Report
Gulf Employment Index H1 2021
TALENT YOU CAN TRUST SINCE 1997Gulf Employment Index
H1 2021 compared with H1 of 2020
The Employment Creation Report looks at new job activity and employment trends across the Gulf. Our report, measures new job activity or creation for the first six (6) months of this year and how it compares to the same period last year. It is important to note that the first four months of last year were largely unaffected by Covid, overall, we have experienced an increase of ~41% over the two periods (H1 2021 vs. H1 2020), as with all employment markets, the GCC is a very diverse region with the UAE, Saudi and Qatar leading the way in this recovery.
According to the World Bank, the economic recovery for the Gulf is predicted to grow GDP by just over 3% this year. At current levels of job creation we may see the market outperforming this prediction. We have seen a significant return in hiring in the Advisory and Consulting markets with other significant increases within Cloud, Investments, and Legal.
The UAE market experienced the most significant increase in new job creation so far this year. It is important to note that the UAE had the largest decline in H1 2020 based predominantly as a result of necessary Covid-19 restrictions. The growth in job creation in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is most prolific, with H1 last year remaining relatively stable. The most notable increases were in Investment, Manufacturing, Technology and Tourism projects. The Qatari market has equally rebounded well.
Employment creation percentage increase for each GCC country based on data from H1 of 2021 compared with H1 of 2020.
UAE 42% SAUDI 35% QATAR 32%
KUWAIT 14% BAHRAIN 18% OMAN 12%
ABOUT COOPER FITCH
Cooper Fitch is a professional services company on all matters people-related, we have been providing market & data insights and consulting services to better facilitate employee attraction and retention to help our clients build better talent density since 1997.
- Executive Search
- RPO
- HR Advisory
Trefor Murphy, Founder & CEO
tmurphy@cooperfitch.ae
EMPLOYMENT CREATION INDEX FOR GCC MARKETS
The table shows the % change in each market from H1 2021 compared to H1 2020
We have seen a significant increase across the jobs markets in the Gulf, particularly within Deals, Tax, and Risk in the Advisory forms, along with a significant increase in Tech, Cloud, Digital and Cyber. This trend is also reflected in Investments, Legal, Strategy and Public Sector markets. Other functions including Finance and Accounting, Sales and Marketing, Banking and Insurance have all shown more modest improvements.
It is reassuring that we have witnessed a 6.4% increase in comparison to the pre-covid market in H1 2019.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The Cooper Fitch employment Creation Report reviews the number of new employment opportunities across the GCC, with a particular focus on the change in the number of new jobs in the market across the region based on Cooper Fitch’s own market knowledge. The data compares the first six months of this year and the first six months of last year (January – June 2021 vs. January – June 2020).
Cooper Fitch is the largest privately owned search and HR advisory firm in the region and was established in the Gulf in 1997. We hope you find our report insightful and if you would like to ask us further questions please feel free to contact Emily Bates in the CEO’s office of Cooper Fitch at ebates@cooperfitch.ae
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