The region’s job market is evolving as a result of many socio-economic factors. In this environment, companies are now assessing their recruitment strategy and ensuring it is aligned with the priorities of today’s professionals.
Job seekers on the other hand are getting into the specifics about a company’s culture and values and learning more about their long-term prospects before jumping into a role.
LinkedIn’s MENA Recruiting Trends 2017 report reveals that talent acquisition will continue to be a key focus for MENA companies in 2017 and recruiters will be even busier this year, focussing on quality of hiring. Jobs pertaining to operations, sales and engineering will be the highest priority roles to fill in 2017. Additionally, when the current top skills in demand by employers in the UAE are evaluated, the online recruitment and business networking portal found that six out of 10 jobs this year are tech-related so these jobs will also be in demand throughout 2017.
LinkedIn also expects that 2017 will be a very busy year for recruiting leaders, as according to LinkedIn’s MENA Recruiting Trends 2017 report, 81% of talent leaders feel that talent is the number one priority in their organisation and over 60% of teams are preparing for an increased hiring.
According to the LinkedIn industry talent report, published in July 2017, Kuwait registered the maximum employment growth (+9.4%) over the past year in the oil and gas sector. This was followed by Saudi Arabia (+8%) and the UAE (+7.6%). LinkedIn has also made an interesting observation; its report found that the construction industry saw more of its professionals moving to oil and gas, followed by mechanical or industrial engineering, Information Technology (IT) and services, utilities and civil engineering.
As per LinkedIn’s July 2017 Industry Talent report, the top most skill sought after by recruiting companies were pertaining to oil and gas, followed by management skills, gas, engineering and lastly project management. LinkedIn also found that most companies are looking to hire candidates in the positions related to project management and engineering within the energy sector.
As companies gravitate towards modernisation and a more modern, productive workforce, employees are increasingly being put through specialised and advanced training programmes to advance their skills and capabilities. This fact is echoed by Islam Abdallah Hassan Ahmed, the UAE-based general manager for Consulting and Training Operations for GCC region at Intertek.
According to Ahmed, even with tougher market conditions, training remains a vital and indispensable part of operations in oil and gas companies. He believes that the adverse impact of below par oil prices and revenues can in part be tempered with proper training, leading to cost-efficient procedures, practical solutions and production optimisation.
“In the oil and gas sector, perhaps more than any other, you need team members whose skill sets are as current as possible and this entails regular periodic training and constant upgrades to keep up with technological advances (globally),” Ahmed explains.
“For training services, optimising the costs means customising programmes that adhere to specific, pre-determined criteria including practical, on-the-job training workshops and courses,” he adds.
The demand for specific technical training is presently high, since it is vital for oil and gas professionals to be up-to-date on all emerging technologies and applications. At the same time, the prevailing industry downturn has transformed the business landscape in a way that requires a shift in thinking with respect to the traditional business management model.
Consistent drive for innovation and ability to generate and provide new and cost-effective offering to the customers are key factors. This results in the need for innovative cross-discipline training in aspects such as operations, project management, HSE and In-Country Value (ICV) creation.
(Coming up: ADNOC is leading the way when it comes to skill development…)
