Meet Sayan Sarkar
In December 2022, a 37-year-old Indian named Sayan Sarkar, with 14 years of experience in the software industry, moved to the UAE with his family, hoping to easily find a well-paying, less stressful job in his field. However, his high hopes were dashed by the harsh reality of the job market in the Emirates.
Sayan Sarkar graduated in Electronic Engineering from West Bengal University of Technology in 2008 and worked in the Indian software industry for 14 years before relocating to the UAE in December 2022. Despite his extensive experience, he struggled to find a job in the UAE that matched his qualifications and salary expectations.
Upon arrival, Sayan Sarkar and his family settled in the Karama area of Dubai. While his wife, a doctor, secured a job within two months of arriving and obtaining her license from the Dubai Health Authority, Sayan's job search journey was far from smooth.
Despite his rich experience working in renowned multinational companies and obtaining an MBA in Marketing from the Bangalore Business School in 2020-2022, Sayan Sarkar faced several challenges in his job search. Firstly, he lacked local work experience in the UAE. Secondly, his visa was a visit visa, which limited his job prospects. Lastly, his previous job was a middle management position, which many employers in the UAE were reluctant to accept for candidates holding visit visas.
Most companies in the UAE primarily offer basic IT jobs for developers and programmers, making Sayan's 14 years of experience work against him. He often found himself told that he did not meet the job requirements.
After facing numerous rejections, Sayan Sarkar finally landed a job in July 2023 through an interview process and started working in August. Realizing that his visit visa was detrimental to his job prospects, his wife became the sponsor for him and their son.
It took Sayan Sarkar about seven months to secure a job in the UAE. He is now employed as an IT Operations Manager in a startup company in Dubai, earning a monthly salary consisting of a fixed component of AED 5000 and a performance-based component ranging from AED 4000 to AED 7000, bringing his monthly income to between AED 8000 and AED 12000.