A new Workforce Skills Forecast 2025 report by ServiceNow, the AI control tower for business reinvention, projects that the UAE will need to add 1.03 million workers by 2030, driven largely by economic growth and technology roles supporting digital transformation. This represents a 12.1 increase in the workforce, one of the highest among major global markets, compared with the United States 2.1, the United Kingdom 2.8, and India 10.6.
The study, conducted in collaboration with Pearson, highlights that the manufacturing, education, and retail sectors will be major contributors, adding approximately 133,000, 78,000, and 60,000 new jobs, respectively. Key industries including finance and healthcare are also expected to add over 40,000 and 39,000 roles. In terms of relative growth, energy and utilities will expand the fastest at 33, followed by education 31 and manufacturing 18.
While agentic AI is expected to drive efficiency-equivalent to 17,000 full-time employees in the financial services sector-it will not offset the demand for human talent. In fact, workforce growth driven by economic expansion and emerging technology needs is projected at 26, highlighting the importance of human-AI collaboration. William O'Neill, Area VP and General Manager - GCC at ServiceNow, emphasized that "AI augmentation will be central to capturing the next wave of economic growth... The future of work depends on collaboration between people and AI, and it's a future that's hiring now."
