Almost 75 per cent of Mena recruiters prefer hiring online

Using digital platforms to source talent is considered easier and more cost effective, says a study by Bayt.com

The average age of the UAE workforce is now under 30 according to Nadia Global. Bloomberg

Almost three quarters of recruiters consider online jobs websites the quickest and easiest way to hire talent in the Mena region, a new poll from Bayt.com found.

Seventy-three per cent of respondents to the Middle East job portal's Online Recruitment in the Mena Region study agree that online recruitment has eased the hiring process, while nearly half said their company is looking to hire in the next three months. More than 6,500 people across the region were polled between May and July.

Omar Tahboub, general manager at Bayt, said the study is "an important depiction of the region's current techniques and tools that are used to facilitate hiring".

The average age of the UAE workforce is under 30, according to the 2018-2019 Salary Survey and Review from Gulf recruiter and training institute Nadia Global, with the employment market set to be "significantly impacted" by digital transformation, an indication of why the use of online recruitment tools is growing.

According to the Bayt study, searching for CVs directly is an effective strategy for 28 per cent of respondents, while the same number prefer posting jobs on portals and 16 per cent rely on company websites or online applicant-tracking systems.

The top reasons for organisations to use online recruitment tools include finding better-quality candidates, the ease of use, accessing larger talent pools and cost effectiveness.

The study found the top three factors that contribute to a successful hiring process for recruiters include the ability to screen and filter candidates effectively, access to a larger choice of jobseekers and testing candidates online.

More than half of those polled regard hiring practices in their organisations as sophisticated (57 per cent), while 60 per cent say the process is time consuming and 45 per cent say it is costly.