GCC – Job Market Review – June 2016
June 2016 Index Highlights
- Monster Employment Index registers the third consecutive year-on-year decline in GCC e-recruitment since April 2016; down by 21 percent in June 2016.
- Between March and June 2016, the Middle East Index witnessed an 18 percent decline in online hiring activity.
- Among the countries monitored by the Index, only Bahrain, UAE and Oman register positive year-on-year growth.
UAE, Bahrain and Oman are the only GCC countries to register a positive annual growth rate in job opportunities, while the region as a whole registers a record low growth rate of negative 21 percent in June 2016, as compared to the same period last year.
“The results of Monster Employment Index (MEI) mirror the adverse impact of rising economic uncertainty in the region,” said Sanjay Modi, Managing Director – APAC and Middle East, Monster.com. “Clearly, employers are adopting a much more cautious and risk-averse approach to hiring, with e-recruitment in the region registering a negative 21 percent annual growth in June 2016 – the lowest this year.” Job opportunities in Egypt, Qatar, KSA and Kuwait were down by a negative 30%, 25%, 18% and 9%, respectively.
Job opportunities listed in the UAE, Bahrain and Oman show a positive growth trend in June 2016 and are up by 10%, 23% and 3% respectively, as compared to the same period last year.
“We expect this positive trend to continue, especially in the UAE which is seen by economists as the most promising economy in MENA. UAE’s GDP is forecast to grow by three per cent this year – one per cent higher than the World Bank’s original forecast of two per cent. This is significant when viewed against a backdrop of a projected global growth rate of 2.6 per cent in 2016,” continued Modi.
In the UAE, healthcare continues to be the industry where job demand is soaring, with listed job opportunities up by 46 percent in June 2016 as compared to the same period last year. Similarly, we see a significant increase in demand for healthcare professionals, with job listings up by 31 percent in June 2016 year to date. With the mandatory health insurance scheme in place, the country’s multi-billion-dollar healthcare industry could continue growing double digits in 2016, as all sponsors are now required to enrol their employees for a mandatory medical coverage plan.
The second best performing UAE industry is Retail/Trade and Logistics, with 32 percent growth in online job posts. This group is followed by Consumer Goods/FMCG, Food & Packaged Food, Home Appliance, Garments/Textiles/Leather, Gems & Jewellery, with a growth of 29 percent in job opportunities posted online year on year to June 2016.
| Year-over-year Growth | Jun15 | Jun16 | % Growth Y-o-Y |
| Bahrain | 125 | 154 | 23% |
| UAE | 130 | 143 | 10% |
| Oman | 118 | 121 | 3% |
| Kuwait | 138 | 125 | -9% |
| KSA | 160 | 131 | -18% |
| Qatar | 158 | 119 | -25% |
| Egypt | 199 | 139 | -30% |
| UAE Top Growth Industries | UAE Lowest Growth Industries | |||||||||
| Year-over-year Growth | Jun15 | Jun16 | % GrowthY-o-Y | Year-over-year Growth | Jun15 | Jun16 | % Growth Y-o-Y | |||
| Health Care | 180 | 262 | 46% | BFSI | 144 | 143 | -1% | |||
| Retail/Trade and Logistics | 103 | 136 | 32% | Oil and Gas | 72 | 56 | -22% | |||
| Consumer Goods/ FMCG, Food & Packaged Food , Home Appliance, Garments/ Textiles/ Leather, Gems & Jewellery | 95 | 123 | 29% | Hospitality | 115 | 82 | -29% | |||
| UAE Top Growth Occupations | UAE Lowest Growth Occupations | |||||||||
| Year-over-year Growth | Jun15 | Jun16 | % Growth Y-o-Y | Year-over-year Growth | Jun15 | Jun16 | % Growth Y-o-Y | |||
| Health Care | 167 | 218 | 31% | Software, Hardware, Telecom | 142 | 129 | -9% | |||
| Sales and BD | 136 | 174 | 28% | Finance and Account | 110 | 99 | -10% | |||
| HR & Admin. | 102 | 116 | 14% | Customer service | 74 | 53 | -28% | |||
The Monster Employment Index is a monthly gauge of online job posting activity 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.
Monster Employment Index Middle East results for the past 18 months are as follows:
| Ja 15 | Feb 15 | Mar 15 | Apr 15 | May 15 | Jun 15 | Jul 15 | Aug 15 | Sep 15 | Oct 15 | Nov 15 | Dec 15 | Jan 16 | Feb 16 | Mar 16 | Apr 16 | May 16 | Jun 16 | Y – o -Y |
| 138 | 154 | 165 | 167 | 179 | 185 | 177 | 175 | 173 | 174 | 181 | 173 | 166 | 166 | 178 | 160 | 148 | 146 | -21% |
Industry Year-over-Year Trends: Of the twelve sectors monitored by the Index, four industry sectors saw online hiring exceed the year-ago level.
- Consumer Goods/ FMCG, Food & Packaged Food, Home Appliance, Garments/ Textiles/ Leather, Gems & Jewellery continued to exhibit dramatic growth in online hiring; up 55 percent. The sector has been charting steepest growth on an annual basis since January 2016. This month the growth momentum improved by 10 percentage points from 44 percent in May 2016. The sector also recorded the most notable month-on-month growth among all monitored sectors; up by six percent.
