Hiring in the creative and media industry in Saudi Arabia is booming, while the oil sector registers a negative growth in job listings year on year, says Monster Gulf

• Saudi Arabia registers the highest long term growth in employment among all other GCC countries, according to data compiled by Monster Employment Index KSA
• The creative industry (Advertising, Market Research, Public Relations, Media and Entertainment) maintains its top position with a 55% growth in job listings year on year
• Oil sector registers a negative growth

The Monster Employment Index is a monthly gauge of online job posting activity in Middle-East based on a real-time review of tens of thousands of employer job opportunities culled from a large representative selection of career Web sites and online job listings. The Index does not reflect the trend of any one advertiser or source, but is an aggregate measure of the change in job listings across the industry.

“Monster Employment Index KSA continues to highlight a positive trend in employment growth, which indicates a healthy and strong economy. As compared to last year, overall online job listings in the Kingdom have increase by 30%, led by a 55% increase in the Advertising, Market Research, Public Relations, Media and Entertainment Industry.  As the country is preparing to open up to foreign investment, local and international firms operating in Saudi Arabia are excited at the prospect of promoting their products and services, which has led to a significant increase in demand for creative talent,” said Sanjay Modi, Managing Director, Monster.com (India, Middle East, South East Asia and Hong Kong).

“Impacted by the drop in oil prices, the KSA oil sector has been the worst performer last month and the only one registering a negative growth of 3% year on year. Companies operating in the oil sectors are keeping a tight grip on their budgets and our data suggests hiring in this sector has slowed down considerably, ” added Modi.