Middle East Consulting Outlook: 3–6 Month Expectations?

Question

Hi, I hope you’re doing well. I’m a current MBA student closely following the Middle East consulting market, and what I’m seeing on the ground feels more bearish than expected. Pipeline numbers are extremely low across several firms, and the recent cuts at PwC and Kearney seem to reinforce the trend.

Given your visibility into the region, what are expectations for the next three to six months? Is there any meaningful recovery on the horizon, or do indicators suggest things may worsen further?

I’d really appreciate your perspective.

Answer 1

You are observing the situation correctly. That feeling of a tightening belt in the GCC is very real, and the cuts you mentioned at other firms reinforce an immediate trend: the Middle East consulting sector is currently in a necessary digestion phase.

Here is the underlying mechanism: From 2021 to early 2023, the region was running white-hot, leading to aggressive over-hiring across most large consultancies, particularly in anticipation of massive digital transformation waves and privatization work. Firms bulked up headcount faster than their mid-term pipelines could support. Now, as utilization rates drop below comfortable levels, the immediate priority is to freeze external hiring and maximize internal deployment. It is a correction of capacity, not a sign that the long-term government mandate (Vision 2030 programs) has vanished.

For the next three to six months, generalist intake will remain challenging. The focus is exclusively on two areas: A) Highly specific, specialist skills tied directly to implementation (e.g., deep public sector delivery expertise, certain digital engineering niches), and B) Senior lateral hires required to win new, bespoke mega-projects. For an MBA student relying on standard volume intake, I would not anticipate a meaningful recovery in hiring volume until the tail end of Q3/early Q4, once utilization stabilizes and firms are forced to begin budgeting for the next cycle. Network hard now, but be realistic that the seats are fewer and the competition is higher than last year.

All the best with your search.

Answer 2

I've been paying attention to the Middle East market for a long time now. There are ups and downs, but it has always been a strong recruiting market. When others stopped completely, Middle East kept going. There's a higher churn of people. And they rely immensely on freelancers to deliver the projects they have, which means that if they could find more good people they would be hiring them.

So focus on being a great candidate - if you have a good profile you will have your chance to prove yourself in an interview.