Published on: 7/16/2026
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Situation
AI is no longer thinning the Gulf labour market evenly — it is splitting it in two. PwC’s 2026 AI Jobs Barometer, with a dedicated UAE analysis released on 17 June, now ranks the UAE among the world’s fastest-growing AI talent markets, ahead of the US, UK, Germany and France, with AI-related job postings tripling from 1.0% of all roles in 2021 to 3.2% in 2025. In Saudi Arabia, 93% of employers report a skills gap. The same data exposes a divide every workforce plan must now answer: one track of roles is gaining wages, growth and investment, while the larger track is quietly losing all three.