How to attract top tech talent in the Middle East

EMEA is a diverse region when it comes to tech talent and as a result Europe has particularly become a key focus area for companies with presence in the Middle East, looking to recruit in-demand IT professionals into their teams. Especially concerning roles in data, cybersecurity, and infrastructure.

The expectations of tech talent surrounding topics such as pay, working styles, non-financial benefits, technologies and learning and development can be diverse too, yet important for hiring managers to understand.

With increasing tech talent shortages, how can businesses entice talent?

We wanted to delve into this further, which led us to carry out an extensive new piece of research surrounding the costs, wants, needs and expectations of tech and IT professionals. Using survey results from more than 5000+ industry specialists across 20 EMEA countries, we have published the findings in an interactive online report – The Tech Talent Explorer.

The report shows that a huge number of European IT specialists are looking to leave their current jobs before the end of the year, highlighting the reasons why they are looking to leave, and ways in which Middle Eastern companies can attract these professionals to make the move to the Middle East.

So, what does the data say?

Reward and Benefits

We see huge differences in terms of what matters most to tech professionals in each country aside from pay, emphasising diversity in the region. In the Middle East, 59% will demand Child Education Allowances. In Romania and Czechia, 89% champion extra vacation days. In Belgium, 65% prioritise a company car. In Italy, 57% value private health insurance over anything else.

However, when we segment the respondents by skill area, we discover that flexible working is imperative to tech talent regardless of country. While the appeal of this work arrangement varies, it is the most sought-after benefit for people in all tech verticals – from a notable high of 73% of Project and Change Management professionals, compared to a still significant “low” for 63% of those in Infrastructure and IT Support roles.

Project Innovation and Artificial Intelligence

One of the most effective ways to encourage tech and IT specialists to join a company has always been to emphasise the most innovative aspects of your project. These people would prefer to join ambitious, forward-thinking companies offering exciting projects, then a well-established, stable organisation that has the company’s legacy at the centre of its employment proposition. Tech specialists want to work on the latest technologies, pushing boundaries and expanding their skillsets and portfolios.

This is an area where we do find strong similarities in the data on AI. Tech professionals want to develop their AI skills and will favour organisations offering them platforms to do so. We found 82% of all tech professionals in EMEA desire AI training, rising as high as 92% in The Netherlands and 89% in Spain. 24% of tech professionals in the GCC region have received training or support to adopt AI technologies in their work, but this is higher than all European countries apart from The Netherlands (27%).

Salaries versus Candidate Expectations

Here, as expected, the data varies significantly depending on location, experience, and skill area too. Investigate the findings yourself by filtering and comparing the countries and specialists of interest to you. You can access the report via this page.