In accounting and finance at least, the job market is picking up in Dubai

Most finance directors in Dubai have been espousing the ‘more with less’ philosophy in recent years, loading their incumbent staff with more work rather than taking on additional resources. Finally, this is beginning to change.

Finance executives in Dubai are now more likely to recruit full-time staff than in any other part of the world, according to the Robert Half Financial Hiring Index released today. This means that 60% are planning to add headcount in the second half of 2012, but most (81%) are still struggling to find skilled staff.

One of the primary drivers is that their current employees are feeling overworked – an increased in workload is the reason that 64% of finance executives feel the need to hire.

“While some of the larger multinationals are delaying adding to their headcount due to the ongoing uncertainty in the Eurozone, many local companies are hiring in response to strong growth and demand in the region,” said James Sayer, director of Robert Half UAE. “The large majority of finance leaders report difficulties when recruiting skilled finance professionals, particularly in the areas of audit, risk, financial planning and analysis and IT finance.”