Dubai and Abu Dhabi among 10 most attractive cities for digital talent

Gulf Today Report

In a global survey of 9,900 digital workers, the latest episode of the BCG Decoding Global Talent series, Dubai and Abu Dhabi moved to sixth and ninth places, respectively, in the list of the 10 most attractive cities for digital talent in the world.

Dubai advanced 6 places, Abu Dhabi 9 places, while London retained the lead, and Singapore advanced strongly to take the second place.

While Amsterdam ranked third, Berlin slipped to fourth place, followed by Tokyo, while New York and Sydney ranked sixth and seventh, respectively, and Barcelona ranked tenth after Abu Dhabi.

New York dropped 6 places, while Barcelona lost 5 places.

"Digital workers have emerged from the economic turmoil of the past two years relatively unscathed and eager to explore new options," the survey says.

Around 73% expected to change their positions in the next two to three years, while 40% said that they are actively looking for work, which puts them at the forefront of the "major resignation."

This presents a particularly vexing problem for employers outside the tech industry who need the highly sought-after pool of talent to transform their business but may not be the first choice for digital workers when they are looking for work.

Nearly 9,900 respondents working in the digital fields were among the 209,000 people in 190 countries surveyed in the ongoing series.

It is noteworthy that Dubai ranked third and Abu Dhabi in fifth place in the world as the most preferred city to move to and work in 2021, according to a survey by "Boston Consulting Group" and the global employment alliance "The Network" in the last quarter of last year.

Accordingly, Canada is now seen as the most preferred destination for foreign workers, with the United States falling to second place and Australia third. In terms of cities, London came first, followed by Amsterdam and Dubai third.

The UAE continues to consolidate its position globally as a preferred destination for foreigners to move to work in, as the country’s global attractiveness jumped 6 places from 19th place in 2018 to 13th in 2020, according to a study conducted by the Boston Consulting Group in cooperation with Bayt.com. It included an opinion poll of about 209 thousand people across 190 countries around the world.