months or even a year. We are looking at an unprecedented demand for car subscriptions, and once the Expo starts, there will be a potential demand in daily, weekly car rentals too. Overall, we are gearing up to add 3,000 to 3,500 cars during the Expo. We have a roadmap built on that,” said Shah.

He said the company has already started hiring and will be doubling the team to serve the demand they expect.

“Companies are also looking to hire mid-level talents such as customer service agents, tour guides, promoters and hostess as well as lower-skilled workforces such as technicians, helpers, cleaners and electricians.”

In addition, thousands of new positions are open as country pavilions are hiring people to man the pavilions. More than 200 countries are participating and work at many pavilions are almost complete.