The latest Middle East and North Africa Job Index survey conducted by Bayt.com, the Middle East’s number one jobsite, and YouGov, a research and consulting organisation, has shown that in the next3 months,30% of Middle East and North Africa (MENA) employers are ‘definitely hiring’, with an additional27% stating that they are ‘probably hiring’ – an increase of2% in both instances in comparison to results gathered in Q32012.
Jordan
In Jordan,24% of the companies are ‘definitely hiring’ in the next three months, with35% stating that they are ‘probably’ hiring. In a year’s time,72% of companies are expecting to hire new employees.
“The clear improvement in the number of jobs to be available in the coming12 months is a positive sign for Jordan’s economy. We have seen a regional increase in terms of the numbers of employment opportunities, and this is a good indicator of the region’s growth and development,” said Suhail Masri, VP of Sales, Bayt.com. “At Bayt.com, we specialise in gathering the information that matters most to employers and employees across the region as we aim to empower jobseekers and employers alike by giving them the tools to find their dream job and top talent respectively.”
The majority of companies in Jordan (77%) are expecting to hire up to10 employees in the coming three months –8% higher than the regional prospects of69%. Employers in Jordan consider an educational background in administration to be most important for new hires, followed by computer science and business management. They also consider good communication skills to be most important when seeking a new hire, followed by the ability to be a cooperative, helpful and flexible team player, and overall personality and demeanour. Companies will look to hire candidates who have experience in team management, computer skills, and sales and marketing.
Respondents believe that the industries that attract and retain the top talent in Jordan are banking and finance, telecommunications and consumer goods.
Across the MENA
Across the region, multinational private sector companies will be hiring the highest number of new employees in the next three months, and will continue to be the biggest source of employment in a year’s time. Within the next three months, they are looking to hire predominantly at junior executive level, followed by executives and coordinators.
“A high number of lower-tier jobs is good news for new graduates. This provides a more open field at entry-level, which will give first-time jobseekers more opportunities to find employment in the industries that they wish,” said Sundip Chahal, CEO, YouGov.
Regionally, the most desirable qualifications for candidates are in business management, commerce,engineering, and computer science.Good communication skills in English and Arabic are most desirable by employers, though being a cooperative, helpful and flexible team player is also considered highly. In terms of experience, most highly regarded is the ability to manage a team, followed by computer skills, and sales and marketing.
Four out of10 respondents (38%) state that their current country of residence is more attractive than others in the Middle East, with the UAE topping the list of the most attractive countries in the region, followed by Qatar and KSA.
Similarly,43% believe that the industry they are currently working in is more attractive as a potential employer, in comparison to others. Banking and finance, and telecommunications (33% each) are considered to be the industries that are attracting and retaining the top talent in the respondents’ countries, followed by construction (32%) and oil, gas and petrochemicals (27%).
Data for the Bayt.com Job Index January2013 survey was collected online from December21st,2012 to January31st,2013. Results are reported on a base of4,349 respondents. Countries that participated are UAE, KSA, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Pakistan.