The Monster Employment Index for UAE shows online hiring fell by 14% in the second quarter ended in June, compared to the previous quarter.

The index is a monthly gauge of online job hiring activity by Monster.com, which records the industries and occupations that show the highest and lowest growth.

According to the employment index, hiring by companies in the fast-moving consumer goods industry, as well as those in the gems and jewellery business, garments, textiles and leather, went up by 26% from the same period last year and 9% from the previous quarter. Employers in the healthcare sector, including clinics and hospitals, offered more job openings as well, with hiring increasing by 7% compared to the previous quarter.

“The consumer goods industry has been increasing online hiring across the UAE since the beginning of the year. This may be due to the typically high turnover rate seen in this industry,” Sanjay Modi, managing director of Monster.com, Asia Pacific and Middle East, said. “It is also very encouraging to see growth in online hiring in the healthcare industry complemented by a slight stabilisation in occupations in the industry, as the UAE continues its efforts in advancing the healthcare offerings on a global level,” 

The IT/telecom/ISP (Internet Service Provider) industry recorded the highest decline in online hiring from Q1 2017 at 9% while occupations in HR/administration registered the steepest decline at 23% for the same period. Meanwhile, the software/hardware/telecom showed no change compared to the previous quarter while hospitality and travel fell by 1% compared to Q1.