Kuwait City, Kuwait,19 February2018: The latest installation of the bi-annual Bayt.com Middle East Job Index Survey reveals a positive outlook for the job market in Kuwait. The survey found that a large majority (92%) of Kuwait companies intend to hire new people in the next year, with more than four in five (82%) saying they will be hiring in the next three months. What’s more, nearly three quarters (74%) of working respondents in Kuwait claim that their company has hired new employees in the last12 months. The Bayt.com Job Index, released bi-annually and conducted by Bayt.com, the Middle East’s #1 job site, and global online market research company, YouGov, is an in-depth study that tracks job availability and hiring trends in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) market and provides an understanding of the required skills and qualifications in the region. Jobs in the Next Three Months For Kuwait companies looking to hire in the next three months, seven in ten (70%) say they will be hiring for ‘up to20 jobs’, while20% say they will be hiring for more than20 jobs, and the remainder are unsure how many jobs they will be hiring for in the short term. In Kuwait, the greatest demand in the coming three months will be for ‘junior executives’ (51%), ‘executives’ (30%), ‘coordinators’ (28%), ‘managers’ (23%), and ‘senior executives’ (21%). Regarding the specific roles Kuwait companies are looking to fill in the next three months, the most common positions are ‘project manager’ (18%), ‘accountant’ (16%), ‘mechanical engineer’ (15%), and ‘customer service representative’ (15%). Across the region, ‘small/medium local companies’ in the private sector took the leading spot in terms of hiring potential, where76% of them said they will be hiring. Meanwhile, industries that are most likely to hire are: ‘Consumer Goods/FMCG’ (81% are planning to hire), ‘Real Estate/Construction/Property Development’ (80%), and ‘Hospitality/Recreation/Entertainment’ (78%). Jobs in the Next12 Months Regionally, ‘small/ medium local companies’ as well as ‘multinational companies’ seem to have the highest hiring potential in the long term, where89% of them said they will be hiring in the next year. In regard to specific industries that have the strongest hiring plans for the next12 months, ‘Business Consultancy/ Business Management’ (97% are planning to hire), ‘Consumer Goods/ FMCG’ (95% are planning to hire), ‘Hospitality/ Recreation/ Entertainment’ (94% are planning to hire), ‘Banking/ Finance’ (93% are planning to hire), and ‘Commerce/ Retail/ Trade’ (92% are planning to hire) were the top five. What’s in Demand: Skills, Job Roles, and Academic Qualifications In terms of candidates’ skills that are in demand this year, communication was key for companies across the region. In Kuwait, good ‘communication skills in Arabic and English’ emerged as a top skill to look for in a candidate for79% of employers, with51% saying being a ‘team player/cooperative/helpful/flexible’ is a top skill. These were followed by ‘ability to work under pressure’ (45%), ‘ability to take on new challenges’ (41%), a ‘desire to make a difference’ (40%), and ‘good leadership skills’ (40%). Regarding educational and academic qualifications, ‘business management’ (36%) emerged as the most sought-after qualification, followed by ‘engineering (23%), ‘commerce’ (16%), ‘administrative qualifications’ (16%), and ‘computer science qualifications’ (15%). For employers looking to hire in Kuwait, nearly three in ten (29%) say they are looking for ‘sales and marketing’ experience, with just over a quarter (27%) seeking ‘managerial’ experience and another quarter (25%) seeking ‘mid-level experience between3 and7 years’. Meanwhile, just over a fifth (21%) are looking for candidates with ‘IT/computer’ experience, another fifth (21%) are looking for candidates with ‘junior level experience of less than three years’, and yet another fifth (21%) are looking for candidates with ‘senior level experience between7 and10 years’. “Perceptions of the job market in the Middle East and North Africa are more positive for2018, with employers predicting improvements in hiring potential in the immediate future,” said Suhail Masri, VP of Employer Solutions, Bayt.com. “At Bayt.com, we are really excited to work with tens of thousands of employers to help them recruit their top talent of choice. We are constantly improving our recruitment tools and getting feedback from clients to make it easier than ever before to hire for the skills they need. In fact, we just launched the Bayt.com Small Business Plan, which provides our recruitment suite to employers with budget constraints. Now, and as we look at the survey findings, we are delighted to see these hiring trends moving in an upward direction and we are looking forward to work with even more companies, organizations, and governments to facilitate hiring activities in the short as well as the long term.” “The Middle East Job Index is critical in understanding the region’s hiring climate and job market. The entire region has seen an upward trend, and in Kuwait, the same positive growth is reflected. It is also worth noting that with so many local SME’s planning to hire this year, growth of this vital sector seems to be a priority in2018,” said Nehal Jibouri, Head of Custom Research, YouGov. Data for the February2018 Middle East Job Index Survey was collected online from5th December2017 to28th January2018. Results are based on a sample of1,883 respondents,1,641 of whom were of working status, from the following countries: UAE, KSA, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Palestine, Syria, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Sudan, and Pakistan.