Trends
The MENA workplace in 2026: five shifts worth watching
There is no single MENA labour market. Yet several forces are landing at once across the region: rapid AI adoption, national talent policies, pressure to learn new skills, high youth unemployment and a sharper demand for job security. The useful question is not which trend will ‘win’, but how each one changes a real job.
1. AI is moving from experiment to daily work
PwC’s 2025 Middle East survey of 1,286 employees found that 75% had used AI in their work during the previous year and 32% used generative AI daily. This is survey evidence—not a measure of every worker in the region—but it shows adoption moving beyond specialist technology teams.
The practical divide is increasingly between workplaces that give people clear tools, training and review standards, and those that simply expect faster output. A useful employer question is: what is the approved AI policy, and who checks high-stakes work?
2. Skills are becoming part of the employment deal
Workers are being asked to adapt while roles change around them. Training therefore belongs beside pay, hours and management quality when judging an employer—not as a vague perk, but as protected time, access and a path to different work.
- Which skills will this role need in the next two years?
- Is learning time protected during working hours?
- Can employees move internally after completing training?
3. Security is rising alongside ambition
PwC’s 2025 respondents were highly positive about technology, while 85% named job security as a top priority when considering a new role. Those ideas are not contradictory. People can welcome change and still want employers to explain what it means for headcount, workload and progression.
4. Nationalisation is changing career ladders
Saudisation, Emiratisation and related policies are changing recruitment, development and succession across Gulf workplaces. The strongest employers treat these policies as long-term talent development. The weakest reduce them to hiring targets without clear work, sponsorship or progression.
5. Transparency becomes workplace infrastructure
When roles, pay bands and promotion standards change quickly, private information gaps grow. Employees need specific, repeated evidence: what a role pays, how decisions are made, and whether the written policy matches daily practice. That is the gap Sadeq is built to narrow—without exposing the person who contributed.
Sadeq Editorial distinguishes official statistics from survey findings and interpretation. Regional figures describe broad patterns—not every country, sector or workplace.