DUBAI — Doha was found to be the most competitive city for job applicants in a world market study by online resume builder Resume.io. Dubai followed at second place. Both Gulf cities attract a high number of job seekers with the high salaries and nontaxable incomes characteristic of the region.
Middle East countries made up half of the company’s top-10 list of the “most competitive job markets in the world.”
Here is the Resume.io ranking of the cities with the highest average number of applicants per job posting on LinkedIn within one week of being listed:
1. Doha, Qatar: 399.0
2. Dubai, UAE: 282.9
3. Istanbul, Turkey: 168.3
4. Johannesburg, South Africa: 160.2
5. Abu Dhabi, UAE: 148.8
6. Madrid, Spain: 115.7
7. San Jose, United States: 107.6
8. Buenos Aires, Argentina: 104.1
9. San Francisco, United States: 91.9
10. Tel Aviv, Israel: 82.5
For cities to be considered in the rankings there needed to be at least 100 job postings shared on LinkedIn no more than a week before the company conducted its data collection at the end of February 2023. The resume template provider looked at in-office and hybrid job advertisements that spanned 130 cities around the world and in all 50 US states. Seventy cities met the requirement.
Gulf Cooperation Council countries took key positions on the list. The United Arab Emirates was the only country to have two cities on the top 10 list with both Dubai and the country’s capital Abu Dhabi at fifth.
Many GCC countries have deliberately cultivated a welcoming environment to local and international job seekers. For example the Emirates has created many incentives, particularly in the last three years, including a Golden Visa to encourage highly skilled foreign individuals and investors to live and work in the country in addition to zero taxation on personal income and flexible requirements to start businesses.
Doha hosting the FIFA World Cup last November put Qatar, one of the smallest countries in the world, on the global map. The monumental event, which attracted tourists from across the globe and created many temporary jobs, contributed to Qatar’s high ranking.
The state-owned Qatar News Agency reported that the 2022 World Cup brought 1.4 million visitors to Qatar, a country with a population of 2.16 million, according to the country’s planning and statistics authority.
Local job search engine Qatar Job Finder reported that the dramatic influx of visitors — more than 50% of the country’s population — led to high numbers of new and temporary positions in sectors such as construction, security, hospitality and health care. Nine out of 10 jobs were filled by foreign workers and parent company FIFA hired its own staff for the event.
Will the economic impact of the global event on Qatar be temporary, or could Doha maintain its title as the city with the world’s most competitive job market?
