29/06/2016 02:20 AST
Hundreds of new employees will be hired over the next few months in the UAE and the rest of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region as companies prepare for the implementation of value-added tax (VAT), human resources and tax specialists told Gulf News.
Recruitment is already underway in the UAE and the demand for accounting, finance and tax executives, as well as information technology (IT) professionals is only expected to grow as the VAT rollout draws closer.
Companies will also have to deal with the challenge of restructuring their finance and IT departments, orient their existing staff and re-evaluate the knowledge and experience of resources.
“The demand for accounting, tax [executives] and IT professionals will be at a premium over the next 18 months as GCC companies grapple with the requirement to prepare their systems for VAT,” Finbarr Sexton, indirect tax leader for the Middle East and North Africa at Ernst & Young (EY), said.
“UAE companies have already started recruiting VAT support staff. However, we expect demand to grow from September onwards and the major VAT recruitment will be in full flow throughout 2017.”
Sexton said companies in the UAE will now have to beef up preparations for the collection of VAT, given that the schedule of implementation is only about one year and six months away. Any company that procures or sells products and services will now have to upgrade their processes and look at the different aspects of their business, from the supply chain all the way to the end customer.
“VAT has an impact over the full supply chain of a business from procurement all the way to marketing and sales,” Sexton told Gulf News.
“The most significant constraints that businesses will face include the transformation of ERP (enterprise resource planning) systems to incorporate VAT, designing proper processes to manage VAT and staff up with the right level of skilled personnel to manage the VAT roll out.”
When it comes to sourcing of talent, businesses can expect some hiccups, given that thousands of other companies will also be scrambling to hire skilled professionals to help with VAT implementation.
“There will be a shortage in IT implementers to do the ERP transformations and more critically, a major shortage in suitable skilled staff with knowledge of VAT and the requirements to implement VAT across the business processes,” Sexton said.
The finance ministers in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region approved during an extraordinary meeting this month the introduction of VAT across the region. Some procedural aspects will need to be taken up in another meeting, but it was made clear that the GCC states would be ready for the first phase of the VAT rollout by the beginning of 2018.
Another meeting is expected to be held in October 2016, when the VAT framework is likely going to be finalised.
When asked how many new employees will be hired, Annalinde Nickisch, HR consultant at The Thought Factory in the UAE, said “thousands” will probably find new jobs.
The need to expand headcounts doesn’t mean there are jobs for everyone. HR experts said companies, for one, need to be careful when it comes to the screening of applicants. However, with the new job openings, a lot of accountants who are not qualified might find themselves displaced.
“It’s safe to say that thousands will be recruited. However, a lot of accountants without relevant experience will lose their jobs because they are not qualified or experienced in the area,” Nickisch said.
She pointed out that the concern now should be focused on the “shortage of resources with the right experience and relevant skillset to manage and assist organisations during the transition into a taxable environment.”
Nickisch said it is important that candidates and existing staff members should have the relevant work ex
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