Can’t find a new job? You’re not good enough, say employers

If you’re looking for a job but haven’t been able to find one, chances are your skill set isn’t strong enough. Only half the region’s companies feel they have enough staff to achieve their goals for the year, but nearly two-thirds are having trouble finding candidates with creative thinking, critical thinking and problem-solving skills, a new survey has revealed.

The recent Bayt.com Skills Gap in the Middle East and North Africa survey, conducted by Bayt.com and YouGov, explores the skills employers are looking for across the Middle East and North Africa (Mena), comparing them to skills in supply. The study, for which a total of 5,345 interviews were conducted over the month of March, covers aspects such as availability of new talent, what positions organizations are hiring for, which skills they rate as most important during recruitment, and which skills new talent lack most.

Across the Mena region, one in four employers (28 per cent) are unsure they have sufficient skilled staff to achieve this year’s goals, while 16 per cent feel their company does not have sufficient skilled employees to meet their goals.

Where’s the demand?

Among employers looking to hire in the Mena, highest demand can be seen for entry-level positions (junior executives and executives, at 52 per cent and 30 per cent, respectively). A healthy 10 per cent of employers surveyed are currently searching for director-level candidates. While GCC employers show a greater need for senior executives, coordinators, and managers, the higher demand for entry-level positions was largely consistent across the region.

In terms of job roles, sales positions are most in demand (20 per cent of employers say they’re looking for sales executives and 16 per cent say they’re looking for sales managers). Other in-demand positions are: project managers (15 per cent); engineers (14 per cent mechanical and 13 per cent electrical); accountants (12 per cent); and administrative assistants (12 per cent).

Results suggest that, aside from a couple of exceptions, demand for most positions is generally highest among GCC employers (being especially high for sales executives (25 per cent) and project managers (19 per cent)).

When asked to rate the importance of various skills when looking to hire for senior versus mid-level or junior positions, employers across the region have higher expectations of senior hires.

Collaboration/teamwork (88 per cent), efficiency (87 per cent), communication skills (85 per cent), overall personality and demeanor (85 per cent), leadership qualities (84 per cent), the ability to work under pressure (84 per cent) and planning/organizational skills (84 per cent) are regarded as the most important attributes in a senior hire. These skills were also among the most valued for mid- to junior-level positions, however, to a lesser degree: efficiency (81 per cent), communication skills (80 per cent), collaboration/teamwork (80 per cent), and the ability to work under pressure (79 per cent).

The biggest gap in expectations between senior and mid-to-junior-level positions are seen for planning/organization skills (84 per cent regarded it as important for senior level positions vs. 70 per cent for mid-to-junior level); relevant industry experience (78 per cent for senior level positions vs. 67 per cent for mid-to-junior level); negotiation skills (78 per cent for senior level positions vs. 68 per cent for mid-to-junior level); overall personality and demeanor (85 per cent for senior level positions vs. 75 per cent for mid-to-junior level).

In terms of industries, engineering and design (11 per cent) is most likely to be looking for skilled candidates this year.

What skills are lacking?

Employer feedback in the survey suggests it can be challenging to find candidates with the required skill sets, with the difficulty being experienced for both senior and mid-to-junior-level positions.

When asked about the difficulty of finding specific skills in senior candidates, Mena employers say that creative thinking (63 per cent), critical thinking and problem solving (63 per cent), adaptability/managing multiple priorities (60 per cent), international work experience (60 per cent) and leadership skills (59 per cent) were the top skills that candidates lack.

Interestingly, technical skills are seen as posing the least challenge, with only 50 per cent finding these skills difficult to find in senior candidates.

Suhail Masri, Vice President of Employer Solutions, Bayt.com, said: “It is really interesting that the skills gap in the Middle East is not one of technical skills, but of soft skills. To add to the challenge, it’s much easier to assess and qualify a candidate based on his or her technical skills, as opposed to soft skills.”

What do job seekers look for?

