A new study by career-intelligence platform SkillDrift, which analysed more than 7,000 job postings across the UAE, has found that employers in the country continue to prize human skills far above technical or AI capabilities when hiring.
The research, covering 7,025 listings, found communication to be the most in-demand skill, appearing in 22.4 per cent of postings. Problem-solving and leadership followed at 9.1 per cent, with customer service close behind at 8.4 per cent.
Strikingly, artificial intelligence skills featured in just 0.4 per cent of UAE postings, equivalent to only 28 listings, compared with 4.1 per cent in similar US job postings — underlining how differently employers in the two markets are approaching the AI shift so far.
Deepanker Mahajan, founder and chief executive of SkillDrift, said the findings reflect a hiring culture that still rewards people skills first. "UAE employers still hire first for people who can communicate, lead and look after a customer," he said.
The study also found English remains the dominant language requirement, cited in 21.3 per cent of postings, while Arabic was required in 7.4 per cent. Internship opportunities made up only 3.7 per cent of listings overall, with Sharjah leading at 6.4 per cent and Abu Dhabi trailing at 1.6 per cent.
Entry-level roles requiring a year or less of experience accounted for just 14.1 per cent of postings, while more than a third — 35.4 per cent — called for candidates with at least five years of experience, pointing to a job market still weighted heavily towards seasoned professionals over fresh graduates.