Dubai, UAE: English proficiency is becoming increasingly important to organizational performance, talent development, and AI readiness across the UAE, according to the new TOEIC Global English Skills Report: United Arab Emirates Insights released by ETS.

The report, based on research among HR decision makers in the UAE, found that 86% of employers believe English proficiency is critical to the success of their organization, while 80% say it is more important today than it was five years ago.

The findings also point to the growing connection between English proficiency and the adoption of AI tools in the workplace. Eighty-five per cent of HR leaders in the UAE said AI integration increases the need for English proficiency, while 95% said employees increasingly need strong English skills to generate effective prompts for AI tools.

The report further found that HR leaders do not see AI as a substitute for language capability. Most respondents agreed that reliable English assessment remains essential as organizations work across global markets and use a growing range of AI tools, many of which rely on English interfaces and prompts.

Don Schmidt, Regional Director, Global Partnerships, Middle East and North Africa, ETS, said: “English proficiency is increasingly tied to how organizations collaborate, hire, and grow in a global business environment. The UAE findings reflect how employers are approaching workforce readiness at a time when AI adoption and international collaboration are reshaping the workplace.”

Ratnesh Jha, Global General Manager of Institutional Products at ETS, said: “AI doesn’t close the skills gap. People do. What this research makes clear is that English is now a core workforce capability, not a soft skill. It’s how employees collaborate across borders, how organizations unlock the value of AI, and how talent stays relevant in a rapidly changing economy. Companies that invest in English proficiency are investing directly in productivity, innovation, and global competitiveness.”

According to the report, English assessments are already widely used across the UAE for recruitment, training, and promotion decisions. Seventy-nine percent of organizations currently use English assessments for hiring and screening, while 67% use them before training programmes. Sixty-three percent use them for promotion readiness and 59% for post-training assessment.

Organizations using standardized third-party English assessments also reported stronger business outcomes, including improved collaboration, stronger competitive positioning, better organizational growth, and higher employee satisfaction.

The research also highlights the growing role English proficiency is expected to play in future hiring decisions. Twenty-six percent of employers in the UAE said English assessments are already required for all new hires, while 52% expect this to become standard practice within five years.

In addition, 84% of HR leaders in the UAE said lacking English proficiency creates a competitive disadvantage, while 86% said their organization would be more efficient if stronger English assessments were used during hiring.

The UAE findings form part of the wider TOEIC Global English Skills Report, which surveyed 1,325 HR decision makers across 17 countries. The UAE insights are based on responses from 81 HR decision makers surveyed between 30 September and 10 October 2025.

The full TOEIC Global English Skills Report: United Arab Emirates Insights is available at ets.org/toeic/resources/global-english-skills.

About ETS

ETS is a global education and talent solutions organization enabling lifelong learners to be future ready. Our mission – advancing the science of measurement to power human progress – ensures our focus to enable everyone, everywhere, to demonstrate their skills and chart their path to future readiness for life. We are committed to readying 100M+ people for the next generation of jobs by 2035. We deliver on this commitment through trusted assessments and skills solutions – including TOEFL, TOEIC, GRE, Praxis and Futurenav – and groundbreaking initiatives powered by our Research Institute. With a robust global footprint, including subsidiaries (PSI), offices and operations in more than 200 countries and territories, we help over 50 million individuals each year measure their proficiency and unlock new opportunities. Discover how we expand our worldwide impact: www.ets.org