67 per cent of UAE employers plan to hire in the next three months

The Middle East Job Index survey, compiled by Bayt.com and YouGov, has revealed that 65 per cent of those in the GCC are planning to hire in the next three months, especially in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

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More than two thirds of UAE employers (67 per cent) are intending to hire, according to the survey. Private sector companies have the highest intention of hiring, with 70 per cent of multinational companies, 69 per cent of large local companies and 63 per cent of small or medium-sized local companies, 'definitely' or 'probably' hiring.

When it comes to hiring by industry in the MENA region over the next three months, organizations in the banking/finance industry present the highest intention to hire (74%), followed by the hospitality/recreation/entertainment (73%) and the telecommunications industry (71%). On the other hand, government/civil service have the lowest intention to hire in the same period (58%).

Looking to the future, more than eight in 10 working respondents in the UAE (82%) claim that they intend to hire in a year's time. Echoing the short term, private sector companies continue to have the highest hiring intentions in the long term with 77% of multinational and large local companies, respectively, and 74% of small or medium local companies, 'definitely hiring' or 'probably hiring'.

Among UAE companies that plan to hire in the next three months, 62% indicate that they will be hiring for a maximum 10 jobs. Overall, GCC companies (87%) seem to be hiring for more jobs compared to the Levant (77%) and North Africa (82%). A majority of UAE companies hiring in the next three months are looking to fill entry-level (35%) and mid-career (13%) positions with no managerial responsibilities.

Qualifications, skills and experience employers are after

Graduate/post graduate degrees in business management (36%), followed by engineering (29%), are the most sought-after academic qualifications in the UAE. Employers in the UAE are also looking for employees with good communications skills in both English and Arabic (59%), as well as candidates with good teamwork (49%) and leadership (46%) skills.

In terms of experience, almost half of UAE respondents state that they are looking for candidates with good administrative skills, while 38% are searching for those with sound managerial skills. Meanwhile, a third is looking for candidates with sales and marketing skills.

Attractiveness of job market and industry

In the UAE, 61% of respondents believe that their country of residence is more attractive as a job market than any other country in the region, 12%, however, believe the opposite to be true. When it comes to the attractiveness of their industry as a potential employer, 49% of UAE respondents believe that theirs is more attractive than other industries in the region.

Human resources (34%) and hospitality/recreation/entertainment (31%) emerged as the industries that attract top talent in the UAE. Real estate/construction/property development (29%), banking/finance (27%), advertising/marketing/public relations (26%) and healthcare/medical services (26%) are also popular industries.

"The Middle East's hiring outlook is looking quite positive, with 64% of employed respondents planning to hire in the next three months; 40% of whom will be hiring for up to five jobs. At Bayt.com, there are currently more than 10,000 jobs posted on the website on any given day, giving job seekers the opportunity to find jobs in their industry, career and country of choice," said Suhail Masri, VP of Employer Solutions, Bayt.com.

"In parallel, organizations looking to hire can make use of the tremendous amount of recruitment that takes place via the Bayt.com CV Search functionality to meet their pressing hiring needs and fill their job vacancies quickly and efficiently," he added. "Recruiters and managers who are looking to hire new talents can try the Bayt.com CV Search functionality for free at www.bayt.com/en/search-cv/," Masri concluded.

Almost seven in 10 respondents from the UAE are employed in the private sector, a quarter work for a multinational company, while 7% work for the public or government sector, and 11% are unemployed.

"The increase in the hiring expectancy throughout the MENA region is a positive reflection on the economy as a whole. By gauging the perceptions when it comes to the MENA's job market, we can deduce that the private sector is expected to offer the most employment options in the next few months and be the driving force of job growth in the region. It is also interesting to note that employers place the greatest emphasis on language skills, particularly English and Arabic." said Joao Neves, Senior Research Director, YouGov.

Data for the Bayt.com Middle East Job Index survey was collected online between June 15th, 2016 and August 16th, 2016, with a total of 2,001 online interviews conducted with respondents from the following countries: UAE, KSA, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, and Pakistan.