The live events industry can be volatile at the best of times, with any number of factors – from crew shortages and supply chain issues to geopolitical unrest and extreme weather – all having the potential to throw the sector into disarray at a moment’s notice. This volatility has been put into stark relief for those in the Middle East over the past few months since the onset of the Iran conflict, which has led to the widespread postponement or cancellation of events throughout the region – including our very own TPiMEA Awards, which will now take place on 10 September – in turn causing knock-on effects for all those who live and work within it.
Just as the conflict provoked a wide spectrum of reactions from the general public, there have also been a variety of responses from the region’s live events industry, with businesses forced to adapt rapidly to the shifting market conditions. This has led to some undoubtedly tough decisions. Measures such as delays on planned investments, hiring freezes, staff restructuring and redundancies are an unwanted reminder of the dark days of COVID that everyone would rather forget. However, unlike the universal suffering brought about by the COVID years, this current crisis is much more regionalised, with the rest of the world continuing to go about their business largely unaffected by the situation in the Middle East.
With many in the region suddenly finding themselves with open calendars, there are plenty of opinions and anecdotal insights available but beyond that, it’s not easy to gauge the true market sentiment. With this in mind, events recruitment specialist ESMOS Recruitment recently produced a study (available to download free on www.esmosrecruitment.com) into how the industry is dealing with the conflict, bringing together responses from employers and employees across the region to “provide a balanced, impartial snapshot of current sentiment”.
According to the company’s Managing Director, Mark Benaicha, the purpose of the report is simple: “To offer a clear, honest reflection of the market today, helping businesses and professionals make informed decisions in the months ahead.”
Unsurprisingly, the findings of the report indicated a market under pressure, with 100% of employers reporting a loss of 2026 revenue, almost 60% of which describing that revenue loss as “significant” or “critical”. In response, 82% of businesses acknowledged a stop on freelance or contract usage, with almost 65% implementing a hiring freeze and over 40% of having made redundancies.
In terms of project timelines, companies reported that 76.5% of all events had been postponed or cancelled, with almost 60% being pushed back to Q4 – potentially creating a severely back-loaded market.
“What stood out most was the consistency in sentiment across both employers and employees,” Benaicha stated, discussing the findings with TPiMEA. “There’s a clear acknowledgement of pressure, whether that’s revenue, job security, or operational challenges, but alongside that, there’s also a strong sense of resilience. Employers have put a real emphasis on employee retention and have gone above and beyond to protect their staff wherever possible. The downside to this is that freelancers have felt the biggest negative impact with no support network behind them.”
One area that did stand out was the disconnect in communication. “In several cases, employers felt they were being transparent, while employees felt a lack of clarity. That gap is something that will need to be addressed as the market stabilises. Employees will all be taking notes about how things have been handled during this period and will recreate their lists of desired future employers.”
For ESMOS Recruitment, while the shift in hiring activity has had an effect on the business, the fact that the company is fully focused on permanent recruitment within the events industry rather than staffing or temporary solutions has brought stability. “We also work with a number of organisers and businesses with international portfolios, which has helped balance regional fluctuations – while some areas slowed, others continued to hire,” Benaicha explained. “More importantly, it’s allowed us to play a key role in supporting people on the ground. We’ve been able to move event professionals affected by redundancies or disruption into new opportunities relatively quickly, which has been a real priority for us during this period.”
Benaicha closed with a message of positivity for the industry: “This industry has always been resilient and we’re already seeing signs of that again,” he commented. “While there’s been disruption, there’s still strong underlying demand, particularly from businesses with diversified, international event portfolios. Activity hasn’t stopped; it’s just shifted with a focal point of Q4 as the potential go to quarter.
“There’s also been a real sense of the industry pulling together. Businesses are adapting, people are supporting each other, and there’s a shared understanding of the challenges being faced,” he added. “As large-scale events begin to return, the focus will naturally shift back to growth starting locally, regionally then globally. The businesses that have stayed close to their people and remained agile will be in the strongest position to capitalise. The foundations of the industry are still very much intact, and that’s something to be confident about.”
