Headhunters have begun circling bankers in Dubai as a growing number of executives rethink where they are based as a result of the Middle East conflict.
The United Arab Emirates has borne the brunt of missile and drone attacks by Iran in response to strikes launched against the Islamic republic by the US and Israel.
As a result, some senior executives have told The Banker that their reasons for staying in the Gulf have become harder to justify. A foreign national working at one of the UAE’s largest banks said that departures had become “elevated” and that they and their family had recently moved back to their native country. “We didn’t feel safe,” they said.
Another senior executive, who returned to England with their family earlier this month, told The Banker: “It was time to go.”
The departures have alerted headhunters who say there has been a rise in the number of people living in Dubai applying for roles overseas.
Gregory Agius, chief executive of Agius & Partners, a recruitment firm that specialises in finance and private banking, says: “I have indeed seen an uptick in people residing in Dubai applying for roles in Switzerland and the US.
“It is still a little early to call this a definitive trend but, since the conflict began, there has been a greater openness among private bankers in Dubai to explore opportunities abroad.”
Another recruiter at large firm, who asked to remain anonymous, told The Banker: “We are having a great number of conversations with people who are obviously keen to examine options elsewhere.”
Departures have tended to be concentrated among recently arrived bankers, according to a senior Dubai finance professional who has lived in the emirate for over a decade.
“Longer-term residents are still taking things in their stride for the most part, and are largely content to work from home but otherwise carry on fairly normally,” they told The Banker.
The UAE has been working hard to settle the nerves of people in the country and earlier this month dismissed reports it had introduced laws preventing foreign investors from withdrawing their capital and leaving Dubai, calling the claims “fake news”.
The Dubai Media Office said in a statement that it denies “false reports” that the government has implemented measures to freeze bank accounts and prevent people from leaving.
Instead, the media body said that the UAE’s “economy is strong” and that “Dubai will continue to remain a global economic hub”.
The Ministry of Economy and Tourism also denied the claims it said had appeared on social media, highlighting rather what it called the UAE’s “firm commitment to policies of economic openness and the free movement of capital”.
“We urge the public and media to rely on official sources for accurate information,” it said.