According to a survey released recently by white collar recruiter Morgan McKinley, the number of professional jobs available in the UAE in Q2 2013 was 6% higher than the same period in 2012. However, the number of new professional jobseekers rose at three times this rate.
In additiona, in a research carried out alongside pollsters YouGov, in total, 65% of Saudi firms say they will definitely or probably hire more in the coming three months, compared with 63% in Qatar, 57% in UAE, 52% in both Egypt and Jordan, and 50% in Lebanon.
More employers in Saudi Arabia are likely to hire over the next quarter than in any market in the Middle East, with business management graduates a key talent need, according to regional job site Bayt.com.
Business management is one of the most desirable qualifications across the region, listed in the top three of the ‘most wanted’ list in all six markets, being requested by 34% of Saudi firms and 40% of those in Lebanon-based companies, the highest rates across the region. Engineering skills were in demand in all the markets aside from Egypt.
In all of the markets, roughly half of respondents believe that their country is more attractive than other Middle East markets. Earlier this summer the same job site found Omani professionals were the ones with the highest expectations of salary rises for 2013.
So when Channel Post MEA looked at the regional IT Channel landscape, the sentiment seemed to be almost the same. “Most organisations across the GCC are evolving and have realised the importance of hiring qualified professionals,” explains Rekha Singh Chauhan, the Vice President of HR and Administration at Spectrum Group. “This has impacted their businesses positively. In the IT Channel arena, the main roles that are in demand are IT Security Consulting, Cloud Computing, and Virtualization.”
Ms. Chauhan further goes on to say that most organisations also prefer to have in-house professionals to handle Cloud Computing services. “We have observed that organizations find it comfortable to outsource consulting roles that require considerable expertise and experience,” says Ms. Chauhan.
When she was asked whether they recruit using their personal networks (through social media platforms such as Linkedin), or through professional search, Ms. Chauhan said that it depends on the headhunter’s experience who are scouting for talent. “Most headhunters have strong professional network which makes it easy for them to spot the right professional for their assumed role play. However, when it comes to challenges of retaining staff, the biggest challenge we face is the escalating cost of living. This triggers the demand for higher salary which adds to the pressure of retaining staff on long term basis,” adds Ms. Chauhan.
According to Ms. Chauhan, staffing is still the biggest issue for Middle East headhunters. “However, in order for organisations to go about attracting and retaining the best talent to meet their operational needs, there needs to be a clarity in vision, strategy and salary package attract the best talent in the industry. It is important to identify talented professionals with the right attitude and technical skills. The right attitude is key to retain professionals,” concludes Ms. Chauhan.
