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Whilst the dust settles on the pandemic, finance is looking to take off
Were you aware of how organisations dealt with Covid-19 and how it impacted finance recruitment? Do you want to know what industries will be booming next year? Then take a read of this blog.Over the course of this blog Finance Recruitment Consultant, Kassem Zaiter is going to be talking about finance and accounting recruitment and how it has been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. As the dust starts to settle on what was a difficult couple of years he will give his insight into what industries to watch out for in 2022 in terms of hiring trends.
The Pandemic
The region struggled when the pandemic hit, companies were forced to let good employees go, salaries were reduced and recruitment activity frozen. Due to these changes that were made there were noticeable gaps within organisations finance function, so when the economy started to pick back up those companies were in a position to rehire candidates in positions that had been empty for quite some time.
2020 saw many junior- mid-level professionals noticing the difficulties in the market which prompted them to work on themselves and become fully qualified in multiple areas including, ACCA, CPA, and CMA in order to find better opportunities in 2021. Unfortunately, when it comes to the senior end of the market there were some significant impacts from the pandemic that affected recruitment and employment. The best way to describe it is to picture a pyramid, the higher you go, the more narrow it gets. As companies were trying to cut costs due to a struggling economy, a lot of individuals in senior finance positions were asked to leave and replacements were made with more junior individuals. The good news, however, is that things have been changing and those companies that survived the pandemic have regained confidence in hiring senior candidates again. Despite the challenges and turbulence brought by Covid-19 in 2020, the UAE and KSA remained the busiest areas in the GCC for hiring.
The Present
As businesses struggled with the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, they became more agile, efficient, and innovative than ever. The pool of available talent is much more robust than it was at the beginning of 2020.
Thankfully, there has been a steady recovery in the finance market and the recruitment rate has increased by approximately 40% when we compare finance recruitment in Q3 2020 to Q3 2021. As the economy started to pick back up in 2021 there has been an expected surge in mid to senior-level finance roles across many companies throughout Q3 2021 such as C-D roles, Accounting, Treasury, Budgeting and Reporting, and Financial Modelling. In 2021, over half of the businesses across the UAE and KSA either increased their headcount or kept it the same as in 2020, with some areas still very active in their hiring throughout the year. The good news is that since the easing of travel restrictions, all industries have shown signs of recovery, with a significant increase in the number of finance and accounting jobs available from Q2 2021 onwards.
What does 2022 hold for us
I think 2022 will be a year of fulfillment, which has been seen through a survey where senior finance leadership professionals were contacted in the market and they found that over 50% of the companies in the GCC expect to recruit additional headcount over the next 12 months.
The busiest areas for hiring in 2022 I expect to be are, technology, pharmaceutical, e-commerce, hospitality and FMCG sectors, all of which were relatively resilient during the pandemic, if not positively impacted in terms of business activity. Companies’ top priority is to increase the quality of hire over the next 12 months. The jobs market in the UAE and KSA has made a strong recovery, and salaries will remain stable in 2022, driven by Expo 2020 Dubai and Saudi’s vision 2030.
If you would like to give feedback on this blog or require my expertise please contact me at kzaiter@cooperfitch.ae