Dubai, UAE— The total spending by UAE-based organisations on outsourcing services from local and offshore providers was estimated at over US$4.8 billion in 2018 and is expected to reach US$6.8 billion in 2023.
This was highlighted in a new report by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in collaboration with Forward MENA previously known as Beirut Digital District (BDD) Academy.
The UAE is now the second-largest economy in the Arab world, with a gross domestic product (GDP) of around US$360 billion in 2020.
As one of the key markets or demand “hot spots” for job outsourcing, the country is rising as a strategic hub where entities can easily outsource parts of their value chains and source-in talent from third parties, thus facilitating high growth overtime.
The report, titled “MENA Talent Map”, found that the UAE is one of the largest suppliers of talent in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Customer support, finance and accounting, human resources, and KPO are the major jobs and job clusters supplied by the UAE.
In terms of the nation’s future economic outlook, three job clusters were highlighted to help drive long-term strategies, which in turn signal strong growth potential for job outsourcing.
These are infrastructure management services, such as cloud engineers and cybersecurity analysts; software and applications development, that include software engineers but also application developers; and finally, data and artificial intelligence (AI), for data scientists and blockchain developers.
“The UAE is striving to diversify its economy with its national and Emirate-level agendas revolving around emerging themes of sustainable economic development, cutting-edge innovation, digital transformation, safety and security, and advanced science, technology and artificial intelligence. With the country calibrating on future-forward initiatives, we expect the country diversification outlook to exceed expectations and ground the nation as a fully rounded hub across industries,” said Dr. Leila Hoteit, Managing Director and Senior Partner, BCG.
Furthermore, when it comes to spending on job outsourcing services and sourcing-in talent, certain key industries spring up. As outlined in the study, the most prominent by far are financial services, public sector, hospitality, leisure and telecommunications.
