Online recruitment activity moderates in April, reports Monster Employment Index Middle East

The Monster Employment Index is a monthly gauge of online job demand in Middle East based on a real-time review of tens of thousands of employer job opportunities culled from a large representative selection of career Web sites and online job listings. The Index does not reflect the trend of any one advertiser or source, but is an aggregate measure of the change in job listings across the industry.

“Middle East employers eased up on recruitment activity in April, following particularly heated hiring sessions in the preceding months. It is unclear how large a role seasonal recruitment cycles play into the latest patterns seen in the Monster Employment Index, but it is clear that the job market has remained relatively strong over Q1 and continues to remain heated for key sectors like IT, healthcare, production, and engineering”, said Sanjay Modi, Managing Director (India/Middle East/South East Asia), Monster.com.

Industry Six-Month Trends Online opportunities in April exceeded the November level in six of the 12 industries monitored by the Index.

Production/Manufacturing, Automotive and Ancillary (up 12 percent) was among the leading sectors in the Index in terms of six-month growth rate in April.

Retail/Trade and Logistics (down 31 percent) charted the most dramatic downswing in recruitment activity between November and April among all sectors.

Occupation Six-Month Trends Online demand for workers exceeded the November level in five of the 11 occupational categories monitored by the Index.

Marketing & Communications/Arts/Creative (up 36 percent) recorded the sturdiest six-month growth among occupation groups.

Software, Hardware, Telecom (up one percent) registered positive growth in April marking the most dramatic improvement in trend among groups (up from -15 percent in March to 1 percent in April).

Engineering and Production (down five percent) reached the lowest in the series since October 2010.

Geographic Six-Month Trends Three of the seven countries monitored by the Index registered positive 6-month growth.

KSA (up 10 percent) was the strongest among the GCC countries in six-month growth.

Egypt (down 25 percent) saw online hiring recede further. The six-month view shows the country’s online jobs space dip by 25 percent between November and April; the steepest six-month decline among all countries.

UAE Highlights

Available online opportunities in UAE in April slid 10 percent below the November level.

Jobs in Hospitality rebounded. Production/Manufacturing, Automotive and Ancillary led all sectors in six-month growth.

Demand for Marketing & Communications/Arts/Creative professionals recorded strongest six-month growth despite steep monthly decline.