UAE's Emaar, Emirates, Etisalat beat Apple, Google, GE as employers

UAE companies dominate the top five most in-demand companies in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region.

The LinkedIn Mena Top 20 InDemand Employer list shows that real estate giant Emaar is the most sought-after employer among jobseekers in the region followed by multinational company Shell.

The third slot is again taken by the UAE-based Emirates airline, followed by Procter & Gamble and then UAE telecommunications provider Etisalat.

Other UAE companies to feature prominently among the top 20 list are Etihad Airways, Al Tayer Group and Dubai Islamic Bank.

This year’s list is dominated by companies in oil and gas, real estate and construction, and telecommunications and technology.

The oil and gas sector in the Middle East may have taken a beating of late, but the sector is still the most appealing to attract the most talent with more than six companies in the list with the prime positions going to Shell, Saudi Aramco, and BP.

The latest Monster Middle East employment index shows that oil and gas sector has charted negative annual growth since the beginning of the year. A 19 per cent drop in opportunities from the year-ago last month (October 2015) is the tenth successive decline of the series. However, LinkedIn data shows that it still is popular among jobseekers.

The real estate and construction industry was the second dominating sector on the list, with Emaar in the lead. The list also includes other construction firms such as KEO International and Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC).

An equally in demand sector is telecommunications and technology, with Etisalat in the lead, followed by Apple, Google and GE.

LinkedIn Mena Top 20 InDemand Employers

1. Emaar

2. Shell

3. Emirates Airline

4. Procter & Gamble

5. Etisalat

6. Unilever

7. Saudi Aramco

8. Apple

9. Etihad Airways

10. BP

11. Google

12. KEO International Consultants

13. Al Tayer Group

14. Schlumberger

15. Weatherford

16. Dubai Islamic Bank

17. OSN

18. Qatar Petroleum

19. GE

20. Consolidated Contractors Company

The LinkedIn InDemand list represents the most sought-after employers in the region based on millions of interactions from LinkedIn's members. Rather than relying on questionnaires, InDemand measures the actual behaviour of professionals as they explore their career journey on the networking website.

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