Advertised jobs in Saudi double in Q2 2018: report

The number of jobs advertised in Saudi Arabia more than doubled in the second quarter of 2018, rising 111 percent year-on-year (YoY), according to a new report by recruitment consultancy Robert Walters.

The sales and marketing sector saw the highest increase in advertised jobs in the Kingdom at 143 percent, while accounting and finance saw the lowest growth of 38 percent.

Compared to the previous quarter, the number of advertised job vacancies in the accountancy and finance, banking and financial services, legal, and sales and marketing fields rose 41 percent in Saudi Arabia in Q2.

“The demand for good quality Saudi nationals in the first half of 2018 has been phenomenal,” the report said. “Both the private and public sector are recruiting actively and this is mainly driven by Vision 2030.

For Saudi nationals, the main jobs in demand for Saudi nationals were in human resources, finance and accounting, IT and legal.

Meanwhile, the main challenge for employers in the Kingdom was hiring and retention of good quality Saudi talent, the report noted.

“We have witnessed in some government sectors a bit of a revolving door where candidates are constantly on the move for more money. We expect this will settle down over the next 12 months,” Robert Walters said.  

Salary levels across the board rose between 3 and 5 percent in the first six months of 2018, likely driven by a combination of an increase in roles and competition in the labor market as well as the implementation of VAT.

As Saudi Arabia looks to diversify its economy under ongoing reforms, increasing female employment in the Kingdom is a key goal.

Currently only 22 percent of women are active in the workforce, and the Vision 2030 plan aims to lift this figure to more than 30 percent.

A crucial step  taken in this direction was the official lifting of the ban on women driving in June this year, which is expected to encourage more women to enter the workforce.

Accordingly, Robert Walters has seen an increase in Saudi women applying for jobs, it said.

Under the Vision 2030 reforms, the Saudi government is also looking to enhance the tourism industry, and has announced several ambitious developments in this regard, such as the Red Sea Project, the Qiddiya entertainment city, and the NEOM megaproject.

“These mega projects are creating thousands of jobs across the Kingdom and we expect the trend of hiring a small number of skilled expats to compliment Saudi professionals in government covering the vast majority of operations, finance, legal, IT, and business development roles to continue,” the report concluded.