Recruitment in the UAE’s food and beverages (F&B) industry are witnessing a spike of 120 per cent, thanks to Expo 2020 Dubai and eased Covid restriction. Market experts said F&B players need to respond quickly to global changes and challenges posed to the food and beverages market. They also indicate that the F&B industry is currently creating the most jobs, as many believe there is a greater demand than supply.
Aws Ismail, director at Marc Ellis, said: “Compared to the first quarter of 2021, we have witnessed a spike of circa 120 per cent in jobs within the F&B sector. Many employers reduced their team sizes due to restrictions catering for lesser people at one time. With the restrictions being lifted, the request for F&B skillsets has soared.
“Manufacturers, restaurants, distributors, and all others are battling for the best talent to join them. The impact of the Dubai Expo and the increase in visitors to the country automatically fuelled the F&B industry and, therefore, propelled the need in F&B skillsets.”
As a trend within F&B, head hunters have identified that the most in-demand jobs include production and manufacturing jobs, technical and engineering, new product development mainly coming from cloud kitchens and restaurant aggregators.
“The need for sales or commercial candidates and front-end candidates, such as chefs and waiters, has also seen a significant rise in demand. These roles are believed to cover the most crucial business functions that the F&B industry require to fill and maintain the demand from the industry,” said Ismail.
Deepa Sud, CEO of a Dubai-based HR business transformation and executive search consultancy, said: “Based on the consumers’ increased appetite for e-commerce, range of products, value for money and speed of delivery, these organisations have needed to ramp up their recruitment across a wide range of roles including category buyers, digital growth experts, business intelligence and data analysis, customer engagement, contact centre, supply chain and last mile delivery roles. Interestingly, the majority of our placements are for Arabic and English bilingual candidates.”
She added: “One of the most evident trends in the F&B industry is the significant changes in the hiring of supply chain leadership, sustainability experts and culinary management.”
While analysing employment trends across quarters, hiring managers are also looking at candidates who have an understanding of current F&B trends and the impact of Covid-19 on societies.
Source: Khaleej Times
