Dubai Was Poised to Replace Cyprus in FX Hiring, But the Island Still Leads

Despite expectations that Dubai would overtake Cyprus as the main hub for retail FX and CFD brokers, new data shows Cyprus remains the largest center for broker employment globally. According to marketing consultancy FYI, the world’s 50 largest online brokers currently advertise over 1,400 open positions, with 22.8% of vacancies located in Cyprus.

Cyprus Retains Dominance in Broker Jobs

Christian Görgen from FYI, who analyzed nearly 1,000 job descriptions, noted: “Most open positions are currently in Cyprus, followed by the UAE, Malaysia, and India.”

The data challenges the narrative that Dubai has fully supplanted Cyprus. While the UAE saw rapid broker expansion in 2025, hiring momentum appears to have slowed in early 2026, allowing Cyprus to regain prominence as a core employment hub.

“There is no longer a single dominant hub,” Görgen added. “Different regions now handle specialized functions such as strategy, operations, business development, and local market execution.”

Technology Roles Lead Demand

The analysis highlights a continued emphasis on technology infrastructure. IT positions account for 29% of all open roles, followed by Marketing, Support, Partnerships, and Sales. High-demand technical skills include Python, Excel, SQL, AWS, Git, Docker, and Kubernetes, while Trading platforms like MetaTrader 4 and 5 also appear frequently.

Despite hype around artificial intelligence, only 56 job descriptions mention AI skills, indicating that AI adoption remains limited in broker operations.

Shifts in Remote and Hybrid Work

Fully remote positions are rare, representing just 12.3% of vacancies. Hybrid roles account for 23%, while 12.7% specify on-site work. Most postings (over 50%) do not disclose work location, signaling a partial retreat from pandemic-era remote policies.

“Remote roles are mostly offered when specific language expertise is required,” Görgen explained, “while the industry increasingly emphasizes in-office presence for core operations.”

Firms Leading Hiring Efforts

Interactive Brokers tops the list with roughly 100 vacancies, closely followed by HFM and XM. Other active recruiters include Capital.com, Swissquote, JustMarkets, CMC Markets, Vantage, and IG.

HFM and JustMarkets are aggressively expanding outside Europe, particularly in Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, South Africa, and Kenya, although LinkedIn data shows rapid scaling has led to low median employee tenure, just 1.1 years at JustMarkets.

Compensation and Benefits Trends

Salary transparency remains limited, with only 21 of 916 postings including ranges. Cyprus-based compliance and legal heads earn six-figure salaries up to €150,000, while Dubai FX sales heads can command nearly double.

Common benefits include medical insurance, performance bonuses, competitive salaries, paid time off, and education budgets, though perks like company cars and gyms are now rare exceptions.

Related read: For a closer look at how Dubai and Cyprus compare as hubs for FX brokers, see Fortrade Secures Dubai License, Adds to UK, Europe, Canada and Australia Regulatory Roster.