Job openings for finance professionals to fall further in 2016

Manama : Employment opportunities for finance professionals will continue to decrease in 2016, according to experts. 

With the issues of low oil prices and lower government expenditure affecting the region, finance professionals could feel the repercussions, as per the sixth annual CFA Middle East Societies Market Sentiment Survey. 

About 64 per cent of the finance and investment management professionals who participated in the survey believe that employment opportunities for finance experts in the GCC will continue to decrease in 2016. They noted that with financial institutions announcing job cuts, the job market would get worse for finance professionals. 

“Investment professionals in the MENA region are perhaps less optimistic than their colleagues in other markets elsewhere in the world,” said CFA Society Saudi Arabia President Bader Alissa, “The biggest issue for investment management professionals in the region will continue to be oil prices, as 71pc of our members have revealed. We are entering a unique period in the GCC’s economic cycle, where dependence on oil revenue and government expenditure will decrease and we expect to see more strategies in place to create more diversified sources of revenue.”

“An interesting theme to have emerged this year is improved transparency of financial reporting and other corporate disclosures; 62pc of respondents felt that this would have a beneficial impact on investor confidence across regional markets. A quarter also highlighted that enhancing the transparency of investment decisions and accountability would be the most important factor in establishing a positive sentiment within the investment industry,” he said.