SARA ALZAABI (ABU DHABI)
The UAE is on track to become one of the world’s fastest-growing labour markets, with more than a million new jobs expected by 2030, according to a new report.
With digital transformation and economic expansion driving demand for skilled talent, the Workforce Skills Forecast 2025 estimates a 12.1% growth in the UAE’s labour force. This represents one of the highest increases among the markets studied, compared with projected growth in the US (2.1%), the UK (2.8%), and India (10.6%), according to the study from AI solutions provider ServiceNow.
Conducted with Pearson, the report draws on a dataset of 5,600 jobs across 10 countries. Using AI, researchers analysed the impact of 34 emerging technologies expected to shape work over the next five years across sectors including healthcare, retail, financial services, and manufacturing.
In the UAE, manufacturing, education, and retail are projected to be the key drivers of labour market expansion, adding over 270,000 new jobs, while finance and healthcare are also expected to see notable growth. The energy and utilities sector is predicted to expand most rapidly (33%), followed by education (31%) and manufacturing (18%), according to the report.
Will AI Replace Human Talent? ServiceNow’s analysis of agentic AI suggests that automation will not reduce demand for skilled talent. On the contrary, economic growth and the need for employees who can work alongside emerging technologies are expected to create more jobs. For example, in financial services, while AI could perform work equivalent to 17,000 full-time employees (6.6% of the current workforce), job growth is projected at 26% due to the need for tech-enabled roles.
While the overall workforce is set to grow by 12.1%, demand for tech professionals is expected to surge by 54%. By 2030, organisations will need more than 91,000 additional technology specialists, according to the study.
Speaking to Aletihad, William O’Neill, Area Vice President and General Manager for the GCC at ServiceNow, said the most valuable skill in this new phase of work will be the ability to collaborate effectively with AI.
“We are rapidly moving towards a future in which AI will be pervasive across enterprises,” he said. “To be clear, this is not about coding alone, but about understanding how to direct, supervise and validate AI-driven outputs in real-world environments.”
Governance skills are also becoming critical. “Governance literacy is now a business requirement to complement AI skills,” O’Neill said, noting that employees must understand data quality, accountability, and risk, since AI will increasingly shape daily decisions.
AI roles are no longer limited to technical teams but now extend to marketing, operations, finance, and customer experience. However, O’Neill emphasised that turning AI adoption into long-term job creation requires a clear strategy that aligns technology deployment with workforce development and ensures skills growth keeps pace with innovation.
“Winning the future of work, and building an inclusive future for workers, requires organisations to invest in AI, train employees, and prioritise governance,” he said.
“This approach reframes talent shortages as an innovation catalyst. Rather than replacing people, AI allows human ingenuity to be applied where it matters most.”