Business & Money | Thursday 18 February, 2016 12:47 pm |

The number of job opportunities posted online for qualified job candidates in Saudi Arabia rose by 10 percent in the past year according to the Monster Employment Index.

Demand for healthcare candidates showed the greatest growth with an annual increase of 51 percent over the year to January 2016, followed by sales and business development job opportunities which witnessed growth of 35 percent, and human resources registering 15 percent uplift. 

“These results show that despite falling oil prices there is an underlying trend of optimism in the Saudi economy boosted by an increase in public investment and steady consumption growth,” said Sanjay Modi, managing director, Monster.com (India, Middle East, South East Asia and Hong Kong). 

He continued:  “The remarkable rise in demand for healthcare candidates tracks the investments being made in both public and private healthcare facilities in the Kingdom, and which is reflected across the GCC.”

The outlook for hospitality and travel, marketing, and purchasing and supply candidates was more gloomy with job opportunities dropping  respectively by eight, 15 and 20 percent over the year to January 2016.

The Monster Employment Index is a monthly gauge of online job posting activity in Middle East based on real-time review of tens of thousands of employer job opportunities across a large representative selection of career web sites and online job listings.