UAE, KSA lead region in online recruitment

The UAE and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are showing a consistent increase in online hiring activity in the region, according to the latest Monster employment index. The November report of Monster shows that positive hiring trends in sectors like healthcare, education and banking & finance is keeping the momentum on.

The UAE saw an annual growth of 7 per cent in November. The country noted sequential gains for a second consecutive month. Education tops annual growth for sectors and healthcare lead all occupations in annual online recruitment gains in the country.

Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, registered a 52 per cent year-on-year growth. Advertising, market Research, public relations, media and entertainment continued to lead all sectors in annual growth followed by retail/trade and logistics. Marketing & communications/arts/creative professionals recorded the most notable year-over-year gain, as per the figures released by Monster.

Kuwait was up 4 per cent. The country recorded the most notable growth in online recruitment activity between October’11 and November’11. However, Bahrain and Qatar (down 8 per cent) recorded the most dramatic annual decline among countries.

Elaborating on the industry year-over-year trends, the index highlights 9 of the 12 industry sectors monitored saw improved recruitment levels when compared to November’10.

Healthcare (up 43 per cent) led all industry sectors in terms of annual growth, while education (up 40 per cent) was at the second position. Oil & gas (down 4 per cent) saw online opportunities slip below their year-ago levels, whereas, chemicals/ plastic/ rubber, paints, fertilizer/ pesticides (down 18 per cent) registered the most notable year-over-year drop among sectors in November. Hospitality (down 10 per cent) is the only sector to record negative month-on-month growth.

On the occupation front, online demand expanded in nine of the 11 occupation groups between November’10 and November’11. Demand for healthcare (up 29 per cent) professionals escalated aligning with growth observed in the sector.

The group recorded the most notable longer-term growth among all occupational categories.  Online demand for finance and account (up 13 per cent) professionals rebounded. Software, hardware, Telecom professional recorded the steepest month-on-month gain among occupation groups; up 12 percent. The longer-term trend pointed to stability, improving on October’s slightly negative trajectory. Sales and BD (up 26 per cent) saw online demand contract month-on- month in November; down from 130 in October to 126 in November. This is the first month-on-month drop of the series since July. Hospitality and travel (down 1 per cent) notched further gains on the month, but overall sector recruitment stood 1 percent lower than a year ago. This is the only group to chart an annual decline in the November Index, said Monster.

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