Survey identifies top jobs that employers want to fill in MENA

By Rahul Vaimal, Associate Editor
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Work Place
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The sectors in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region that are looking to recruit the most employees in the next three months are consulting services, healthcare firms and energy companies.

The Middle East Job Index Survey 2020 compiled by Bayt.com and YouGov found that 58 percent of business/management consultancy firms are expected to recruit more employees, while 55 percent of healthcare firms and energy/ petrochemicals firms are also expected to add to their numbers.

“Faced with an unprecedented global crisis in the form of the COVID-19 pandemic, our region continues to evolve and transform affecting the most in-demand jobs and skills, as well as the factors which are crucial in attracting and retaining top talent,” Ola Haddad, director of human resources at jobs marketplace Bayt.com said.

The study surveyed about 1,055 people in countries such as the Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Jordan, Lebanon, Algeria, Egypt and Morocco. It was conducted between June 23 to August 6 and revealed the top roles employers are looking to fill.

Top roles

Sales managers (20%), accountants (19%), and marketing managers (16%) are the positions MENA employers are most keen to fill over the next three months.

In terms of seniority, most of the appointments expected by MENA companies would be for entry-level employees and junior executives (41%), followed by managers (24%) and coordinators (23%).

Qualities in demand

Willingness to be a team player and communication skills are the qualities that are highly in demand. Around 64% of those surveyed said Arabic and English language skills are highly sought after. This is followed by being a team player (44%) and being trustworthy (40%).

35%, which constitutes more than a third of employers who were surveyed said they were looking for candidates with managerial experience, while 34% were looking for candidates with marketing and sales experience and 27% were looking for those with mid-level, who has around three to seven years of experience.

Academic qualification

In terms of academic qualifications, 26 percent of employees are looking for business management holders while 22% are in the lookout for commerce degree holders and 21% of them want to hire engineers.

Bayt.com

Bayt.com was founded in 2000 and provides the most reliable and cost-effective methods in the MENA region for employers to find apt employees and for job seekers to find top jobs.

YouGov

YouGov is a UK-based, multinational online market analysis and data analytics company with operations in the Middle East, Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific.

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