1.
THE TALENT GAP REPORT
Revealing the differences between what employers want and
what professionals are looking for in the UAE, KSA and Qatar

2.
Recruiting Landscape
The Labor Market & Nationalization
Skills Analysis
LinkedIn’s Recommendation
What we will cover today
About the study

3.
WHY?

4.
U.S. Skills Gap
8M
Unemployed
4M
Open High-
Skill Jobs

5.
Youth unemployment: 337M
0
20
40
60
80
100
South Asia Latin
America
OECDMiddle East &
north Africa
Sub-Saharan
Africa
East Asia
& Pacific
Inactive
Unemployed
Europe &
Central Asia
Source: OECD; World Bank; The Economist
% of total
youth
population
31.1%
18.4%
21.6%
40.6%
15.2%
23.2%
24.4%

6.
How can we bridge the gap?

7.
About the survey
300
talent acquisition
leaders
1,500
professionals

8.
PROFILE OF THE PROFESSIONALS WE SURVEYED
33
29
38
48
17
35
44
15
41
Arab
Expat
Non-
Arab
expat
Citizen
Qatar KSA UAE
29
25
25
21
14
17
32
37
13
20
32
31
Unemployed
Currently working but looking for a
new opportunity (active
candidates)
Currently working and happy at
their role but open to new
opportunities
(passive candidates)
Currently working and not looking
for new opportunities
Qatar KSA UAE
NATIONALITY (%) CURRENT EMPLOYMENT STATUS (%)
Base: UAE (n=500), KSA (n=500), Qatar (n=500)
AGE (%)
22
55
17
5
16
52
22
9
18
52
20
10
18-24 25-34 35-44 45+
UAE KSA Qatar

9.
PROFILE OF THE TALENT ACQUISITION
LEADERS WE SURVEYED
INDUSTRY REPRESENTATION (%) COMPANY SIZE (%)
1
4
5 5 5 5 5
8
9
10 10 10
11
15
5
4
6
5 5
8
6
5
10
10
9 9
3
7
3
6
5
3
5
2
5
6
12
10
11
10 10
11
UAE KSA QATAR
32
38
30
31
40
28
30
41
22
500+
101-500
1-100
QATAR KSA UAE
Base: UAE (n=103), KSA (n=100), Qatar (n=100)

10.
UAE EMPLOYERS MAINLY USE RECRUITMENT AGENCIES TO ADVERTISE THEIR
OPENINGS
70
65
44
Recruitment Agency
Company Website
Word of Mouth
MOST USED RECRUITMENT PLATFORM (%)
7
7
10
15
17
15
28
Spread the word among my friends
and acquaintances
Search the newspapers/magazines
for suitable job vacancies
Submit my CV/Resume to a
recruitment agency
Search the internet for suitable job
vacancies
Post my CV/Resume on an online
recruitment site (e.g. Bayt,
MonsterGulf, etc.)
Send my CV/Resume to potential
employers where I would like to
work
Update/Share my profile on a
professional social network (e.g.
LinkedIn)
ACTIONS TAKEN BY PROFESSIONALS (%)
VS.

11.
COMPANIES IN SAUDI ARE SLOWLY MOVING TOWARDS ONLINE RECRUITING
BUT SOCIAL NETWORKS ARE YET TO BE TAPPED
68
62
53
Company's Website
Newspapers/Magazines
Online Career Website
MOST USED RECRUITMENT PLATFORMS (%)
6
10
10
14
16
18
25
Search the newspapers/magazines for
suitable job vacancies
Spread the word among my friends and
acquaintances
Submit my CV/Resume to a recruitment
agency
Send my CV/Resume to potential
employers where I would like to work
Search the internet for suitable job
vacancies
Post my CV/Resume on an online
recruitment site (e.g. Bayt, MonsterGulf,
etc.)
Update/Share my profile on a professional
social network (e.g. LinkedIn)
ACTIONS TAKEN BY PROFESSIONALS (%)
VS.

12.
EMPLOYERS IN QATAR MAINLY USE THEIR COMPANY WEBSITE FOR
RECRUITING
75
66
53
Company's Website
Newspapers/Magazines
Online Career Website
MOST USED RECRUITMENT PLATFORMS (%)
6
9
11
12
15
16
31
Spread the word among my
friends and acquaintances
Search the
newspapers/magazines for
suitable job vacancies
Search the internet for suitable
job vacancies
Submit my CV/Resume to a
recruitment agency
Post my CV/Resume on an
online recruitment site (e.g.
Bayt, MonsterGulf, etc.)
Send my CV/Resume to
potential employers where I
would like to work
Update/Share my profile on a
professional social network (e.g.
LinkedIn)
ACTIONS TAKEN BY PROFESSIONALS (%)
VS.