- Production/Manufacturing, Automotive and Ancillary registered an eight percent growth from the year-ago down from 33 percent in May 2016. The sector also witnessed fewer opportunities on the month; down five percent following positive growth since February 2016. The three-month and six-month growth rate continues to exhibit a positive growth trend.
- IT and Telecom/ISP (up three percent); Health Care (up seven percent) continued to growth at a sluggish pace and is the only other sector to register a positive annual growth rate. The growth momentum improved marginally in the health care sector; up two percentage points.
- The year-on-year growth momentum eased further in Engineering, Construction and Real Estate (down nine percent); BFSI (down 42 percent); Retail/Trade and Logistics (down 41 percent); Education (down 32 percent); Hospitality (down 51 percent); and Advertising, Market Research, Public Relations, Media and Entertainment (down 52 percent). The steepest decline being that in Advertising, Market Research, Public Relations, Media and Entertainment.
| Top Growth Industries | Lowest Growth Industries | |||||||
| Year-over-year Growth | Jun15 | Jun16 | % GrowthY-o-Y | Year-over-year Growth | Jun15 | Jun16 | % Growth Y-o-Y | |
| Consumer Goods/ FMCG, Food & Packaged Food , Home Appliance, Garments/ Textiles/ Leather, Gems & Jewellery | 76 | 118 | 55% | Education | 209 | 142 | -32% | |
| Production/Manufacturing, Automotive and Ancillary | 84 | 91 | 8% | Retail/Trade and Logistics | 174 | 102 | -41% | |
| Health Care | 169 | 181 | 7% | BFSI | 217 | 126 | -42% | |
| IT and Telecom/ISP | 131 | 135 | 3% | Hospitality | 226 | 110 | -51% | |
| Engineering, Construction and Real Estate | 151 | 137 | -9% | Advertising, Market Research, Public Relations, Media and Entertainment | 163 | 77 | -53% | |
Occupation Year-over-Year Trends: Online demand exceeded the year-ago level in two out of the 11 occupation groups monitored by the Index.
- Customer Service (up 24 percent) saw the steepest increase in demand on a year-on-year basis even in June 2016. The rate of growth nevertheless eased from 58 percent in May 2016.
- Health Care professionals were next in the rung. Online demand for the role exceeded the corresponding period a year-ago by 21 percent. The group also saw a three percent growth month-on-month following low levels in the past months.
- Customer Service and Health Care aside all other occupation groups registered fewer opportunities on the year. Purchase / Logistics / Supply Chain (down eight percent) saw a negative growth year-on-year for the second month. Online demand declined the most for Marketing & Communications/Arts/Creative (down 55 percent) and the least for Legal (down five percent) professionals.
| Top Growth Occupations | Lowest Growth Occupations | |||||||
| Year-over-year Growth | Jun15 | Jun16 | % Growth Y-o-Y | Year-over-year Growth | Jun15 | Jun16 | % Growth Y-o-Y | |
| Customer service | 72 | 89 | 24% | Finance and Account | 173 | 130 | -25% | |
| Health Care | 164 | 198 | 21% | HR & Admin. | 191 | 127 | -34% | |
| Legal | 115 | 109 | -5% | Hospitality and Travel | 211 | 135 | -36% | |
| Purchase / Logistics / Supply Chain | 114 | 105 | -8% | Sales and BD | 249 | 150 | -40% | |
| Software, Hardware, Telecom | 189 | 166 | -12% | Marketing & Communications/Arts/Creative | 232 | 105 | -55% | |
Geographic Year-over-year Trends: Online hiring surpassed the year-ago level in three countries out of the seven monitored by the Index
- Bahrain (up 23 percent); UAE (up 10 percent); and Oman (up three percent) are the only countries to record a positive annual growth even this month. Bahrain continues to lead the chart; the year-on-year growth rate improved 14 points between May and June 2016. In UAE there has been an improvement of one percentage point during this same time. Oman, on the other hand, saw annual growth rate ease three percentage points from May 2016
- KSA has been charting negative growth trends year-on-year successively since February 2016. This month e-recruitment activity in the country slipped 18 percent below the year-ago. The country, nevertheless, registered a positive growth on the month; up three percent.
- Kuwait recorded the steepest growth on the month among all monitored countries; up by seven percent. The year-on-year growth rate improved from a negative 12 percent to a negative nine percent.
- Egypt, witnessed the most notable slowdown in e-recruitment activity. The country charted the steepest decline month-on-month (down 11 percent) as well as year-on-year (down 30 percent) among all seven countries monitored by the Index.
| Year-over-year Growth | Jun15 | Jun16 | % Growth Y-o-Y |
| Bahrain | 125 | 154 | 23% |
| UAE | 130 | 143 | 10% |
| Oman | 118 | 121 | 3% |
| Kuwait | 138 | 125 | -9% |
| KSA | 160 | 131 | -18% |
| Qatar | 158 | 119 | -25% |
| Egypt | 199 | 139 | -30% |