THE TALENT GAP REPORTRevealing the differences between what employers

want and what professionals are looking for in the UAE, KSA and Qatar

Recruiting Landscape

The Labor Market & Nationalization

Skills Analysis

LinkedIn’s Recommendation

What we will cover today

About the study

WHY?

U.S. Skills Gap

8MUnemployed

4MOpen High-Skill Jobs

Youth unemployment: 337M

0

20

40

60

80

100

South Asia Latin America

OECD Middle East & north Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa

East Asia & Pacific

Inactive

Unemployed

Europe & Central Asia

Source: OECD; World Bank; The Economist

% of total youthpopulation

31.1%

18.4%

21.6%

40.6%

15.2%

23.2%

24.4%

How can we bridge the gap?

About the survey

300 talent acquisition

leaders

1,500 professionals

PROFILE OF THE PROFESSIONALS WE SURVEYED

Arab Expat

Non-Arab expat

Citizen

33

29

38

48

17

35

44

15

41

Qatar KSA UAE

Unemployed

Currently working but looking for a new opportunity (active candidates)

Currently working and happy at their role but open to new opportunities

(passive candidates)

Currently working and not looking for new opportunities

29

25

25

21

14

17

32

37

13

20

32

31

Qatar KSA UAE

NATIONALITY (%) CURRENT EMPLOYMENT STATUS (%)

Base: UAE (n=500), KSA (n=500), Qatar (n=500)

AGE (%)

18-24 25-34 35-44 45+

22

55

17

5

16

52

22

9

18

52

20

10

UAE KSA Qatar

PROFILE OF THE TALENT ACQUISITION LEADERS WE SURVEYED

INDUSTRY REPRESENTATION (%) COMPANY SIZE (%)

FMCG

Phar

mac

eutic

als

Bank

ing

Educ

ation

Insu

ranc

e

Oil & G

as

Real E

stat

e

Tour

ism

Mar

ketin

g

Auto

mot

ive

Cons

truc

tion IT

Trad

ing

Reta

il

1

4

5 5 5 5 5

8

9

10 10 10

11

15

5

4

6

5 5

8

6

5

1010

9 9

3

7

3

6

5

3

5

2

5

6

12

10

11

10 10

11

UAE KSA Qatar

500+

101-500

1-100

32

38

30

31

40

28

30

41

22

Qatar KSA UAE

Base: UAE (n=103), KSA (n=100), Qatar (n=100)

UAE EMPLOYERS MAINLY USE RECRUITMENT AGENCIES TO ADVERTISE THEIR OPENINGS

Recruitment Agency

Company Website

Word of Mouth

70

65

44

Most Used Recruitment Platform (%)

Spread the word among my friends and acquaintances

Search the newspapers/magazines for suitable job vacancies

Submit my CV/Resume to a recruitment agency

Search the internet for suitable job vacancies

Post my CV/Resume on an online recruitment site (e.g. Bayt, MonsterGulf, etc.)

Send my CV/Resume to potential employers where I would like to work

Update/Share my profile on a professional social network (e.g. LinkedIn)

7

7

10

15

17

15

28

ACTIONS TAKEN BY PROFESSIONALS (%)

VS.

COMPANIES IN SAUDI ARE SLOWLY MOVING TOWARDS ONLINE RECRUITING BUT SOCIAL NETWORKS ARE YET TO BE TAPPED

Company's Website

Newspapers/Magazines

Online Career Website

68

62

53

Most Used Recruitment Platforms (%)

Search the newspapers/magazines for suitable job vacancies

Spread the word among my friends and acquaintances

Submit my CV/Resume to a recruitment agency

Send my CV/Resume to potential employers where I would like to work

Search the internet for suitable job vacancies

Post my CV/Resume on an online recruitment site (e.g. Bayt, MonsterGulf, etc.)

Update/Share my profile on a professional social network (e.g. LinkedIn)

6

10

10

14

16

18

25

ACTIONS TAKEN BY PROFESSIONALS (%)

VS.

EMPLOYERS IN QATAR MAINLY USE THEIR COMPANY WEBSITE FOR RECRUITING

Company's Website

Newspapers/Magazines

Online Career Website

75

66

53

Most Used Recruitment Platforms (%)

Spread the word among my friends and acquaintances

Search the newspapers/magazines for suitable job vacancies

Search the internet for suitable job vacancies

Submit my CV/Resume to a recruitment agency

Post my CV/Resume on an online recruitment site (e.g. Bayt, MonsterGulf, etc.)

Send my CV/Resume to potential employers where I would like to work

Update/Share my profile on a professional social network (e.g. LinkedIn)

6

9

11

12

15

16

31

ACTIONS TAKEN BY PROFESSIONALS (%)

VS.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Overall, there’s a mismatch between where professionals are looking for opportunities and the channels employers are using.

2. Companies should move to an online approach to recruiting to reach candidates

3. From online career websites to social networks, it is important to deliver one consistent message to candidates throughout the recruiting process.

“Some companies do not have the necessary skills in the areas of social

media, mobile, internal social networks, process automation and performance

monitoring and analysis and should invest more in development of digital skills.”

