Construction Jobs and Recruitment in the Middle East in 2012

If you’ve been reading the local trade press in the Middle East you could be forgiven for underestimating the extent of the downturn that the construction industry has experienced over the last 3 years. However if you’ve been involved either as a recruiter, or a candidate seeking work there during this period, you’ll know that it’s been a difficult time with limited opportunities available in a very flat market.

Job & Opportunities in the Middle East?
As a recruiter performing many business development exercises over recent years, I’ve heard numerous stories of projects being pulled due to funding problems; contract awards that have dragged on for years rather than months and major signature projects put on hold indefinitely. It looked for years as though any resurgence in the market was nothing but a pipe dream that would never materialise. The phrase ‘maybe next year’ became an all too familiar response when talking about construction recruitment in the Middle East.

A Brighter Future for Middle East Construction Jobs
However, an encouraging start to 2012 has given me renewed hope that the region may be seeing a revival at long last. I think it’s important to say that the Middle East is unlikely to return to the massive ‘boom’ period it experienced 2003-2008, when it seemed there were opportunities for almost everyone that wanted to work there. However, during the first quarter of this year Maxim Recruitment has seen an increase in Middle East based vacancies for Quantity Surveyors, Commercial Managers, Project Managers, Engineers and Claims Consultants.  Please check our job vacancies section for full details.

New Construction Job Locations: Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan
Let’s hope this promising start will continue, but even a small increase in new construction jobs coming available will restore some hope in a market that lacks confidence. What is also evident is that in recent years construction companies in the UK or Middle East regions have needed to diversify their business into other locations.  This is now resulting in a rise in markets that have not previously been considered desirable for both regional construction companies and western expat workers, such as Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. Both countries now boast a large number of highly reputable international construction companies who are seeking expat construction professionals.  If these areas are potentially of interest, please get in touch with the recruitment consultants at Maxim with an up to date construction industry CV by following this link.

Middle East Rail Construction Jobs
As well as these relatively new markets, more established construction hot spots such as Dubai and Qatar have both made announcements about mega rail projects in recent weeks. The Dubai government have announced they have funding for the much awaited Al Sufouh Tram project. The 1st phase of this project is estimated to cost AED 4bn. Not only will this create many new job opportunities, but it is a good indication that the Dubai government is not starting to take action again to deliver some of their original plans for the city that had been put on hold for a while.

Qatar Construction Job Update
Having won the World Cup, Qatar has been relatively quiet so far. They seem to be taking their time before announcing plans for the key infrastructure work that needs to be completed before the games start. However, the much needed Qatar Metro system that is planned took a step closer to reality when it was announced that the shortlisted bidders for the 1st phase of work including the tunneling packages, will be announced in the coming months. This is the 1st phase of what will be a huge project in Doha that will take many years to finish, and is the first of many infrastructure based projects that will need to be awarded before Qatar are ready to host the games.

The Return of the Middle East as a Major Location for Construction
The recent announcements, will be a huge boost for a construction market that has slowed considerably in recent years. Everyone involved in the construction sector in the UAE and Qatar will certainly hope that these projects will progress smoothly and will be the first of more projects, currently on hold, that will go live reach site this year.

Maxim Recruitment: Your Middle East Construction Recruitment Consultant
Maxim will certainly be keenly tracking the progress of both rail, civil engineering and building construction projects in the Middle East over the coming months to ensure we have the most attractive opportunities available for our registered construction candidates. Please regularly check the blog on the Maxim Recruitment website for the latest news.

Register for our job alert service so we can keep you up to date with the latest exciting opportunities in the Middle East, Hong Kong or elsewhere in Asia via our website. You can also update your CV with us by clicking here.

Best wishes,
Stuart Hackett
Maxim Recruitment
29/2/2012