UAE female leaders confident about firms’ growth prospects

Women also becoming more digitally-savvy, according to KPMG UAE Female Leaders Outlook report

Female leaders in the UAE are entrepreneurial, increasingly comfortable with complex technology, but less optimistic about growth prospects than their male counterparts, according to a new report from KPMG.

The KPMG UAE Female Leaders Outlook report, part of a global survey, found that 76 per cent of UAE women in senior management positions were confident about the growth expectations for their company, while just a third (35 per cent) were confident in the growth prospects of the global economy.

This compares with the predominantly male chief executives interviewed in the 2018 KPMG Global CEO Outlook, 90 per cent of whom were confident of their company’s growth prospects, while 67 per cent were confident in the growth prospects of the global economy.

Furthermore, three-quarters (75 per cent) of UAE female leaders expected an overall growth in head count over the next three years, while only a quarter (25 per cent) said they expected a shrinking or steady employee base.

This result supports the opinion shared by the survey’s global female leaders: That artificial intelligence (AI) implementation will create more jobs than it eliminates.

“Our research shows that female leaders generally have a very realistic outlook to achieve sustained growth,” said Clare McColl, head of indirect tax at KPMG Lower Gulf. “Female leaders refer to the data and information available to assist in making tough decisions at the senior level — relating to technological disruption, managing resources or maximising operational efficiencies.”