The Middle East is transforming economically, and businesses are scaling at unprecedented rates. However, with this growth comes unique workforce challenges—fluctuating labour demands, skill shortages, and additional employment regulation. How do you manage this while you are scaling? The answer is employing the right workforce outsourcing services.
Here are our thoughts on how workforce outsourcing supports businesses in the Middle East, enabling them to meet market demands, optimise costs, and drive innovation.
4 ways workforce outsourcing services support scaling
From the many clients we have worked with across the Middle East, we are seeing four key drivers to the support we provide. These are
1. Flexibility to meet rising and changing demand
One of the most significant benefits of workforce outsourcing is the ability to scale your staff numbers up or down as needed. This flexibility is critical right now in the Middle East, where many industries are shifting or diversifying.
For example, we have had large-scale construction projects, like Expo 2020 in the UAE and now NEOM in Saudi Arabia, both requiring contractors with project-ready teams. However, what they aren't looking for is long-term employee commitments. Our access to skilled contingent staff has been pivotal to helping meet project deadlines.
We are also seeing a rise in hospitality, retail, and tourism experiences. These businesses also need flexibility in staffing numbers. Outsourcing through the right partner allows companies to access expat or regional staff who can cover temporary skill shortages or seasonal shifts in staffing (like cover for peak seasons or religious observances).
2. Access to specialised skills
It is no secret that the region's goal to build a better economy presents a sizable skill gap. Rapid growth in renewable energy, technology, and advanced manufacturing sectors has meant outsourcing workforce management to experts with a global talent pool.
We have been increasing our efforts to both supply expat staff where needed and train local teams to learn new skills. Our work here has helped many companies get the staff they need to fill their skill gaps.
3. Compliance and risk management
Labour laws and nationalisation policies are changing rapidly in the Middle East. This can pose quite a challenge for businesses. With the right outsourcing partners, you can ensure compliance while also filling critical roles that require expertise that is not readily available locally.
Our teams on the ground have processes in place to monitor and report on policies like Saudi Arabia's Saudization and the UAE's Emiratization. We also provide third-party services to help our clients mitigate compliance risks and avoid things like employee misclassification.
4. Geographic expansion and cost management
As regional economics change, businesses are looking to near-shore, off-shore or multi-shore across the Middle East to help manage costs. Workforce outsourcing services provide a scalable solution to meet the growing demand for local expertise without the upfront costs of setting up permanent offices or recruiting full-time staff.
Outsourcing also allows companies to pay for expertise when they need it rather than maintaining a permanent, expensive in-house team. We have seen clients use this to help them optimise profits in more fluid states of scale, particularly in industries where competition is rife.
How do you know if workforce outsourcing services are right for your business?
We have created a free guide for you in our blog called "Top Signs Your Business Needs Manpower Outsourcing".
How we supported Huawei to scale with contingent staff
As Huawei looked to enter markets across the Middle East, they contacted us for staffing support. We provided staff for several phased projects to help them scale across one region and disrupt their market.
Our work included providing fleet and driver services and tower engineers and device teams. The success of our fast and efficient sourcing and compliant HR allowed Huawei to concentrate on what they do best—developing innovative information and communication infrastructure and smart devices for a new market.
Ready to find out how workforce outsourcing services can help you?
Contact mselect today and ask us about our workforce outsourcing services.