Why are employers in the Middle East taking so long to fill jobs?

Are you wondering why it’s taking such a long time to get your dream job? Have you aced all the interviews but are still waiting for a confirmation from the company?

The common rationalization is that, with Ramadan drawing close, recruitments take a back seat in most firms. Well, it’s time to dismiss that notion: new research shows that there are a multitude of factors at play here.

Extensive hiring delays are still one of the top issues that most employers in the Middle East are trying to tackle.

IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING THAT PROLONGED HIRING PROCESS CAN BE DETRIMENTAL TO A COMPANY'S ABILITY TO ACHIEVE ITS FULL POTENTIAL AND TO SUSTAIN GROWTH AND PROFITABILITY

However, there’s often a huge disconnect between the perceptions held by employers and by job seekers.

“Employers in the Middle East have reported a sizable gap between the talent they need to keep their companies growing and the talent they can actually find. This skills gap is impacting nearly every industry, job, and employer,” Suhail Masri, Vice President of Employer Solutions at Bayt.com told My Salaam.

“Contrary to employer feedback, job seekers generally regard themselves as having a high degree of competency across most skills, with those seeking senior positions being more confident regarding their skills and rating themselves higher on all skills, including soft skills,” he added. 

Masri offers some key reasons for a longer hiring process, citing researches and surveys done by his firm across the region: 

• 41.9 per cent of respondents say that their company does not provide interview training for everyone involved in the hiring process.
  
  
• 18.2 per cent of respondents say that more than four people are involved in the hiring process of a candidate at a company.
  
  
• 84 per cent of respondents say that their company conducts extensive candidate reference checks before hiring them.
  
  
• Six out of ten respondents (62 per cent) report being unhappy with their company’s process for hiring top-level employees.
  
  
• 34.1 per cent of respondents think that hiring a senior executive takes between one and three months; 13.8 per cent, between three and six months; and 7.6 per cent, between six and twelve months.
  
  
• Almost half of job seekers in the region say that they are “passive job seekers” who have an online CV and just wait for employers to find and contact them.
  
  
• Employers cite such recruiting challenges as a lack of salary benchmarking tools (27 per cent), poor recruitment process management (16 per cent), a lack of qualified applications (16 per cent), and an excessive number of candidates (15 per cent).
  
  
• Four out of ten organizations said they needed specialist help when evaluating candidates and conducting face-to-face interviews with them.

THE ECONOMICS OF HIRING

One should also keep in mind the financial decisions that companies make in response to globalization, increased competition, global economic events, and investor growth expectations, all of which affect a company’s ability to hire and retain talent.

These economic factors have intensified in recent years, forcing corporations to operate with thinner profit margins and make long-term skills development concessions in order to meet short-term financial goals.

“Today, leading firms are forced to institute rigorous cost management strategies. While this practice is necessary for corporate survival, intense cost management has led to a drop in the reliability and efficiency of a company’s hiring system,” Masri said.

HIRING THE RIGHT WAY

If the supply of talent proves limited, firms need to widen the selection pool by looking beyond traditional indicators of candidate success. Such a practice omits the CV and focuses on statistically valid and reliable predictors of future performance.

According to Masri, “Companies can hire individuals based on general competencies and expertise displayed on leading professional platforms or by looking at biographical data and aptitude-testing rather than years of experience, education, or certifications.”

“This type of approach allows companies to access traditionally untapped talent pools and accelerate the hiring process,” he added.