A recent survey conducted among 176 recruiters showed only 49 per cent of the recruiters expected new jobs to be created this year, a slight drop from the 51 per cent of recruiters who predicted the creation of new jobs six months ago.

This is because hiring activity in the GCC region is expected to sustain at the current levels for the next six months, reveals Naukrigulf Hiring Outlook.

Attrition is stable with 75 per cent employers surveyed saying that the current attrition rates are below 15 per cent as compared to 76 per cent in the second half of 2016. Also, 74 per cent employers are hopeful that attrition will remain stable or reduce over the next six months as compared to 68 per cent in the second half of 2016.

In the last six months, improvement in the talent availability was seen by 61 per cent recruiters as compared to 60 per cent in the second half of 2016. Around 67 per cent of the recruiters find Asians more difficult to hire as compared to other nationalities.

Among the experience levels, recruiters find hiring candidates with 3-8 years of experience the most challenging.

Tarun Aggarwal, business head - Naukrigulf.com, said: “Recruitment activity is expected to remain stable in the coming months. We expect certain sectors like Services and Healthcare to increase their headcount in the first half of 2017. Overall, we are seeing a trend of reduced attrition with moderate growth in salaries. We see this as a sign of stabilization in the job market.”

According to the data, Banking & Financial Services is the leading industry where maximum jobs creation is expected to happen, followed by Construction and Hospitality.

Around 51 per cent recruiters expect new jobs to be created for the mid-level roles (3-8 years) while 28 per cent are hopeful for more entry level roles (1-3 years) in the market. About 10 per cent recruiters have predicted job opportunities at the senior level (8-15 years) in the coming months.

Eight one per cent of the employers gave out pay hikes under 10 per cent this year as compared to 39 per cent employers giving out similar increments last year. - TradeArbia News Service