Event is expected to draw millions of visitors to Dubai.
With a little more than three months to the official opening, the Expo 2020 Dubai will generate thousands of jobs in the UAE market, and give a boost to the economy, according to HR consultancies and industry experts.
Dubbed the world’s biggest show, the world fair that will be held between October 1 and April 1, is expected to draw millions of visitors to Dubai.
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.
The year 2020 was one of the worst years for businesses as they were hit hard by Covid-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 bouncing back.
Raj Rishi Singh, Chief Business Officer, GCC, at MakeMyTrip said Dubai Expo – one of the biggest global events post-pandemic with people in physical attendance – will boost jobs in the travel and tourism sector.
“As we countdown to Dubai Expo, we are confident that travel demand will see a spurt in growth during this period.”
He said international travellers are likely to club their visit to the Expo with a short vacation to some of the leisure hotspots across the region.
“In the coming months, as demand returns in full capacity for both, leisure and business travel to the region, we are hopeful that the industry will throw up new work opportunities for a skilled workforce with deep travel and hospitality domain expertise.”
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.
The entertainment industry gearing up
Events management companies and tour operators have also started hiring ahead of Expo.
“The entertainment and events industry is already in the hiring mode as the industry is getting ready for opening up ahead of Expo 2020. I believe a lot of business conferences, entertainment events will fill up the schedule before the end of summer this year. As a major events organiser, we are getting ready for the largest cinema convention at META Cinema Forum in October to celebrate the success of an industry that will create thousands of jobs across the region,” said Leila Masinaei, Managing Partner of GM Events.
Hemali Shah, managing director of City One Tourism and Travel said Expo 2020 Dubai has changed the economic sentiment of even smaller companies.
“Right now even I am hiring for four different positions to play our small part to be ready for this mega event. The good times are coming back and each one of us will play our part, towards rebuilding the global sentiment,” said, Shah.
If the job advertisements on online platforms are any indication, several companies have advertised for ‘Expo jobs’ and are calling in applicants for positions like waiters, storekeepers, drivers, chefs and sales executive to mention a few.
Patel said there is also a high demand for senior-level executive talents such as operations and project managers, drone show managers, senior manager production, guest services managers.
“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.
“Expo 2020 hiring’s have been slowly picking up since the end of Q1 with a majority of the population being vaccinated and declining Covid cases are adding momentum to hiring. We further expect a major increase in employment opportunities in the coming months,” said Patel.
