CAIRO: In the midst of a struggling job market, fresh graduates may have something to look forward to: a job. A leading job site in the Middle East, Bayt.com, recently came out with results to a poll where 37.6 percent of respondents said management was more willing to higher fresh graduates since the recession. While 26.4 percent said they were less keen on the idea, 19.2 percent reportedly remained unchanged. More than half of those polled (51.7 percent) agreed that their number one motivation to hire fresh grads was less salary and benefits, while 12.7 percent stated more passion and desire and 10.4 percent said fresh zest of life and creativity. More self-motivation and initiative, fresh analytical thinking and communication were other reasons also mentioned. “The results of our most recent poll show that in times of economic strife employers are perceived as more likely to hire fresh graduates mostly due to the fact that they accept a lower salary and require fewer benefits,” said Amer Zureikat, vice president of sales at Bayt.com. Marketing was chosen by 27.1 percent of those polled as the top department likely to hire the biggest numbers of fresh graduates while 20.2 percent said finance and accounting and 18.4 percent said IT. Human resources and administration was only chosen by 15.2 percent followed by creative department at 4.7 percent. In the past 12 months, a little over half (56.3 percent) of those polled said they had recruited only 0 to 5 percent fresh grads. Only 16.8 percent reported 5 to 10 percent recruiting and 27 percent said more than 10 percent. Almost half of respondents (49.2 percent) reported that their companies had mentorship programs and proper training for the fresh beginners once recruited, but 39.6 percent said their companies did not. The poll titled “Fresh Grads in the M.E. Workforce 2010/2011' was conducted online during July 7, 2010 and August 17, 2010 with respondents totaling 13,197 from all over the Middle East and North Africa.
