Middle East Hiring – On The Increase

In the second quarter of 2017 companies in the Middle East were feeling confident about hiring again as the number of job postings continues to increase.  The Bayt.com Middle East Job Index Survey for February 2017 showed that two thirds of employers across the GCC (Gulf Co-operative Council countries Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman) were planning to hire, with more opportunities to be posted in the months ahead.

However, Middle East employers are also continuing to report skills shortages, with senior positions being the more challenging ones to fill.

Moreover, as governments across the Middle East continue to press ahead with their plans to increase the number of national employees and reduce the number of expats in their workforces in the GCC, training and education remain key Middle Eastern government priorities to equip nationals with the relevant skills and qualifications which will enable these significant changes in the make-up of Middle Eastern workforces to take place.

Increasing the National Workforce In The Private Sector Across The Middle East

A number of governments across the Middle East continue to focus their efforts on increasing the presence of nationals in the private sector workforce.

UAE Emiratisation 

As part of its Vision 2021 National Agenda, the UAE government has been gearing up efforts to ensure that ‘Emiratisation Rate’ (the number UAE nationals in the private workforce) will make up 5% of private workforce by 2020. The ‘Emiratisation Rate’ in the Private Sector was estimated at 1.14% in 2016, with the share of UAE Nationals in the Workforce 3.93%.

Kuwaitization 

In March 2017 the Kuwaiti Government and Manpower Restructuring Program (GMRP) said it was working hard to create job opportunities for Kuwait nationals personnel in the private sector with a recent study indicating a possible replacement of 80,000 expatriates with Kuwaitis in in the private sector in line with the Kuwaitization policy.

Saudization 

Saudization of the workforce is the official national policy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to increase employment among nationals and decrease dependency on expatriate workers in the private sector. In 2011 the Nitaqat Initiative was launched which classifies the country’s private

companies into four categories; Premium and Green categories include companies with high Saudization rates, while Yellow and Red include the ones with low rates. The Nitaqat nationalization program aims to provide job opportunities for Saudi nationals and reduce the unemployment rate from 12.1% to 9% and boost the number of women in the Saudi workforce to 28% by 2020.

Saudi Minister of Labour and Social Development Ali bin Nasser Al-Ghafis said recently in 2017:

“The Saudization we seek is a productive one, seeking to increase employment opportunities for male and female citizens in the private sector, boost their capacity and efficiency and re-qualify them, if needed, in order to enable them to work and the country to rely on them as the most important pillars of construction and development. At the same time, this will help the country reduce dependence on foreign labour.”

Education & Training – Key To Creating A Skilled National Private Workforce In The Middle East

In Saudi Arabia for example, under its strategic plan to transform the Saudi economy, ‘Vision 2030’, launched in 2016, improving the quality of education across the Kingdom and the development of “skills” to equip future generations is at the core to achieving a skilled national workforce.

To this end, the Saudi government has increased education spending by 3% in its 2017 budget. The Saudi government has invested £850m in 100 colleges under its ‘Colleges of Excellence Programme’ as part of Vision 2030 to boost technical and vocational education and training in Saudi Arabia.

The Colleges of Excellence Programme is a partnership approach with international (UK) education providers; utilising overseas best practices, pedagogies and standards and employing education experts, further education trainers, instructors and consultants in vocational, technical and IT. Ten Live is engaged in the Colleges of Excellence Programme to supply teaching and training staff.

Ten Live Middle East Education & Training Recruitment Specialist

Ten Live is an award-winning Middle East academic recruitment and vocational training specialist and is proud to work with the most prestigious educational and training institutions in the Middle East.

80% of our new customers in the international education sector come from referrals

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Contact
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Sources
Khaleej Times
Vision 2021
Gulf News
Gulf News
Vision 2021
Arab News
Arab News