George Evans has had six jobs in seven years in the UAE. While a fast-moving career might have raised eyebrows in the past, today it is becoming increasingly common, particularly in Dubai.
Mr Evans’s story is part of a global trend called “lily padding” – the name stems from the image of a frog skipping across a pond, describing the practice of jumping between roles to build skills rapidly, increase pay and expand networks.
Mr Evans, a design and tech professional, explains what drove each move. “I would have loved to have found a company I could spend five to 10 years in so I could grow and succeed,” he tells The National. “I was laid off from two of those – one due to Covid, the other due to optimising headcount.
“Two other roles were stepping stones. I just needed something to pay the bills. And one other couldn’t provide the growth opportunities.”
LinkedIn’s latest data suggests 72 per cent of UAE professionals plan to look for a new role this year, even as 65 per cent said finding one has become harder than 12 months ago. In a market with an expat-heavy workforce, low unemployment and open roles across IT, finance, hospitality and health care, the conditions for lily padding are close to ideal.
What drives it – and what it costs – is more complicated, though.
‘AI boomerang’
In many cases, the AI revolution is driving lily padding. Mohamed Alabbar announced in May that AI will halve the number of jobs at e-commerce platform Noon.
But global data shows 55 per cent of business leaders who cut roles to deploy AI now regret the decision, according to Orgvue. Global talent solutions and business consulting firm Robert Half found 32 per cent of US hiring managers who eliminated positions citing AI ended up rehiring for the same or similar role. Business management consultant Gartner forecasts half of all AI-driven job cuts will be reversed by 2027.
Sarah Brooks, managing director of Fikrah HR, calls this “the AI boomerang”. She says: “Dramatic cuts signal efficiency and cost discipline to investors, then [companies] quietly rehire once the operational gaps in customer service, logistics exceptions and judgment-based decisions become apparent.
“Too many organisations treated AI as a straight headcount-replacement tool rather than a capability that needs human oversight.”
For the tech industry, it’s particularly volatile, says Mr Evans. “For some people, [lily padding] is a necessity.”
The Gen Z question
It is seemingly a generational practice, too. A 2024 Randstad global survey put the average Gen Z tenure in the first five years of a career at just 1.1 years as opposed to 1.8 for millennials and almost three for boomers.
Mr Evans says of this change in the younger generations’ mindset: “People seem a little more protective of their work-life balance as well as their mental health, so they seem to choose their place of work more carefully.”
Nikki Samson, founder of headhunting firm NS Search, which specialises in mid-to-senior level placements in marketing and communications, is seeing a different story play out. “I rarely place Gen Z [but] those I have are still in the same role as they look for growth and deliver on their KPIs, to get the promotion so they stay in the company,” she says.
“But if they don’t have a possibility to grow, then they leave. I personally am not seeing people jumping companies.”
The distinction matters. If lily padding is fundamentally about growth rather than restlessness, companies may misread the situation and respond in ways that worsen the underlying problem.
Financial ramifications
The financial consequences of all this jumping around compound quickly. Industry benchmarks, according to the Society for Human Resource Management, put full replacement cost at 50 per cent to 200 per cent of annual salary once recruitment fees, onboarding, training and lost productivity are included.
The UAE’s gratuity structure adds another layer, as any employee who completes one year of service is entitled to 21 days’ basic salary per year for the first five years.
“If the company then has to re-recruit for that same role, it effectively pays twice,” explains Ms Brooks. “There’s also a softer but real cost: damaged employer brand and trust. Teams notice when colleagues are cut and then quietly brought back … it erodes confidence in leadership’s judgment, which can itself drive further attrition.”
For the individual, the financial maths can look quite different to the employer’s version. UK data from Wealthify shows professionals who changed roles more than four times in a decade earned 31 per cent more on average than those who stayed put.
Mr Evans says to reap the benefits, you need to be proactive. “I had a clear idea of where I wanted to be in my career and moving into those roles, as opposed to waiting for promotion, has paid off.”
Navigating jobs in the UAE
Ms Brooks identifies several UAE-specific drivers beyond generational preference: salaries that have not kept pace with Dubai’s cost-of-living pressures; new expat taking available roles to secure residency, then moving once settled; and companies terminating within probationary periods to sidestep documentation obligations. “These are not choices. They are conditions,” she says.
Mr Evans says one should try to figure out how to fix something that isn’t working before deciding to resign: “Just don’t burn your bridges.”
Employers need to get ahead of the cycle before it prices them out, Ms Brooks says, by offering employees flexible working, career pathways and development feedback … “because data suggests lily padding isn’t going away; it’s becoming the new normal shape of a career.”