The Middle East seems to be the most sought after region by chief executives so far this year, with hiring firms reporting as much as 40 percent of leadership level recruitments in January-March quarter, compared to that for the whole of 2022
The demand for top executives is seen across industries, with industrial manufacturing, retail and family-run conglomerates leading the table.
Hiring industry insiders said while most of the CEO level demand is on account of the expansion plans of companies in several sectors, they are also seeing a rise in ‘replacement demand’ due to rising top level turnover.
Middle East top leadership recruitments most in Saudi, UAE
Saudi Arabia and the UAE have seen the maximum number of hiring at top leadership levels in the first quarter, with the new Saudi rule mandating companies to have their regional headquarters in the country to bid for domestic contracts and businesses is leading to creation of a large number of CEO level positions there.
“According to industry estimates, top-level leadership placements in the Middle East has already reached about 40 percent of that for the whole of 2022, in the first quarter of this year itself,” A Ramachandran, a hiring industry veteran and founder and CEO of MyRCloud, told Arabian Business.
He said the region may see more influx of top leadership talents from India starting from next month, once the new fiscal year strategy planning and compensation packages are completed by companies in India by April.
“After the initial ‘skilled labour wave’ and the recent ‘tech wave’, the Middle East is currently witnessing a ‘top leadership wave’ from India, Ramachandran said.
International top executive search and hiring firms such as Egon Zehnder, EMA Partners and Heidrick & Struggles are learnt to have led the mandates for CEO-level placements in the January-March quarter of this year.
Industry sources said the new top level placements are sourced both from the region as well as from global markets including India, the UK and Europe.
Interestingly, despite the surge in demand for leadership talents in the early months of this year, the compensation packages for chief executives are said to have remained subdued.
“We are seeing only an incremental rise in CEO packages so far this year,” said a senior executive with a Dubai-based HR firm, who wished not to be identified.
The uncertainties related to corporate earnings amid nagging fears of a possible recessionary phase in many developed markets are said to have clipped the bargaining power of corner room executives for fat pay packages.
“There are multiple reasons for CEOs for changing jobs – the prospects of taking up new challenges, experimenting with new roles in new sectors and, maybe, most important due to boredom in the existing jobs figure among the major reasons,” Ramachandran said.
Follow us on