Banking/Finance (25 per cent), Oil/Gas & Petrochemicals (24 per cent), Advertising/Marketing/Public Relations (23 per cent), Engineering/Design and Business Consultancy/Business Management/Management (20 per cent each) emerged as the most industries sectors with job seekers in the UAE, who are mostly looking for mid-career or junior positions (79 per cent); in fact, 37 per cent said they were looking for Executive positions, 29 per cent for Senior Executive positions, and 42 per cent for Junior Executive positions. A smaller proportion was looking for more specialized or senior positions (18 per cent and 7 per cent were searching for Analyst and Director positions, respectively).

When people seeking employment for senior positions in the UAE are asked about the skills they possess, they rated ‘collaboration/teamwork’ as their strongest skill (98 per cent). This was followed by ‘overall personality and demeanor’, ‘communication skills’, ‘ability to work under pressure’, ‘efficiency’ and ‘critical thinking and problem solving’ (97 per cent, 96 per cent, 96 per cent, 96 per cent and 96 per cent, respectively).

Similarly, when people seeking employment for junior-to-mid-level positions are asked about the skills they possess, they rated ‘collaboration/teamwork’ as their strongest skill (94 per cent). This was followed by ‘overall personality and demeanor’ (93 per cent).

Despite their generally positive view of their own skill level, more than half of the job seekers surveyed in the UAE find it difficult to secure a job with their current skills (59 per cent), with 19 per cent claiming it is ‘very difficult’. Job seekers also rated the importance of various skills in improving their chances of finding a job. Most candidates looking for senior positions place ‘communication skills’ at the top of their list (88 per cent). The subsequent skills mentioned included ‘adaptability/ managing multiple priorities’, ‘ability to work under pressure’, ‘overall personality and demeanor’, ‘efficiency’ and ‘critical thinking and problem solving’ (at 87 per cent each). Meanwhile, those looking for mid-level/junior positions believe the ‘ability to work under pressure’ (91 per cent) followed by ‘communication skills’ (89 per cent) are the most important skills that will improve their chances of finding a job.

In order to keep their skills current, job seekers in the UAE are committed to self-improvement and rated reading articles and journals (62 per cent), reading books (53 per cent), researching industry best practices (46 per cent) and taking online courses (39 per cent) as the most popular methods to achieve this.

“In today’s dynamic and ever-evolving job market, candidates need to be constantly looking for new ways to enhance their skills in order to differentiate themselves, optimize their profile and effectively navigate complex work environments,” said Joao Neves, Senior Research Director, YouGov.

“Ideally, to maximize the impact of their efforts, industry leaders, educational institutions and governments should work together to provide job seekers with clear guidance on future growth areas in the region and most desirable skills to succeed.”

What solutions exist?

Although the large majority of job seekers (80 per cent) are very committed to continuously acquiring new skills, over half (55 per cent) of Mena respondents still feel that there is a clear skills gap in the region. Evidence shows that it is challenging for employers across the Mena region to find candidates with the required skills. This difficulty is especially accentuated when recruiting for senior positions, with over two-thirds (70 per cent) of respondents claiming they find it either ‘very difficult’ or ‘difficult’ to find candidates with the required skills.

The situation seems to be slightly easier when recruiting for junior positions, although almost half (49 per cent) of the employers surveyed still rated the hiring process as ‘very difficult’ or ‘difficult’. Currently, a little over half (56 per cent) of the employers surveyed in the Mena felt comfortable that their company had sufficient skilled employees to achieve this year’s goals.

Across the region, when respondents were asked to select the main reason why they felt job seekers have difficulties in finding jobs matching their skills, the fact that ‘job seekers do not know what employers are looking for’ (34 per cent) and that ‘educational institutions do not teach students the skills they need to enter the job market’ (22 per cent) topped the list. When looking at country-specific responses, results suggest ‘job seekers not knowing what skills employers are looking for’ is more of an issue in the UAE (42 per cent) and Qatar (42 per cent), while those in Egypt were the most likely to claim that ‘educational institutions do not teach students the skills they need to enter the job market’ (30 per cent).

When asked about the best solutions for the perceived skills gap, respondents across the Mena listed that ‘companies should provide enough training opportunities to employees’ (42 per cent); ‘companies, educational institutions and governments should work together to predict future skills needs’ (40 per cent); and ‘companies and educational institutions should work together to provide students with the skills they need to enter the job market’ (39 per cent) as the most ideal solutions.