Hiring in the UAE presents a dual-market dynamic. You're recruiting across a high-income economy with strong inbound talent—both citizens seeking private-sector roles and expats on work permits—but also competing for specialists in finance, tech, and hospitality where supply is constrained. Hiring managers here face persistent friction: vetting candidates across language preferences (Arabic and English), confirming visa eligibility, and managing salary expectations anchored in AED across sectors with different scales. Raffi, an agentic AI recruiter, handles screening interviews with candidates who apply to your roles. You post on your preferred channels; applicants respond. Raffi conducts structured interviews via Google Calendar, captures video and transcript, and flags the strongest fits for your review. All operations respect UAE labor law and local compliance frameworks. The platform supports both Arabic and English interaction, pricing is in AED, and integration with Workable keeps your hiring workflow in one place. This cuts the time you spend on first-pass review—candidates who interview with Raffi are assessed, not merely submitted. The result: faster time-to-shortlist, better structured feedback, and no dilution of your team's focus while hiring is underway. Whether you're scaling a finance team in DIFC, building engineering capacity, or hiring hospitality staff, Raffi works within the candidate pool you generate.
3
Cities supported
30+
Candidate interview languages
<24 hrs
Application to first contact
Raffi calls every applicant for a 10-15 min structured interview. Not just the top 5 résumés — every one. Result: nobody good slips through.
Conversational AI interview, rubric-anchored scoring, transcripts you can read. You get a top 3-5 shortlist while competitors are still scheduling first-rounds.
SaaS pricing from $199/mo. No 15-25% of first-year salary, no per-hire kickback. Cancel anytime.
The UAE labor market is split. Tech, finance, and professional services remain competitive; employers compete for both UAE nationals (with Emiratisation targets in some sectors) and qualified expats willing to relocate. Healthcare and hospitality face skill shortages and high turnover. White-collar roles in banking, consulting, and engineering command premiums; blue-collar and service roles rely heavily on migrant worker pipelines, with increasing scrutiny on sponsorship frameworks and working conditions. Expat employment remains substantial but is moderating; government initiatives favor local hiring. Remote work policies have shifted post-2020, but on-site presence is expected in many sectors. Salary inflation is moderate in some areas, competitive in others. Work-permit processing remains a bottleneck for international hires.
Work permits are non-negotiable: you cannot hire without sponsorship, and processing adds 2–6 weeks. Language fluency in both Arabic and English is standard for client-facing and leadership roles; many mid-market roles operate primarily in English. Salary norms in AED vary sharply by role and sector: a mid-level accountant may command 120k–180k AED annually; a senior tech hire, 250k+. Hiring cycles align with fiscal calendars and Ramadan; expect slower decisions in that month. Local job boards (Bayt, Indeed UAE, LinkedIn Gulf) drive most inbound; internal networks and word-of-mouth remain powerful. Familiarity with UAE labor law and visa categories (entry permit, residence visa, sponsorship terms) is essential.
Raffi's structured interviews fit cleanly into GCC labor frameworks. AI use is disclosed upfront to every candidate, and final hiring decisions remain with you — meeting human-oversight expectations across UAE, KSA, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman.
Raffi screens; you verify work-permit eligibility before extending an offer. Visa/iqama status is collected outside the interview to keep the screening neutral.
Yes. Raffi operates in 30+ languages and supports candidate calls in any timezone via self-booking — there's no per-country integration. If you can post a role from United Arab Emirates, you can run Raffi from United Arab Emirates.
Raffi is calibrated against the major AI-in-hiring frameworks (EU AI Act + NYC Local Law 144) and discloses AI use to every candidate before the call. For United Arab Emirates-specific work permits and right-to-work checks, those happen outside Raffi — we screen, you verify eligibility before extending an offer.
Yes. Nearly all employment in the UAE requires employer sponsorship. You cannot onboard a non-citizen without securing a residence visa and work permit, a process that typically takes 2–6 weeks after offer acceptance. UAE nationals do not require visa sponsorship. Plan hiring timelines accordingly.
Quote in AED. Salary expectations vary significantly by role, sector, and seniority. Entry-level professional roles start around 80k–120k AED annually; mid-career roles, 150k–250k AED; senior positions, 250k+ AED. Include benefits (housing, education, transport allowances) as these are standard and often represent 30–50% of total compensation.
Hiring activity slows during Ramadan and the Eid holidays. Decision-making is delayed; candidates are less available for interviews. Plan major recruitment pushes for other months. Raffi's asynchronous video-interview format helps—candidates interview when they can, reducing real-time scheduling friction during busy periods.
Agentic recruiting is recruiting done by an AI agent that takes action on your behalf — not a chatbot or résumé summarizer. Raffi calls every applicant for a structured 10-15 minute interview, scores them against your rubric, and hands you a ranked top 3-5. The work happens autonomously.
Most agencies charge 15-25% of first-year salary as a placement fee — a $90k hire runs $13-22k. Raffi is SaaS at $199-599/mo plus per-action credits, typically landing under $10k/year for a team hiring 12 people. Same shortlist quality, no placement contract.
About 25 minutes to onboard, post your first role, and have Raffi ready to interview applicants. No engineering work, no integration project. Connect your work email, paste a JD, you're live.
Free $25 starter credit. No credit card. Screening live by tonight.