New job postings marginally dropped in February 2022 while job closures have increased significantly indicating that companies are completing their recruiting processes faster, found GlobalData. The leading data and analytics company notes that listings saw a marked increase in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region with companies hiring more in countries such as South Africa, Israel, UAE, and Qatar.

GlobalData also notes that companies in the tech sector continued to create the most new jobs in February 2022 as noted in January 2022, however, adverts in retail, healthcare, and banking and payments decreased.

Ajay Kumar Thalluri, Business Fundamentals Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Globally, job adverts in February 2022 were comparable to January 2022, except in the MEA region where listings increased. Tech, banking, and travel and tourism companies listed jobs prominently in the region. The UAE is one of the countries where job postings increased, most likely driven by Expo 2020 Dubai.

Thalluri continues: “While companies in some sectors dropped job listings, consumer, auto, and aerospace and defense services companies increased new job postings. Travel and tourism continued to record a sequential increase in job postings consecutively since January 2022 globally. The easing of global travel restrictions factored with the near resumption of complete economic activities have led companies to increase job postings.”

For instance, A.P. Moller – Maersk AS is developing a new business unit, while Lufthansa Cargo AG is building partnerships with travel management companies (TMC) in the APAC region. Marriott International created a new role to expand its Turkey operations with a focus on secondary and tertiary cities. UPS Inc has also listed a significant number of roles related to drone airlines and deliveries.

Thalluri adds: “UPS is expanding its drone delivery service to new hospitals and campus environments, besides residential and commercial deliveries. The company is partnering with drone manufacturers to build drone hardware and software and looks to hire management, drone pilots and repair technicians, among others.”

The month also saw a significant increase of M&A roles across most sectors. The banking and tech sectors saw most of the job adverts centred around deal making. While some roles hint at expansion into new regions, others point towards assessing segments for growth opportunities. Companies are implementing strategies, creating new business units and teams to facilitate creation and implementation of product and service initiatives.

Companies in the consumer sector increased new job postings in February 2022 after two months of a decreased number of listings. Examples include new roles created by the likes of Nestle to launch plant-based meal solutions; Marley Spoon AG driving strategic operations projects in Europe and The Kraft Heinz Co creating, launching and evolving products in the predictive analytics space.

Thalluri concludes: “Job postings marginally increased in auto and ADS sectors in February 2022 with jobs around the ESG theme listed prominently during the month. It will be interesting to see how companies hire in March 2022 amid geopolitical tensions.”