Marketing, Healthcare, and Finance Emerged as Top Industries Hiring MENA Fresh Graduates in 2024

The 2024 Fresh Graduates in the MENA Survey by Bayt.com, the Middle East's #1 job site, and market research agency YouGov, was conducted to help identify which industries are most appealing to fresh graduates in the MENA region and to describe some of the challenges young job seekers face when looking for a job. 

Interestingly, more than 4 in 5 respondents (82%) are satisfied with the quality of higher education they received. Of these, 35% of the total number of respondents stated that they are ‘very’ satisfied.

Top Hiring Industries

This year, many industries in the MENA are thriving with new career opportunities for fresh graduates. Advertising/ Marketing/ Public Relations (25%), Healthcare/Medical Services (14%), Military/ Defence/ Police (13%), and Banking/ Finance (13%) emerged as the top hiring sectors.

Respondents believe that some industries hire more fresh graduates than others because of lower salary expectations (42%), while (37%) believe that certain industries hire more young graduates because they are able to handle more challenges.

In the MENA, Advertising/ Marketing/ Public Relations (22%) emerged as the most appealing industry to fresh graduates from a career point of view, followed by IT/Internet/e-commerce (19%) , and Business Consultancy (17%).

Ola Haddad, General Manager at Bayt.com, states: “Our latest Fresh Graduates Survey reveals how young job seekers and recent graduates view the job market and identify the most attractive industries from their perspective. Bayt.com offers a range of tools to help fresh graduates build their CVs, improve their skills, and broaden their professional expertise."

Most In-Demand Skills in the Workplace

When asked about the top skills required to excel in the workplace, respondents mentioned computer skills (53%) as the most important, followed by interpersonal/ team skills and communication skills (both at 39%). In terms of their abilities, respondents rate themselves highly across most skills. Respondents across MENA consider their interpersonal/ team playing skills (89%), communication skills (86%), and flexibility/ adaptability to change (85%)to be ‘good’ or ‘very good.’

Jobs for Fresh Graduates

Most MENA graduates (43%) feel that the biggest challenge they face when searching for a job is not knowing how to approach the job search effectively. Not knowing how to find relevant jobs (43%) is also an obstacle. Nearly two-thirds (63%) of graduates said they acquired work experience during or before college.

The nature of the job or being passionate about the job (46%) emerges as the single most important factor for MENA respondents when selecting a job. Nearly three-quarters (74%) of fresh graduates expect to be offered a basic salary for their first job, and 45% expect to get personal medical insurance.

When asked what they would do if they did not find a job in their exact target job role/ industry, more than half of the MENA fresh graduates (54%) said they would keep looking until they did, while 28% said they would start looking into another role/ industry of their choice.

Zafar Shah, Account Director at YouGov said, remarks: 'The Fresh Graduates Survey offers valuable insights into aligning recruitment efforts with the aspirations of recent graduates in the MENA region. The findings reveal an increasing openness among employers to hire fresh graduates, reflecting a significant change in the skills demanded in our digital age."

Data for the Fresh Graduates in the MENA Survey was collected online between 16th May and 31st June 2024. Results are based on a sample composed of respondents from the following countries: UAE, KSA, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Palestine, Syria, Egypt, Sudan, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya.

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