Positive hiring outlook across Mena

More than half the companies in the Middle East and North Africa are considering hiring in the next three months, according to the most recent Bayt.com Job Index survey.

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More than half of the companies in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) are considering hiring in the next three months, the most recent Bayt.com Job Index survey shows.

In the UAE, 57 per cent of companies said they would “ definitely” or “probably” hire within this time frame, according to the poll, conducted by the jobs website Bayt.com and the research firm YouGov. Of those, 69 per cent said they aimed to fill as many as 10 jobs each.

The more desirable qualifications for job candidates in the UAE are those in engineering (27 per cent), business management (24 per cent) and commerce (23 per cent).

Employers preferred candidates with good communication skills in both English and Arabic (51 per cent), with leadership skills (49 per cent) and who were “team players” (45 per cent). Those with experience in sales and marketing (32 per cent) and with computer skills (30 per cent) were also in demand.

More than half of UAE respondents (54 per cent) believed that the country was much more attractive as a job market than others in the Middle East. The most attractive industries in the UAE were perceived to be banking and finance (34 per cent), construction (33 per cent) and oil, gas and petrochemicals (33 per cent).

Across the region, 30 per cent of companies said they were “definitely” hiring, with an additional 25 per cent “probably hiring” in the next three months. The country with the highest hiring expectancy in that time was Saudi Arabia, with 41 per cent of companies “definitely” and 24 per cent “probably” hiring.

The Mena country with the lowest hiring expectancy was Morocco, with only 17 per cent of companies “definitely” hiring, and 21 per cent “probably” hiring.

The majority of jobs across the region will come from the private sector. A total of 3,430 respondents participated in the poll which was conducted between June 12 and July 25.