Saudi recruitment slump: Construction job postings ‘down 18%’
Slowdown seen in overall Mideast recruitment growth, with a 19% decline in job postings in the energy sector, says Monster.com
Job postings in Saudi Arabia’s construction sector fell by almost a fifth in the year to October, amid a wider slowdown in Middle East recruitment growth, according to Monster.com.
Engineering, construction and real estate employers advertised 18% fewer Saudi-based jobs last month compared to a year ago, making it the country’s worst-performing sector, according to the Monster Employment Index.
Saudi Arabia’s overall recruitment market was the weakest of the seven countries tracked by the index, with an overall 2% decline in online job listings. Kuwait, Egypt and the UAE were the top growth markets, with a 23%, 19% and 18% rise respectively.
The Monster Employment Index year-on-year growth rate slowed from 24 percent in September 2015 to 14 percent in October, the recruitment website said in a statement.
The construction sector was among the worst performing across the region as a whole, registering a growth in Monster.com job listings of just 4% – much lower than the index average.
Education was the worst-performing of all industries, with a decline of 22%, followed by oil and gas with a 19% drop in online job listings. Financial services – including banking and insurance – was the strongest-performing sector across the Middle East, followed by IT and telecoms, Monster said.
“We continue to see a slowdown in the job market in the region,” said Sanjay Modi, managing director of Monster.com in India the Middle East, South East Asia and Hong Kong.
“This slowdown is reflected throughout the region, including the UAE market. This slowdown in online job demand is in line with industry reports about the economic slowdown in the country, triggered by the weak oil prices which are impacting the non-oil sector as well; the gradual fiscal tightening, and the softening of real estate prices in Dubai.”
“The job market is not all bleak – we have good news for those looking for a job in the healthcare sector in the UAE, which has grown at 34% year on year as compared to the same period last year. According to the Ventures Middle East Onsite report, the UAE is building more than 20 hospitals to care of the half a million medical tourists that are expected by 2020, with medical revenues to hit $300 million by 2016.”
