More than half (53 per cent) of employers surveyed in the GCC region predict new jobs to be created as compared to 40 per cent last year, said a new report released by Naukrigulf.com, a job site in the Middle East.

“Looks like there is a slow and steady recovery of the job market in the GCC countries. As per the naukrigulf.com hiring outlook survey 53 per cent of recruiters expect new jobs to be created in the coming months. Good to see core sectors viz. Construction, Engineering, Oil and Gas showing signs of growth. Good times ahead for jobseekers,” said V Suresh, chief sales officer Naukrigulf.com.

Hiring activity

The hiring activity is expected to rise in the Retail, Banking & Finance and hospitality sectors, said the bi-annual report titled “Hiring Outlook 2018”.

Eight per cent of the recruiters indicated positivity in the hiring market for IT and IT enabled services. Four out of 10 recruiters highlighted that hiring talent for candidates with 8-15 years of experience was the most challenging.

Attrition rate

Attrition at workplaces is universal. In GCC countries specifically, the report shows 44 per cent of employers’ predicting attrition to be stable in the coming 6 months. On the other hand, 32 per cent of the recruiters expect an increase in the rate of attrition. Three out of every 10 employers surveyed, were of the opinion that the attrition in their company was between 10 per cent - 20 per cent.

Talent crunch

Three-fourths of respondents surveyed indicated that talent crunch has intensified in 2018 as compared to 2017. Less than one-fourth of the employers of GCC region find recruiting nationals hassle free. Recruiters during the survey expressed the challenge of talent crunch when it comes to hiring other nationalities like – Arabs (24 per cent), Asians (42 per cent), and Europeans & Americans (18 per cent). – TradeArabia News Service