Reducing Project Time to Hire in the GCC Region (a critical requirement)!

The COVID-19 pandemic raises concerns to all of us on the consequences it has on the recruitment industry serving the GCC region’s projects and staffing needs. An already lengthy, complex and expensive hiring process is now further burdened with regulatory/client restrictions and time factors necessitated by the pandemic.

TRS Staffing Solutions (TRS) discuss below how we can help clients reduce their time to hire and cost for project hire staffing needs.

What are the general recruitment processes in the Middle East at present?

The vast majority of recruitment is completed from outside of the region and employers mostly return employees to their country of origin when their employment has ended.

The challenge clients face with this environment is that the timeline to recruit and mobilise employees from outside the region is typically very lengthy. The time taken to verify and comply with regulatory requirements can stretch from anywhere between 6 and 12 weeks or longer for some, dependent on the role and situation of the expat being recruited. This timeline does not include, the time already expended in recruiting and confirming an offer, typically around 4 weeks.

Now and for an unknown period in the future,  the additional burden of meeting COVID-19 regulatory needs  including 14 days quarantine upon arrival is adding to this timeline.

TRS specialize in reducing the time to hire for expats and improving cost efficiency

• We shorten the project hire timeline by choosing candidates from our comprehensive and growing database of expats currently living and working in the region.
• We provide a flexible cost recruitment resource to meet a specific project hire need.
• We highlight the benefits to employers of providing NOCs and allowing project hires to transfer locally.

TRS track, employ and re-employ the same employees while they are working with a multitude of companies throughout GCC.

Using TRS expertise frees up internal HR resource to focus on core HR strategy, policy and process execution. A fixed cost internal recruitment resource is not required, instead recruitment cost is only incurred when required.

Allowing project hires to transfer locally, means they remain readily available for future projects. It reduces the time-to-hire and improves the opportunity to fill vital positions on time. This helps close out projects on time and within budget resulting in increased profitability.

Summary

Engaging an employee locally in the GCC only requires them to serve their notice period. Generally one month notice in most GCC countries (except Kuwait, 3 months). A local hire means no flight cost, no medical clearance, no quarantine, no settling in period, no police clearance and no additional restrictions.

TRS strongly promote building a local pool of GCC based candidates to help meet regional project hiring needs within a dramatically shorter timeline of 1 – 3 months, versus an ‘outside to in’ approach taking between 6 – 8 months.

To find out more, please contact us at: ray.verweij@trsstaffing.com