The global economic crisis heralds a new era for human resource professionals, according to a HR expert.

“While the debate goes on about how much, or how little, the Arabian Gulf region in particular escapes the excesses of global uncertainty it is no longer seriously argued that our economies are completely disconnected,” said Michelle Boyd, executive conference director for the Middle East HR Summit.

The summit will bring senior executives from the public and private sectors to Dubai to take the pulse of the changing Middle East human resource industry. It will take place from October 26 to 30.

In a recent global survey by McKinsey conducted just before the US bailout of financial firms, executives from around the world – including the Middle East - said hiring plans had dwindled over the past year. Almost 30 per cent expect their companies to shrink the size of the workforce in the next six months, up from 18 per cent a year ago.

“Executives in financial services were even more likely than executives in general to say the workforce will decrease than increase,” Boyd added.

“In contrast, 43 per cent of executives in the regionally important energy sector expect hiring levels to rise. Notably a majority of executives in the Asia-Pacific region - higher than in any other part of the world – also reported overall economic conditions in their countries were closely linked to conditions in the US.'

The five day Summit programme features a Guru Day, plenary sessions each morning and specialist streams on the key themes of talent management, performance management and reward management each afternoon. There will also be Summit Master Classes tackling topical HR issues such as emotional intelligence, employee relations and situational leadership.

In addition, there will be a Middle East HR Summit Excellence Awards gala dinner to honour outstanding achievements in the management and development of human capital.-TradeArabia News Service