Social media found to be a critical tool in job creation
71% claim that they would rely on social media to find their next job
Dubai: A survey conducted by the Governance and Innovation Programme of the Dubai School Government (DSG) found that social media holds the potential to play an important role in boosting skills sets, enhancing employment prospects and supporting entrepreneurship across the Arab world.
The survey was conducted on 5,000 participants from Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Lebanon, Oman, Egypt and Jordan in order to examine the effectiveness of social media in promoting social advancement, job creation and business growth across the Arab region.
The results of the survey that was conducted by DSG and SAP, a market leader and enterprise application software, were announced at a policy forum held at the DSG’s headquarters on Wednesday.
The report revealed that social media can have a dramatic impact on job creation and employment opportunities as 86 per cent of the participants agreed that social media is a critical tool for start-ups across the Arab world. Some 71 per cent claim that they would rely on social media to find their next job.
The survey also found that 86 per cent of the participants thought that social media has a positive and persuasive influence in the workplace.
Fadi Salem, Director of the Governance and Innovation Programme, at DSG, and co-author of the report said: “Our ongoing research over the past two years has shown that close to 50 million Arabs are actively connected to social media and primarily use the platform to change social and political realities in their countries, the ground-breaking research offers insight into new horizons for economic empowerment of the Arab youth.”
Managing director of SAP Mena, Sam Al Kharrat added that: “Harnessing value from the flow of big data generated from social media is critical for driving greater operational efficiency, cutting costs, boosting profits and unlocking new routes to innovation.”
In addition to providing insight into regional media trends results, the DSG study will also form a key part of ongoing feasibility study by SAP Mena for creating a cutting edge, project-enabling ICT platform to boost sustainable job creations across the region.
