The latest Middle East Job Index Survey, conducted by the Middle East’s leading job site, Bayt.com, and research and consulting firm, YouGov, has revealed that61% of working respondents in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) expect their employers to be hiring in the next three months;40% of them saying they will be ‘definitely’ hiring. Majority of KSA respondents said that, in the next three months, they will be mostly hiring accountants (16%), electrical engineers (13%) and project managers (12%).
Hiring expectations in KSA
According to working respondents in KSA,40% are ‘definitely hiring’ and21% are ‘probably hiring’ in the next three months, while just6% said that they are ‘definitely not hiring’ in the same time period. Focusing on future expectations,65% of working respondents in KSA state that their company will be hiring in a years’ time, with33% ‘definitely hiring’ and32% ‘probably hiring’. On the other hand,5% are ‘definitely not hiring’ and26% ‘don’t know/can’t tell’ their intentions for recruitment in the coming year.
Among those hiring in the next three months in KSA, almost4 in10 (38%) will open positions to fill a maximum of five job roles; a fifth (21%) will be hiring for6-10 jobs.41% will be looking to hire ‘mid-career candidates with no managerial responsibilities’;60% will be looking for ‘team leaders/supervisors’; while22% will be looking for ‘entry-level candidates with no managerial responsibilities’.
More than half of the working respondents in KSA (55%) claim that, over the last three months, their company has hired new employees;13% say that they had new hires in the last six months.
Roles and experience employers are looking for
KSA companies are looking for candidates with managerial experience (32%), followed by computer skills (26%) and experience in sales and marketing (25%).
Desired skills and qualifications
Good communication skills in English and Arabic is the most desired skill by seven in10 companies in KSA. Leadership skills, negotiation skills and teamwork are also highly valued for47%,44% and43% of working respondents, respectively. The ability to work under pressure falls closely at42%.
As for the most sought-after educational qualifications, graduate/postgraduate degrees in Engineering (30%), Business Management (23%) and Commerce (19%) emerge as the most desired academic qualifications when looking for candidates in KSA.
Industries attracting top talent in KSA
Respondents living in KSA claim that ‘construction’ (36%) is the industry that attract and retain the best talents.
On another note, close to a quarter (24%) believe that their industry is equally attractive as a potential employer when compared to other industries;40% consider it to be ‘much more’ attractive. On a national level,45% of KSA respondents consider their country of residence to have a much more attractive job market when compared to other countries in the MENA region.
“At Bayt.com there are currently more than10,000 jobs posted on the website on any given day. This augments the tremendous amount of recruitment that takes place via the Bayt.com CV Search functionality for employers who prefer not to immediately advertise their pressing job vacancies, which recruiters can try for free on https://www.bayt.com/en/search-cv/. Jobseeker registration on our website is growing at over12,000 new professionals a day and continues to reflect a healthy appetite for jobs across the industrial and career spectrum,” said Suhail Masri, VP of Employer Solutions, Bayt.com.
He continued, “Of particular note has been the uptake of corporate consumption of our proprietary branded career channel platform, Talentera, which empowers corporates big and small to seamlessly integrate and comprehensively manage, monitor and measure their entire recruitment function in-house using the award-winning technology Bayt.com has pioneered.”
“It is interesting to see the most popular job roles in KSA have changed since our last survey in July, indicating the fluidity of the KSA market when it comes to employment options,” said Elissavet Vraka, Research Manager, YouGov.
More than two thirds of KSA respondents work in the private sector (67%), with27% of them said they work in a multinational company, and20% in a small or medium-sized local company.16% of the respondents are currently not working.
28% of private sector employees in KSA said they work in a multinational company;24% work in a large local company.10% of KSA respondents are currently not working.
26% of working respondents claimed to be ‘junior managers/team leaders’;22% said they were ‘directors or senior managers’; and19% said they were ‘middle managers’. Of the KSA respondents surveyed,28% work in the construction industry.
Data for the Bayt.com Middle East Job Index Survey was collected online between December8,2015 and January21,2016, with a total of1,232 online interviews conducted with respondents from the UAE, KSA, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia and Pakistan.