The United Arab Emirates is fifth in the world in terms of total talent inflow, according to new findings by LinkedIn together with the Ministry of Economy.

The UAE follows the U.S., UK, Canada and France in the rankings, yet relative to its population, has the highest talent inflow in the world, LinkedIn stated.

“The UAE has recorded one of the strongest hiring booms globally, with hiring rates 36% higher in December 2021 compared with December 2019,” according to Rajai El Khadem, head of LinkedIn Mena for government and academia.

“This represented one of the highest hiring recoveries in the world, trending above other developed economies.”

Since the pandemic, the UAE’s jobs market has made a robust recovery. Around 76% of the employers in the UAE are planning to increase their employee headcount this year, according to a poll undertaken last month by YouGov and Bayt.com.

Healthcare, software and IT sectors in the UAE have reported the strongest recovery in hiring, the LinkedIn report stated. Retail and travel sectors have also rallied, surpassing pre-pandemic levels. Yet, in contrast, construction, energy and mining sectors are playing catch up, the report added.

In addition, the UAE also experienced a talent shift, the so-called ‘Great Reshuffle’, LinkedIn stated. “Career switching has become more common in the UAE since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Professionals with transferable skills made career transitions out of struggling industries and into sectors that were booming,” Mr El Khadem added.

Around 75% of career changes took place in 10 major industries. Software and IT attracted 12.2% of talent from other sectors, followed by corporate services with 11.6%, consumer goods with 8.8%, manufacturing with 8.1% and finance with 7.4%, reports The National.

A large number of people changed careers last year to become “professional and personal coaches,” which resulted in 208% growth in such roles compared to 2020.

“Digital content management and self-employment are two examples of job domains that witnessed a three-fold growth in the number of roles in 2021,” Mr El Khadem added.