Robert Walters research finds one in four junior employees say onboarding experience made them more likely to leave
United Arab Emirates- One in four (24%) junior employees say their onboarding experience made them more likely to leave their role, according to new research from global talent solutions partner Robert Walters.
Just 31% said they felt very supported by their manager during onboarding, while 21% said it took them more than six months to feel effective in their roles.
By comparison, 52% of middle managers said they felt very supported by their manager during onboarding and only 6% said they felt fully effective in their roles after more than six months.
Andrew Powell, Chief Commercial Officer at Robert Walters, says, “A lot of attention is rightly being paid to the challenges early-career talent is facing in securing a role. In addition to a highly competitive jobs market, the expectations placed on junior employees once they start a job are changing rapidly. They are often being asked to contribute sooner, navigate AI advancements and develop skills that have traditionally been associated with more experienced professionals. Effective onboarding plays a critical role in helping young people build confidence, understand expectations and become productive more quickly.”
Jason Grundy, Managing Director of Robert Walters Middle East, adds, “The UAE’s workforce is unusually diverse, with talent relocating from across the region and beyond. That makes onboarding even more important locally, new hires aren’t just learning a role, they’re often learning a new market and culture at the same time. Getting that right early has a direct impact on retention.”
The research also found that 28% of junior employees said training and role clarity were lacking during their onboarding experience.
The findings come at a time when entry-level opportunities have become increasingly competitive and expectations on early-career professionals continue to evolve. Recent research from PwC’s 2026 Global AI Jobs Barometer determined that many entry-level roles are becoming increasingly “seniorised”, with employers placing greater emphasis on skills such as judgement, communication and leadership earlier in an individual’s career.
Onboarding continues to influence retention and productivity:
Onboarding remains an important factor in shaping employee experiences across the wider workforce. While 51% of professionals rated their onboarding experience as good or excellent, more than one in five (22%) described it as poor or very poor.
A third (32%) said their onboarding experience made them more likely to stay with their employer, while 22% said it made them more likely to leave.
Andrew adds, “Onboarding is often seen as an administrative process focused on policies, systems and compliance. In reality, it is one of the most important stages of the employee experience.
“The first few months in a role shape how employees feel about their manager, their team, future career opportunities and the organisation as a whole.”
Training and role clarity remain the biggest gaps:
When asked which aspects of onboarding were most lacking, 44% of professionals cited training and role clarity, making it the most commonly identified weakness. This was closely followed by manager support (37%), while 19% pointed to team integration.
Among middle managers, just over half (52%) said training and role clarity were lacking during onboarding, while 42% said communication before their start date could have been improved and 33% experienced challenges accessing the tools and systems needed to perform their role effectively.
“Many organisations continue to focus heavily on administrative onboarding tasks instead of seeing it as an opportunity to strengthen communication, development and support”, says Andrew.
What good onboarding looks like
To help organisations strengthen onboarding outcomes, Robert Walters has launched its Complete Guide to Onboarding outlining the principles that underpin successful onboarding programmes.
Jason Grundy adds, “For employers across the UAE and GCC, this guide is about giving hiring managers something practical to work from, not another policy document, but a framework they can actually apply as they build out their teams.”
Recommendations include:
- Make onboarding human by prioritising connection, belonging and trust alongside technology and process
- Focus on manager capability by equipping leaders with the tools, training and frameworks needed to support new hires effectively
- Create structured consistency through clearly defined onboarding stages, responsibilities and milestones
- Design for culture immersion by helping employees experience company culture through behaviours and leadership visibility
- Extend onboarding beyond the first week, recognising that integration and productivity develop over months rather than days
“The organisations seeing the strongest onboarding outcomes recognise that onboarding is not a one-day induction or a first-week checklist,” says Andrew. “It is a structured process that helps employees build relationships, understand expectations and develop confidence over time.
“At a time when many organisations are focused on building future talent pipelines and developing critical skills, onboarding has become a far more strategic business priority than many may realise.”