Abdel Wahed, Emirates Insurance Company

,,

THE LABOR

& NATIONALIZATION

EMPLOYERS’ PERCEPTION OF THE LABOR MARKET

There is a shortage of talent in the labor market

It is fairly hard to find candidates who possess all the required skills and qualifications needed for a particular job vacancy

The shortage of talent in the labor market leads to fierce competition among employers to hire them

In general, it takes a lot of time and cost to fill vacancies in my organization

In general, suitable citizens/nationals are more difficult to find than suitable expats who fit our vacant job requirements

My organization has been negatively impacted by the shortage of talent

Sometimes, my organization lowers its requirements in order to fill a role

100

100

96

97

97

96

52

57

72

57

62

55

39

23

56

60

45

57

61

48

22

Employers who agree with statement (%)

Qatar KSA UAE

PROFESSIONALS’ PERCEPTION OF THE LABOR MARKET

There are many people who work at jobs that do not fit with their skills and qualifications

There is an oversupply of job seekers in the country

Online job networks are the most effective means to find suitable jobs

I would take a job that does not fit perfectly my skills and qualifications if the offered package is good

Online job networks are my preferred means to find suitable jobs

82

78

75

72

69

75

75

68

57

62

81

82

77

50

66

Professionals who agree with statement (%)

Qatar KSA UAE

UAE & QATAR EMPLOYERS ARE NOT PROACTIVELY TARGETING NATIONALS WHILE SAUDI EMPLOYERS ARE TAKING MORE ACTION IMPLEMENTING NATIONALIZATION

28%

72% 80%

20%

Target National CitizensDo not target National Citizens

53%47%

2 THINGS YOU CAN DO TODAY

OPTIMIZING YOUR JOBS

1. Use the right keywords in job titles to ensure better targeting.

2. Post all your openings online for better visibility and higher reach.

3. Ask your employees to share your openings with their network. Remember, talent attracts talent.

IMPROVING THE CANDIDATE EXPERIENCE

1. Communicate with candidates throughout the journey in a consistent way.

2. Clarify the job requirements from the start of the process to avoid any surprises.

3. Align your strategy with your hiring managers in order to communicate the same message across the organization.

*Source:Adapt to Survive, PWC, 2014

63% of CEOs worldwide say that

availability of skills is a primary concern*

RELEVANT TECHNICAL EXPERTISE AND MULTICULTURAL EXPERIENCE ARE IMPORTANT SKILLS FOR UAE EMPLOYERS

98 97

74

99 98 10094 97 96

85

100 98

75

9078 73

85 88 8982

89 89 86 83 86 88

Importance of Skills in THE UAE: Employers vs. Professionals (%)

EmployersProfes-sionals

HAVING TECHNICAL EXPERTISE IS AN IMPORTANT SKILL FOR EMPLOYERS IN SAUDI WHEN LOOKING FOR TALENT

Stro

ng a

naly

tical

skills

Relev

ant t

echn

ical

exp

ertis

e

Stro

ng com

mun

icat

ion

skills

Creat

ivity

Prev

ious

rele

vant

exp

erie

nce

Colla

bora

tion

and

team

spi

rit

Capab

ility

of m

akin

g ow

n de

ci...

Stro

ng in

terp

erso

nal s

kills

Suita

ble

educ

atio

nal b

ackg

r...

Effec

tive

time

man

agem

ent

Mul

ticul

tura

l exp

erie

nce

Flue

ncy

in E

nglis

h an

d Ara

bic

Compu

ter L

itera

cy

77

8377

6574 73

62

7467

76 78

69 7178

75

84

70

8580 78

8287 85

7380

76

Importance of Skills in KSA: Employers vs. Professionals (%)

Employers

Professionals

HAVING A MULTICULTURAL EXPERIENCE AND CREATIVITY ARE IMPORTANT SKILLS FOR EMPLOYERS IN QATAR

Prev

ious

rel

evan

t exp

erie

nce

Mul

ticul

tura

l exp

erie

nce

Creat

ivity

Relev

ant t

echn

ical

exp

ertis

e

Stro

ng in

terp

erso

nal s

kills

Stro

ng a

naly

tical

skills

Effec

tive

time

man

agem

ent

Stro

ng com

mun

icat

ion

skills

Capab

ility

of m

akin

g ow

n de

cision

s

Compu

ter L

itera

cy

Colla

bora

tion

and

team

spi

rit

Suita

ble

educ

atio

nal b

ackg

roun

d

Flue

ncy

in E

nglis

h an

d Ara

bic

9486

8189 88 88 85

92

79

92 91 89 9085

7465

8087 86 88 88 85 84 84

9187

Importance of Skills in Qatar: Employers vs. Professionals (%)

EmployersProfes-sionals

RECOMMENDATIONS ON

INVEST IN YOUR EMPLOYER BRAND

SOURCE & PLAN YOUR HIRING

ADVERTISE YOUR JOBS

3 THINGS YOU CAN START DOING NOW ON LINKEDIN

THE TALENT GAP REPORT

Download full report

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