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
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%
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
,,
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
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
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