In an effort to measure hiring potential across the Middle East and North Africa, Bayt.com - the Middle East’s #1 Job Site – and YouGov – global online market research company – conducted the latest Middle East Job Index Survey. Results from the survey have revealed that, in the GCC, almost two out of three (64%) employers plan to hire within the next year. Even more in Qatar specifically, nearly seven out of ten (69%) employers are planning to hire within the next year.
Hiring in the Next Three and12 Months
Within the next three months, almost half (48%) of all GCC employers are planning to hire. In Qatar, more than four in10 employers (44%) said that they are “definitely” or “probably” going to hire.
Among companies in Qatar that plan to hire within the next three months, almost half (48%) are going to hire for a “Junior Executive”, followed by31% who intend to hire a “Coordinator”, and29% who intend to hire a “Senior Executive”. When it comes to specific roles,26% of employers in Qatar said they are looking to hire an “Engineer”, while24% said that they want to hire a “Project Manager.”
Certain sectors will be hiring more than others over the next three months. More than half (53%) of the private sector – small/medium local companies, as well as other private sector companies intend to hire, followed by private sector – large local companies (51%) and private sector – multinational companies (49%).
In terms of future hiring expectations, even more companies in Qatar (69%) are planning to hire. Private sector – multinational companies have the highest hiring intentions in a year’s time (67%) within the MENA region.
Among employers who were surveyed,73% claim that their company has hired new employees in the past12 months. In fact,51% of employers claim that new hires at their companies were made within the past three months.
“In the Qatar, the hiring forecast shows a continuation of a strong job market, with nearly seven in10 employers planning to hire within the next year and more than four in10 planning to hire within three months,” said Suhail Masri, VP of Employer Solutions, Bayt.com. “We have also seen that over half (54%) of those planning to hire in Qatar within three months are looking to hire for more than five job roles. At Bayt.com, these findings come as no surprise to us: there are more than10,000 jobs posted on Bayt.com on any given day and thousands of additional vacancies are filled through our CV Search tool. Our mission is to continue working very closely with the region’s employers to help them find talent. We are also always enhancing and developing our tools and information that empower and support job seekers on their journey to finding the ideal jobs.”
Qualifications and Skills in Demand
When it comes to academic qualifications in demand, close to half of employers in Qatar are looking for Engineering Graduation/Post Graduation (45%), followed by Business Management Graduation/Post Graduation (23%).
In terms of skills in high demand, more than six in10 employers in Qatar (61%) are looking for candidates who are “team players/ cooperative/ helpful /flexible”, followed by those with “good communication skills – Arabic and English” (60%), and those with “good leadership skills” (47%).
When employers in Qatar look for experience,45% of employers said that they look for candidates with good “managerial” experience – “ability to manage a team”,40% of employers look for “mid-level experience” (3 to7 years), and another38% are looking for candidates with “senior level experience” (7 to10 years).
Masri adds: “We encourage companies and organizations to use Bayt.com features, including our CV Search and Job Postings, when looking to hire new employees. Our tools and database of nearly30 million CVs can help employers meet their hiring needs and ensure that they fill their vacancies as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible.”
Attractiveness of job market and industry
The majority of respondents in Qatar (67%) feel that their country of residence is “more attractive” than other MENA countries as a job market. Further,60% of respondents also said that their industry is “more attractive” as a potential employer in comparison to other industries.
The industries emerging as the ones attracting/retaining top talent in Qatar include Engineering/Design (46%), Real Estate/ Construction / Property Development (45%) and Banking/Finance (22%).When it came to industries attracting/retaining top Graduate talent in Qatar43% of respondents said Engineering/Design, while32% said Healthcare/Medical Services and29% said Banking/Finance.
When it came to industries attracting/retaining the top National talent, a similar trend was highlighted:36% said Engineering/Design,33% said Real Estate / Construction / Property Development, and26% said Healthcare/Medical Services. In addition, the majority of respondents said that industries attracting/retaining female talent are Banking/Finance (42%) and Advertising/Marketing/Public Relations (39%).
“Hiring expectancy is one of the most important areas to study in the MENA region as it can serve as a reflection on the state of the economy and general job availability,” said Anjali Chhabra, Senior Research Manager, YouGov. “ In addition to finding out the region’s hiring potential when looking at the job market, it is important to have insights on which skills, experience levels and academic qualifications are currently in high demand. With this information, job seekers can more strategically plan their efforts and search activities.”
Data for the Bayt.com Middle East Job Index survey was collected online between May19th and July19th,2017. Results are based on a sample of1,474 respondents from the following countries: UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.