This week, the Aviation Job Search team exhibited at the MRO Middle East show, held at the Dubai World Trade Centre. Exhibiting at this show for the first time, the team were on hand to speak directly with employers who were looking to recruit in the Middle East.

Billed as, ‘the preeminent conference and exhibition for MRO professionals doing business in the Middle East,’ the show welcomed over 4,000 visitors across the three day conference and exhibition.

The show is designed for colleagues, customers and peers to all come together in one space to discover the crucial issues impacting the MRO industry today. Attracting people who will foster the growth in this region is a key focus for the show.

It’s forecasted that MRO and service providers will be expanding their operations to meet with increasing demand in the growing market. Boeing’s latest report, has found that the Middle East will require US$745 billion in aviation services up until 2037, largely driven by the forecasted demand of nearly 3,000 new commercial aircraft. The report further suggests that the Middle East will make up for more than 8% of global demand in aviation services, growing at a projected 4.6% annually.

Managing Director of Aviation Job Search, Dave Capper, was accompanied to the show by MRO Specialist, Seriena-Levi Johnrose, and Business Development Manager, Aaron Jabbary.

Capper said, “It’s been a fantastic show here in Dubai, hosted in a great city. The market is expanding in the Middle East at a healthy rate. In turn, that growth will provide challenges in terms of labor to facilitate it, which is where we come in.”

He continued, “On a recent poll, over 7,000 of our active jobseekers said they were willing to relocate. The UAE in particular is a popular destination for overseas workers.

Boeing’s latest report forecasted that the Middle East region would need 63,000 technicians over the next two decades to service the growth in this area. While some of the talent is expected to come from overseas, many companies are trying to make the most of local talent via higher education institutions. With more than 60% of the Arab world aged under 25, it’s a viable solution.

Head of Engineering Technical Services at Etihad Airways Engineering, Shevantha Weerasekera, told how the company had successful talent sourcing programs, but were recently shifting their attentions in which region to focus on.  He said, “There was a trend to look east but that is now shifting towards Europe. There’s been problems in Europe with various bankruptcies freeing up technical talent.’

However, while recruiting talent from overseas has its benefits, the company still believe that sourcing domestic talent closer to home is a more sustainable model. He continued, “For us, the long-term view is generating talent locally.”