The UAE’s advertising, marketing and public relations industry is hiring more fresh graduates than any other sector, a survey indicates.
Twenty-four per cent of new graduates in the Emirates said this sector was the top recruiter for young talent, the survey by jobs website Bayt.com and market research agency YouGov found.
This was followed by the banking and finance and the healthcare and medical services sectors, with 14 per cent of young talent saying both these industries are doing the most hiring, according to the survey.
It polled 1,141 respondents, aged between 18 and 34, from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Jordan and other countries between March 9 and April 16.
Other UAE sectors hiring new graduates are business consultancy, information technology and e-commerce, engineering and design, and property and construction, the research showed.
“The survey depicts the perceptions of young jobseekers and recent graduates across the Mena region in regards to the job market, the most attractive industries, as well as how this group envisions their careers,” said Ola Haddad, director of human resources at Bayt.com.
The UAE jobs market has made a strong recovery from the coronavirus-induced slowdown, helped by the government’s fiscal and monetary measures.
About 76 per cent of employers in the Arab world's second-largest economy plan to expand their workforce in 2022, a survey in February by Bayt.com and YouGov found.
About two thirds of professionals in the UAE will actively look for new jobs in the first half of this year as business confidence and hiring activity return to pre-pandemic levels, recruitment company Robert Walters said.
Sixty-six per cent of young graduates in the UAE picked finding a job as their generation’s biggest challenge, while 36 per cent said it was being able to afford a basic lifestyle and 31 per cent chose saving money, the Bayt.com survey revealed.
About 45 per cent of those surveyed said lower salary expectations were the main reason why some industries hired more new graduates than others, while 39 per cent believe that certain sectors hire more young graduates because they are able to handle challenges, according to Bayt.com.
Sixty-one per cent of respondents said some industries are hesitant to hire fresh talent because they lack experience, 35 per cent believe some employers think they lack necessary skills and 18 per cent feel companies think they may change jobs quickly and not stay long, the findings revealed.
About 51 per cent of those surveyed picked computer skills as the top requirement to excel in the workplace, while 45 per chose cited communication skills and 36 per cent picked interpersonal or team-playing skills and flexibility to change, according to Bayt.com.
“The survey provides the insights needed to optimise recruiters’ hiring efforts against the needs of fresh graduates in the region,” said Zafar Shah, research director at YouGov.
“The data shows that more and more employers are opening their doors to fresh graduates, presenting a significant shift in what employers need in this increasingly digital world.”
About 44 per cent of UAE graduates feel that the biggest challenge they face when searching for a job is lack of previous work experience, while 41 per cent cited not knowing how to approach the job search effectively, the research found.
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Thirty-nine per cent of new graduates surveyed in the UAE picked the nature of the job or being passionate about the job as the most important factor when selecting a role.
The methods most commonly used by young talent to find employment are job websites, social media platforms and direct applications to preferred companies, the survey findings showed.
About 18 per cent of respondents said they received or expect to receive between $501 and $750 a month for their first job, according to Bayt.com.
In the UAE, 77 per cent of fresh graduates expect to be offered a basic salary for their first job, 54 per cent look to receive personal medical cover and 51 per cent hope to be offered company-provided accommodation or housing allowance.
About 76 per cent of young graduates in the Emirates said they had acquired work experience before or during college, the findings showed.
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Eighty-eight per cent of fresh graduates in the UAE said they are satisfied with the quality of higher education they received, and 84 per cent said that their education has prepared them to work in the industry of their choice.
About 68 per cent of graduates surveyed also said they had considered availability of jobs in their field before deciding their subject major in college, Bayt.com found.
Sectors hiring young graduates in the UAE
- Advertising, marketing and public relations
- Banking and finance
- Health care and medical services
- Business consultancy, business management, management consultancy
- Information technology, internet and e-commerce
- Engineering and design
- Real estate, construction and property development
- Hospitality, recreation and entertainment
- Human resources
- Education and academia
- Government and civil service
- Commerce, trade and retail
Source: Bayt.com and YouGov
