Where are the most competitive job markets in the world?

The most competitive job market across the world has been reported in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, with over 200 applicants per LinkedIn job ad, according to a new report.

The report, from Resume.io, calculated the average number of applicants a LinkedIn job advertisement receives within a week of being posted.

It found that Dubai has an average of 285.21 applicants per LinkedIn job ad, significantly higher than the second city in the list, which is San Jose, United States (153.77).

Dubai has surpassed the previous first-place city, Doha, which saw a "significant fall in competition," according to Resume.io.

The report noted that competition in Dubai may be "especially fierce" due to the number of migrants arriving in the city on a job exploration visa and without a job in place.

Gareth El Mettouri, director for the Middle East at recruitment firm Robert Half, also attributed the tight competition to conditions in the United Arab Emirates.

"The UAE has a lot to offer candidates with good weather, tax-free earnings, and a multicultural lifestyle, which is bringing a lot of expats over in the expectation that they will be able to find a job easily when they arrive," the director said, as quoted in the report.

^{Source: Resume.io}

Biggest surge in competition

Meanwhile, the report also uncovered which cities logged the biggest increase in average applicants per job posting.

Landing in first place is Seattle in the US, which reported a 445.4% increase in average applicants per job. The market saw an average of 40.9 applicants per job ad, up from last year's 7.5.

Other cities that registered an increase of over 100% include Luxembourg (248.2%), Houston (168.2%), San Diego (116.4%), Los Angeles (107.4%), and Kuala Lumpur (103.5%).

^{Source: Resume.io}

Overall, Resume.io looked into 122 cities across the world to find the most and least competitive job markets in 2024.