Nearly nine in 10 recruiters in the UAE said in a survey said that the hiring process in the future will be fully online, significantly faster, and more reliant on artificial intelligence, automation, and people analytics.

Seven in 10 recruiters in the UAE said that the hiring process is going to change in the future, according to new research titled “Future of Work in the Mena 2019” by leading job site Bayt.com and market research firm YouGov.

At the same time, nine in 10 UAE respondents feel either “confident” about the future of work and believe they will be successful or they feel “excited” and see a world full of possibilities.

"We're really excited about this survey and its exciting results on current and future employment,” said Omar Tahboub, general manager, Bayt.com.

“Bayt.com was started in the year 2000 at a time when there was a very limited number of people with access to the Internet in the Arab world. Today, we are at the forefront of innovation in technology, having won many awards. In the past two decades, we've helped millions of people find jobs and we look forward to helping millions more in the future. We're really excited to see what the future of work will bring. We have so many plans to bring together technology, AI, and people to drive experiences and intelligence in the hiring process. "

The future of skills and qualifications

Soft skills such as time management (96 per cent), teamwork (96 per cent) and communication (97 per cent) are considered the most important today, more than half of the respondents (55 per cent) to a the survey believe that both technical and soft skills will be equally important 10 years from now.

On the other hand, two in five respondents (37 per cent) believe that technical skills will become more important.

Organizations in the UAE are focusing on strategically recruiting and retaining for a skilled workforce. According to respondents, creative thinking (93 per cent), computer skills (93 per cent) and communication (91 per cent) will be the top skills for jobseekers in the next 10 years –followed by job-specific skills (89 per cent), time management (88 per cent), teamwork (88 per cent), people management (83 per cent) and adaptability (84 per cent).

From a hiring perspective, previous job experience (89 per cent) and CV presentation (84 per cent) are considered as the most important factors in finding qualified people. Degree specialization, diversity and cultural fit also play a major role in hiring decisions.

Ten years from now, respondents say that previous job experience (85 per cent) will continue to be the topmost factor influencing hiring, followed closely by specialization of the candidate (80 per cent) and CV presentation (80 per cent).

The future of job roles

Organizations of the future will increasingly use technology to create extraordinary products, services, and experiences that were previously impossible. As technology is augmenting and enhancing jobs in the UAE, about 81 per cent of the respondents believe that the demand of software engineers is likely to increase over the next 10 years along with demand for directors, project managers, system administrators and designers.

Employers in the UAE could grow and broaden employee’s skills, not just through formal learning but by being exposed to a myriad of new jobs and roles inside the company to increase their engagement levels while stemming job hopping. When it came to getting transferred to another job or department when the demand for a current job role decreases, respondents were split on how easy or difficult that task is.

Tahboub added: “Company management must take a leadership role in understanding the future of work and how to create a culture which is both personalized and embraces career mobility and provides easy access to on-demand learning.”

The future of recruitment

Interestingly, a whopping 96 per cent of UAE recruiters agree that online job sites and professional platforms will dominate and be the most popular recruiting tools within 10 years.

The pace of change is only expected to accelerate further – seven in ten recruiters in the UAE believe that the hiring process is likely to change in the next 10 years. 84 per cent of UAE respondents agree that managing the employer’s brand and reputation will be critical for attracting talent.

Compared to traditional methods, UAE recruiters have huge hopes for AI and technology in the hiring process. 86 per cent of recruiters agree that response time to applicants is likely to increase using Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS). 84 per cent of recruiters also suggest that the future of hiring will rely more on automation, Artificial Intelligence, and analytics.

“What’s most amazing is that the future is already here. Even today, thousands of organizations in the Mena use Bayt.com’s ATS solution Talentera, streamlining their recruitment process from A-to-Z,” Tahboub said. “We are also heavily working on AI-powered interview tech of the future, where our Evalufy product helps hiring managers assess the sentiment of candidates using AI.”

On the jobseeker’s end, considering an increased need for reliable information from the frontlines of change – more than half the respondents believe that online job boards and career websites (55 per cent) and social and professional networks (53 per cent) will be the most reliable job seeking sources in the future. Interestingly, only about one third of the respondents (32 per cent) consider company website to be more reliable in the future.

Kerry Mclaren at YouGov said: “Throughout the Mena region, organizations share common challenges in terms of managing the hiring process within the evolving work landscape. A particular focus of our new survey with Bayt.com is on arriving at a better understanding of the potential of new technologies, methods and skills that will vastly improve the job quality and productivity of professionals in the future. The findings will be extremely useful to businesses, individuals, and governments alike.” – TradeArabia News Service