13.
CONCLUSION AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Overall, there’s a mismatch between where
professionals are looking for opportunities and the
channels employers are using.
2. Companies should move to an online approach to
recruiting to reach candidates
3. From online career websites to social networks, it is
important to deliver one consistent message to
candidates throughout the recruiting process.
“Some companies do not have the necessary
skills in the areas of social media, mobile,
internal social networks, process automation
and performance monitoring and analysis and
should invest more in development of digital
skills.”
Abdel Wahed,
Emirates Insurance Company
,,

14.
THE LABOR
& NATIONALIZATION

15.
EMPLOYERS’ PERCEPTION OF THE LABOR MARKET
100
100
96
97
97
96
52
57
72
57
62
55
39
23
56
60
45
57
61
48
22
There is a shortage of talent in the labor market
It is fairly hard to find candidates who possess all the required
skills and qualifications needed for a particular job vacancy
The shortage of talent in the labor market leads to fierce
competition among employers to hire them
In general, it takes a lot of time and cost to fill vacancies in my
organization
In general, suitable citizens/nationals are more difficult to find than
suitable expats who fit our vacant job requirements
My organization has been negatively impacted by the shortage of
talent
Sometimes, my organization lowers its requirements in order to fill
a role
EMPLOYERS WHO AGREE WITH STATEMENT (%)
Qatar KSA UAE

16.
PROFESSIONALS’ PERCEPTION OF THE LABOR MARKET
82
78
75
72
69
75
75
68
57
62
81
82
77
50
66
There are many people who work at jobs that do not fit with their
skills and qualifications
There is an oversupply of job seekers in the country
Online job networks are the most effective means to find suitable
jobs
I would take a job that does not fit perfectly my skills and
qualifications if the offered package is good
Online job networks are my preferred means to find suitable jobs
PROFESSIONALS WHO AGREE WITH STATEMENT (%)
Qatar KSA UAE

17.
UAE & QATAR EMPLOYERS ARE NOT PROACTIVELY TARGETING NATIONALS
WHILE SAUDI EMPLOYERS ARE TAKING MORE ACTION IMPLEMENTING
NATIONALIZATION
28%
72% 80%
20%
Target National Citizens Do not target National Citizens
53%
47%

18.
2 THINGS YOU CAN DO TODAY
OPTIMIZING YOUR JOBS
1. Use the right keywords in job titles to ensure
better targeting.
2. Post all your openings online for better
visibility and higher reach.
3. Ask your employees to share your openings
with their network. Remember, talent attracts
talent.
IMPROVING THE CANDIDATE EXPERIENCE
1. Communicate with candidates throughout the
journey in a consistent way.
2. Clarify the job requirements from the start of
the process to avoid any surprises.
3. Align your strategy with your hiring managers
in order to communicate the same message
across the organization.

19.
*Source:Adapt to Survive, PWC, 2014
63%
of CEOs worldwide say that availability of
skills is a primary concern*

20.
RELEVANT TECHNICAL EXPERTISE AND MULTICULTURAL EXPERIENCE ARE
IMPORTANT SKILLS FOR UAE EMPLOYERS
98 97
74
99 98 100
94 97 96
85
100 98
75
90
78
73
85 88 89
82
89 89 86 83 86 88
IMPORTANCE OF SKILLS IN THE UAE: EMPLOYERS VS. PROFESSIONALS (%)
Employers
Professionals

21.
HAVING TECHNICAL EXPERTISE IS AN IMPORTANT SKILL FOR EMPLOYERS IN
SAUDI WHEN LOOKING FOR TALENT
77
83
77
65
74 73
62
74
67
76 78
69 71
78
75
84
70
85
80 78
82
87 85
73
80
76
IMPORTANCE OF SKILLS IN KSA: EMPLOYERS VS. PROFESSIONALS (%)
Employers
Professionals

22.
HAVING A MULTICULTURAL EXPERIENCE AND CREATIVITY ARE IMPORTANT
SKILLS FOR EMPLOYERS IN QATAR
94
86
81
89 88 88 85
92
79
92 91 89 90
85
74
65
80
87 86 88 88 85 84 84
91
87
IMPORTANCE OF SKILLS IN QATAR: EMPLOYERS VS. PROFESSIONALS (%)
Employers
Professionals

23.
RECOMMENDATIONS ON

24.
INVEST IN YOUR
EMPLOYER BRAND
SOURCE & PLAN YOUR
HIRING
ADVERTISE
YOUR JOBS
3 THINGS YOU CAN START DOING NOW ON LINKEDIN

25.
THE TALENT GAP REPORT
Download full report
lnkd.in/talentgapreport