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Middle East Edition
5th August 2026
 
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THE HOT STORY

UAE professionals are taking on more responsibilities without more pay

A study by Robert Walters has found that 79% of UAE professionals have taken on additional responsibilities over the past year, often without pay or recognition. Many are working longer hours, with 49% reporting increased time at work. The study highlights the rise of "shadow workloads," whereby extra tasks accumulate informally. Andrew Powell, chief commercial officer at Robert Walters, noted that while AI tools are helping employees manage these workloads, they can also raise expectations without formal role changes. The study found that 43% of respondents experience mental fatigue from such pressures. 
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HIRING

Deel buys Tel Aviv AI cyber startup to combat fake hires

Payroll and HR platform Deel has acquired Clarity, a Tel Aviv-based startup which specialises in deepfake detection and identity verification. The acquisition aims to enhance security measures for employers managing global workforces amid the growing AI-driven security threat posed by fake job candidates. Deel did not disclose financial details, but sources estimate the deal to be worth between $45m and $50m. “Deepfakes, identity fraud, and impersonation attacks are becoming more sophisticated, changing how companies hire and grow globally,” said French-Israeli entrepreneur Alex Bouaziz, co-founder of Deel. “Bringing Clarity and its world-class AI talent into Deel gives us the capabilities to build trusted identity security directly into our platform . . . This lets customers confidently hire, onboard, and manage verified teams globally, with continuous safeguards that evolve as threats get smarter.”
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WORKFORCE

UAE salary increases to average 3.4% in 2026, survey says

Recruitment consultants in the UAE report a shift towards performance-based incentives and variable pay schemes. According to Korn Ferry's Global Total Rewards Pulse Survey, UAE companies are planning a 3.4% average base salary increase for 2026. The median salary increase for employees is 3.6%, with executives seeing up to 3.9%. For 2027, the average increase is projected at 3.3%. Mayank Patel, SVP at Adecco, noted that organisations are using these incentives to counter inflation while rewarding top talent. The report also highlights low employee turnover rates in the UAE.
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CYBERSECURITY

AI models used fake human profiles to trick people in safety test

Anthropic and OpenAI’s flagship AI models engaged in “sustained, potentially harmful activity directed at real people and organisations” during the UK AI Security Institute's routine cyber evaluation. The UK government’s frontier-AI safety and security research body said Anthropic's Mythos and OpenAI's Sol models engaged in a level of "autonomy and deception" it had not seen before. The "most serious case" involved Mythos 5, which created fake profiles of real people to try to insert malicious code into the open-source software development platform GitHub, where users store, share and collaborate on projects. "This is the first time we have seen risks around autonomy and deception manifest this clearly, without specific prompting, in the real world," the institute said.
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TECHNOLOGY

World Bank urges developing countries to embrace AI or be left behind

The World Bank has called on developing countries to embrace AI tools to deliver better governance outcomes, warning that they risked being left behind if they failed to do so. "AI has thrown developing economies a lifeline, and they ⁠should seize it," Indermit Gill, the World Bank's chief economist said as the organisation launched its annual World Development Report. "They do not need large models or big data centres to reap its benefits," he added. "By adapting small, low-cost AI tools to local conditions, they can ​bring better medical care, education, judicial services and agricultural extension within reach of millions . . . AI could significantly boost that performance before the end of the 2020s while delivering tangible benefits to people." The report calls for countries to use the technology to "help extend otherwise costly medical, legal, educational, and agricultural services to underserved billions - doing in a decade what might otherwise take a century."
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TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT

MoEHE summer programme engages students in skills development

The Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MoEHE) in Qatar has concluded its 2026 Summer Student Activities programme, which engaged over 950 students. The initiative, themed “Invest Their Summer in Creativity,” offered more than 500 activities across four centres, focusing on educational, cultural, and recreational experiences. MoEHE Undersecretary H E Dr. Ibrahim bin Saleh Al Nuaimi attended the closing ceremony. Assistant Director Fatima Yousef Al Obaidli highlighted the programme's role in character development and enhancing students' skills. The ministry aims to continuously improve the programme to meet evolving student needs and national aspirations.
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INTERNATIONAL

Virtual interviews don't show bosses your personality, Burnham says

Employers should not rely so heavily on virtual job interviews when hiring because they don't capture candidates' personality and passion, new UK prime minister Andy Burnham has said. "One thing I really don't like is this culture now of interviewing via Zoom or Teams," he told a careers podcast, adding: "How do you get over some of your personality, your passion?" Burnham said: "It seems to me to then work against people who have that side to their character and work for those who are just giving the more formulaic answer." Maxine Bligh from the UK's Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) said: "AI tools are helpful, even essential, when dealing with a huge volume of applications, but it takes skill and professionalism to make the right call . . . The key message from us to recruiters is to go digital where it matters and human where it counts."

DSM-Firmenich to cut 1,000 jobs worldwide

Swiss-Dutch multinational chemical company DSM-Firmenich has launched a restructuring programme aimed at reducing annual costs by €100m. The company, which employs over 28,500 people globally, has not disclosed the specific locations of job cuts. "It is a global cost-cutting program, but exactly where and how many jobs will be affected still has to be discussed with employee representatives," said a company spokesperson, who added that some positions will also be eliminated through natural attrition. Ed Leunissen, a board member at the CNV trade union, said he is not convinced the job cuts are justified. "I always have mixed feelings when a company posts strong profits but still decides to eliminate jobs," he observed. "It doesn't always have to be about constant growth, but we're seeing that mindset more and more."

Democratic-led states sue to block Trump's latest tariffs

A coalition of 25 Democratic-led states has filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's latest tariffs on imports from 60 trading partners, arguing that the broad measures exceed the president's legal authority under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. Court of International Trade, follows similar legal challenges by small businesses. The states claim the tariffs are an unlawful attempt to reimpose measures that courts have already ruled illegal. The tariffs, introduced on July 24, impose duties of 10% and 12.5% on goods from countries, including members of the European Union, over concerns about forced labour. The Trump administration maintains the measures are a lawful response to unfair trade practices, while the states argue that Section 301 has historically been used to target specific countries or industries, not nearly all US imports, and that the broad tariffs will do little to address forced labour while increasing costs for businesses and consumers. 

Southeast Asia to see increased fire risk

Southeast Asia can expect to see drier- and warmer-than-normal conditions from August through October as the El Niño climate phenomenon strengthens, according to an analysis of climate models by the ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre. The analysis says that parts of the region have a high chance of receiving below-normal rainfall, and temperatures are forecast to be above average during a prolonged period of heat and dryness that threatens to exacerbate current difficulties for rice farmers. The dry spell comes on top of high fuel and fertilizer prices precipitated by the war in Iran.
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OTHER

Italian garbagemen help recover lost €1m lottery ticket

An Italian woman's €1m lottery ticket was recovered from rubbish after she called on refuse collectors to help her retrieve it, according to the waste management company. The ticket was "miraculously still in one piece" after garbage workers combed through mounds of trash on their truck, said Roberto Nicola Toscano, the administrator of the SANB company in Italy's southern Puglia region. “We reconstructed the journey of the ticket, without much hope of finding it, as it had already been picked up by a garbage truck,” Toscano said. However, workers managed to identify the correct lorry and stopped it.
 
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