Future of work: what will be the most in-demand job skills in 2032?

Strong technology and computer experience, time management and creative thinking will be the most in-demand skills for jobseekers in the UAE in 10 years’ time, according to a survey by jobs portal Bayt.com and market research company YouGov.

About 66 per cent of respondents also believe that technological factors, such as digital transformation, automation and artificial intelligence, will transform the nature of work in the future, the survey, which polled 1,625 respondents from countries including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Lebanon, found.

“Technology is set to play a key role in driving experiences and intelligence in the hiring process as organisational leaders chart the path towards the post-pandemic world,” Ola Haddad, director of human resources at Bayt.com, said on Monday.

“As the younger generation advances in the workforce, the survey stats make it clear that computer skills, creative thinking and communication will become even more prominent.”

The jobs market in the UAE, the Arab world's second-largest economy, has made a strong recovery from the coronavirus-induced slowdown on the back of the government’s fiscal and monetary measures.

The pick-up in economic activity and business confidence spells good news for jobseekers with strong technical skills, according to recruitment specialists.

“The demand for digital talent has increased on a global scale and across borders,” recruitment company Michael Page said in its 2022 UAE Salary Guide.

“Post the pandemic, candidates prefer working remotely, while organisations are looking for talent to be locally based.”

UAE companies will favour employees with both interpersonal and technical skills, the Bayt.com and YouGov survey found.

While soft skills such as time management (98 per cent), teamwork (97 per cent) and communication (96 per cent) are considered important today, 53 per cent per cent of respondents believe that both technical and soft skills will be equally important 10 years from now, it said.

However, 37 per cent of those polled said technical skills would become more important in the future.

“Organisations of the future will increasingly use technology to create extraordinary workplace experiences and do things that were previously impossible,” the survey said.

“As technology is augmenting and enhancing jobs in the UAE, 69 per cent of the survey respondents believe that the demand for data analysts is likely to increase over the next 10 years, along with demand for doctors [69 per cent], business operations managers [68 per cent] and software engineers [66 per cent].”

About 42 per cent of those polled believe that it should be easy to transfer to another job or department within their company when demand for a current job role decreases, the survey found.

“Employers in the region could grow and broaden employee’s skills, not just through formal learning but by exposing them to a myriad of new jobs and roles inside the company to increase their engagement levels while stemming job hopping,” it said.

Meanwhile, 58 per cent of respondents said that online job boards and career websites would be the most reliable sources to find a job in the future while 55 per cent said social and professional networks would dominate the recruitment market.

Eighty-nine per cent of respondents also feel either confident about the future of work and believe they will be successful or they feel excited and “see a world full of possibilities”, according to the survey.

“Employers in the Mena are leveraging technology to help drive growth, better anticipate uncertainty and create a workplace that top talent is eager to join,” said Zafar Shah, research director of data services at YouGov.

“Employers are able to step up hiring practices and be transparent with employees about how they are reimagining the future of work and making progress towards that vision.”