RIYADH: According to the latest Monster Employment Index (MEI), although the data indicates that online recruitment in the KSA has slowed considerably, the oil and gas sector has seen 34 percent growth in online recruitment, which indicates a strengthening economy. While the November MEI figures record an overall decline in year-on-year momentum in KSA – a 7 percentage point decline from -12 percent in October to -19 percent in November – the oil and gas industry continues to lead growth in online recruitment in the Kingdom with 34 percent increase from the same period last year. This is followed by 10 percent growth in the Education sector. The highest decline was observed in the hospitality sector at -41 percent reflecting the challenges of the industry at a regional level.
Purchase/ logistics/ supply chain occupations registered the strongest growth in the Kingdom at 10 percent and was the only industry to record occupational growth followed by software/ hardware/ telecom and finance/ accounting at -8 percent and -9 percent respectively. Occupations in hospitality also registered the highest decline at -44 percent. Sanjay Modi, Managing Director, Monster.com, APAC & Middle East, said “while it is encouraging to see continued growth in the oil and gas industry, this is not projected to rise further amid supply cuts announced recently by OPEC. However, as the Kingdom focuses on economic diversification, occupations in the purchase, logistics and supply chain sector are likely to grow further in 2017 as a result of the increased flow of imports and exports in the country.”
Last week the Saudi government announced the approval of its annual budget. According to a public statement released by the Ministry of Finance, the Kingdom aims to strengthen the general finance framework and boost efficiency in government spending to reach a balanced budget by 2020. The statement reinforces the Kingdom’s commitment to Vision 2030 with an increase of 8 percent in budget expenditure from the projected SR825 billion in 2016 to SR890 billion in 2017. “Overall, the outlook for 2017 is positive for job seekers in Saudi, something reflected by the government’s commitment to Vision 2030. The Government’s introduction of fiscal policies to cope with the current economic and financial challenges aims to strengthen the Kingdom’s economic position. This drive will undoubtedly have a positive impact on recruitment in the region but as ever, we will just have to wait and see,” Modi added.
